Do library catalogues and repositories talk to each other?
The Centre for Digital Library Research at the University of Strathclyde is currently investigating the links between university library catalogues and digital repositories as part of a JISC funded study.
Can library users find resources in their university’s digital repository through the library catalogue? Do library catalogues and repositories share records for the same items?
If catalogues and repositories generally aren’t linked in these sorts of ways at the moment, could they be?
These are some of the issues being explored by the study. The team are surveying repository managers and others about now - so, if you receive a request to respond to their online survey, your response would be much appreciated.
For further information about the study, please visit the project’s Web site and the project’s Web page on the JISC site.
How do people use electronic information resources?
Research funded by the JISC, RIN and others over recent years has helped to increase understanding of how students and researchers use electronic information resources. Analysis of Web logs - such as the work done for the e-Books Observatory Study by CIBER at UCL - has proved a fruitful line of inquiry.
A new study - which has now been underway for a few months (so apologies for this late post) - seeks to add to this evidence through detailed observation of how individual students and researchers in Business and Economics use a number of information resources in their area (such as Business Source Premier).
The aim is to observe how individuals react to and use particular interfaces and then to explore those behaviours through structured interviews.
The work is being conducted by Middlesex University and is being complemented by an analysis of Web logs for a selection of Business and Economics e-books and e-journals by CIBER.
A report of the findings is expected during the autumn.
For further information, please visit the project Web page on the JISC Web site.
Towards the academic library of the future - expressions of interest by 8 July 09
We’re working in partnership with SCONUL, RIN, RLUK and the British Library on an initiative:
• to gather and analyse evidence about current and future trends that are likely to have an impact on the future of academic and research libraries in the UK; and
• to formulate strategic responses to help libraries respond creatively to key changes in the wider environment, so that they continue to develop and sustain effective levels and types of information services to support students and researchers in the HE and related sectors.
We’re currently seeking expressions of interest to lead and manage the activity which will use a variety of futures tools and techniques, such as horizon-scanning; trend and driver analysis; scenario analysis; attractiveness grids; and/or value chain analysis. Prospective consultants may wish to suggest other approaches. Whatever approaches are adopted, a key feature of the programme should be that seeks the active participation of as wide a range as possible of people in the library and information sectors, along with users and other stakeholders from across the higher education and research sectors, and their engagement in helping to
• identify, review and assess key trends and underlying drivers likely to affect scholarly libraries, and their use by students and researchers in the years ahead;
• formulate and test scenarios to assess current policies, processes and services, the likely impact of future developments, and the issues and choices facing decision-makers; and
• draft a series of authoritative papers setting out possible futures for library and information services in supporting institutional teaching, learning and research strategies, and the steps required if those futures are to be realised.
The success of the initiative will depend on securing contributions from people with a wide range of views and perspectives who are prepared to experiment with ideas, to challenge existing assumptions, to ask awkward questions, and to test possible impacts.
The contract let will be funded up to a level of £120,000 (exlcuding VAT) and will run from September 2009 to April 2011.
Expressing interest:
Expressions of interest should simply take the form of an email indicating a name and full contact details. Following the outcome of this call, the RIN will issue an ITT to those who have expressed an interest. A full project specification and tendering requirements will then be issued.
The deadline for expressions of interest is 8 July 2009.
Expressions of interest should be directed to Aaron Griffiths (aaron.griffiths@rin.ac.uk). Please also contact Aaron is you have any questions relating to this work.
JISC has recently taken forward a campaign to help raise some of the related issues.
Web Services and repositories
I attended a workshop on June 2 on the use of Web Services to enable interoperability between repositories, repository services and other systems. The workshop was organised by the Ethos project (Electronic Theses Online). Most attendees were from a repository manager or developer background.
[Update: the presentations (including audio recording) at this event are now available]
As a number of speakers noted, the term ‘Web Services’ is a very broad one. The main focus of the day was on the use of a number of specific protocols and approaches to provide ’services’:
SWORD for depositing items in repositories
SRU to search for and retrieve items
And REST for passing data between servers.
Using such ’services’ enables repository services to be used from within environments other than the repository itself (so, if you wanted to deposit an item in a repository from within a research management application of some kind, for example). It also enables repositories to use other systems’ services. One example given of this was look up of file format information from the National Archives’ PRONOM database of file formats.
From discussion, the general view appeared to be that Web Services do have a role to play in aiding integration of repositories with other systems and avoiding ’silos’. However, achieving such integration raises issues such as:
- having sufficient access to technical expertise
- ensuring good communication between repository managers and developers
- focussing on real user needs.
None of these are easy issues to address. Two of the speakers came from institutions which are members of the Scottish Digital Library Consortium and they noted the value of libraries ‘clubbing together’ to share available technical expertise and resources.
The ‘library management system’: a round up of some (fairly) recent initiatives
This is rather a long post - but it is on a big subject!
Last year saw the publication by the JISC and SCONUL of a major report on library management systems used in UK higher education. A lot has happened since. So, I thought it might be useful to post an update - even a long one - on some related recent JISC activities.
The LMS report highlighted a number of issues to be addressed in order to make library resources as visible and accessible as possible in the digital environment, including:
• integrating library systems and other university systems so that relevant data can be shared between them and users can access services in different ways (within university portals, virtual learning environments, etc.)
• making library metadata (catalogue records) available to other services (such as web search engines and collaborative web tools) so that information about library resources can be easily found, used and personalised by users where and how they choose
• using library usage data (information about how many times an item has been borrowed and by what kind of user, for example) to indicate how individual library resources are being used, thereby providing a basis for user ‘rating’ for library resources – and doing this at a ‘network level’ (so not limited to one library) in order to have access to enough meaningful data
• improving the quality of search interfaces and reducing the number of different systems which users need to search to access the full range of resources available to them.
JISC is just one partner in seeking to address these issues with vendors of library systems developing new discovery tools, OCLC’s recent announcement about using WorldCat as the basis for effectively a shared library management system and SCONUL investigating the potential for shared library management systems, for example.
So, what has been happening on the JISC front?
The TILE (Towards Implementation of Library 2.0 and the e-Framework) project has investigated the use of Web 2.0 tools by library services, outlined a possible new model (a ‘library domain model’) for how library services might fit in the wider information environment (to help inform further development of library systems) and proposed testing the extraction and combination of usage data from a number of university systems to provide the bases of user ratings for library resources.
As you may know from some earlier posts, reports from the TILE project are now available on the JISC web site and there is a workshop on the domain model planned for June 19