Transcript PowerPoint Slides - University Library

Overview
Technology - Bringing Power to the
Information Pipeline
October 23, 2004
Darlene Fichter
http://library.usask.ca/~fichter/
Data Library Coordinator
University of Saskatchewan Library
Overview
 What technologies have a “sweet spot”
for libraries?
1. New (free or almost free) tools
 Weblogs, RSS, Instant Messaging
2. Key components
 Metasearch and link resolvers
3. Digital projects and local communities
 Small-scale digital projects
Take a Moment
Think about family & friends
What technologies are they using now that
they didn’t 2 years ago or 6 months ago
Jot down three
Now, Consider
Have libraries made use of these new tools?
How could we make use of them?
William Gibson’s Observation
“the future is already here,
it’s just unevenly distributed”
Technology
2
1
4
3
Tip: Where is the new technology on the hype cycle?
5
What do I Think is Waxing?
Broadband Home: Armchair Revolution
Ultimate jukebox has every
–
–
–
–
song ever recorded
movie ever made
game ever created
Every book ???
Infinite television
Early adopters: 12,500 songs,125 hours of video
(300 gigabytes) on tap
Welcome to the Broadband Home of the Future
www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.01/wiredhome_1.html
Broadband Library?
My “personal” library
What will be our role?
– Digital library for the “have nots”?
Or full circle?
– Institutions of learning
Media literacy
Trusted advisors (reputation managers)
Broadband Library Challenges
How will we facilitate moving information in
and out of the content repositories that we
license?
How will “The Library’s Collection” be part
of a “personal library”
How will we handle authentication and
rights?
WiFi revolution
Always on
Always connected
Always part of the “infosphere”
– Like air around us
WiFi Phones/Devices
People will snap up one device that offers
– telephone, web and e-mail access,
– unified address book,
– a calendar for meetings.
Plus
– Camera, portable music player
End of Browser Domination
There are 1.5 billion mobile phones in the
world today. Already you can use them to
browse the Web, take pictures, send e-mail,
and play games. Soon they could make your
PC obsolete.*
*Brad Stone, Your Next Computer.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5092826/site/newswkkk
WiFi and Libraries
Is the library a “hot spot”?
Are we ready to deliver
our services and content
to range of devices?
What changes if our users
are “always on”?
Infosphere
“Today’s digital kids think of information and
communications technology (ICT) as something akin to
oxygen: they expect it, it’s what they breathe and it’s
how they live.
They use ICT to meet, play, date and learn. It’s an integral
part of their social life; it’s how they acknowledge each
other and form their personal identities.”*
*John Seely Brown, “Learning in the Digital Age,”
The Internet and the University: 2001 Forum
How We Might See the Infosphere
Databases/
Publications
Web/Internet
Library
Collections
Intranets &
Institutional Content
Adapted from Cathy DeRosa, OCLC Presentation on the Environmental Scan
How Our Customers See It
Databases/
Publications
Expectations & Learned Behaviors
Infosphere is continuous
Our users are used to the “AmaZooglePedia”
phenomena
– Simplicity
– Seamless
Major Challenge: Break Down Silos
Information silos or "stovepipes" result when
information storehouses are created at
different times or by disparate applications or
groups
– Databases from different vendors
– Catalogue
– Library site search
Photo Credit: Aaron’s Photos http://www.aaronisnotamused.com/gallery/newhampshire/Chimneys
Creative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/
Result
User is left to cope with the fragmentation
Frustrated users
Time wasted
Lost opportunities
Libraries are Responding
Metasearch or federated search
– allow users to search heterogeneous resources
including licensed databases from a single
search interface
Metasearch Engines Break Silos By
 Reducing the cognitive burden choosing
databases
 Minimizing time needed to learn a dozen
different search interfaces
 Increasing productivity by saving time
repeating the same search and manually
deduplicating result lists
Library Crosswalks –Link Resolvers
Photo Credit:
Constructed
converging lines walkways of the
Otway Fly by
thppt
http://chiastic.net/gallery/auGOR/CIMG1053
Link Resolvers
Based on the OpenURL Framework
Transmit bibliographic information via
hypertext links in order to connect users to
the full text content
Extra Option
The article
Full text in
Science Direct
Focus is Shifting
1994-
1999-
2004 -
Connecting the Dots: Information to People
Collaboration and social software
Use of the internet is shifting
– Online world has moved from reading web pages
as solo activity to one of social interaction
with chatting, commenting, and sharing
information
The Hype about “Social Software”
What is it?
“Social software can be defined as whatever
supports our actual human interaction as we
colonize the virtual realm”*
*Jon Udell, The Social Enterprise, March 26, 2004, InfoWorld,
www.infoworld.com/article/04/03/26/13FEsocial_1.html
Some Types of Social Software
Weblogs
Friends of friends sites
Wikis
Instant Messaging
Social bookmarking sites
Libraries and Weblogs
“Push Button Publishing” for the Web
No need to know HTML
No need to know about FTP and servers
Sign up for an account at a free service like
– www.blogger.com
Have a web page in 3-5 minutes!
Some Ways Libraries Use Weblogs
New Resources
Library Construction News
Teen Blogs
Book discussion blogs
www.waterborolibrary.org/blog.htm
RSS & Libraries – Spread the News
What is RSS?
Rich Site Summary
Really Simple Syndication
Think of it as a machine readable file (XML) that
includes headlines of new content on your web
site and links back to your site
Why have an RSS Feed?
Free publicity!
Who
– Individuals will subscribe
– Other web site publishers will list your “headlines”
– Content is searchable in RSS search engines
News is free
Comes free with weblog or can easily be
created by hand or with a script
Instant Messaging and Libraries
Some libraries are using it for “low cost” reference or
in the library
Pluses
– Familiar to many of the library’s younger users
– Natural fit for them
Things to consider
– Keeping a copy of the transcript
– Not as private as it’s hosted off site
– Not all the bells and whistles of some packages
Data Library and Instant Messaging
Are you there?
Quick answers
Cut down email glut
– Can you meet Tuesday?
– How about Wednesday?
– 10 emails later …
Libraries and Social Software
Are we prepared to help our organizations
make use of social software applications?
– Initiators and leaders
– Supporters
– Participating
 Are we ready to make internal and external
content available as RSS feeds and to
authors of Weblogs and Wikis?
Small Scale Digital Projects with a Big Impact
Most libraries have unique collections
– Photographs
– Local history
– Unusual or rare materials
Specialized indexes or finding aids
– All the songs that mention “Saskatoon”
– All the hockey stars from “Saskatoon”
Libraries as Content Creators/Curators
Tour a few projects
Typical staffing requirements
– Part-time one staff member
– Teams of 4 students for 4 months
Native Law Cases (1800’s to present)
All case law related to aboriginal people of
Canada from courts in Canada and England
Start in 1994 –
Canadian Native Law Cases
http://library.usask.ca/native/
Northwest Resistance
Materials about battle
between the Métis people
& the Government of
Canada: biographies, maps,
broadsides,
http://library.usask.ca/northwest/
Special Exhibits
http://library.usask.ca/spcoll/postcardsindigenous/
Directory Site with Two Partners
http://library.usask.ca/native/directory/
First Nations Index Built with Partnerships
http://www.lights.ca/sifc/
Today: Building an Aboriginal Scholarly Portal
One place to look
Community (social software)
More than scholarly resources
–
–
–
–
Events
People
News
Special Tools
Development Site: http://library.usask.ca/test/abportal
Digital Library Projects
Many opportunities
Can be very inexpensive
– Part-time, students, volunteers, or staff
– Provide guidance and direction
Take time to learn about metadata standards
– Dublin core, MODS, TEI, EAD
– Standards provide the means for interoperable
digital libraries
Our Challenge
Make time to plan for
the future
Be savvy about
technology change
Be strategic
– Discover the “sweet spot” for libraries and users
– Participate, experiment, learn together
“Never Doubt that We Are Needed”
We need to seize the opportunities to deliver content
in context to a new generation of collaborative and
social software tools
Our skills and expertise can help increase
productivity and tailor information to support
business processes
Librarians bring a unique perspective and set of
skills to the interplay between people, information,
and work processes
Questions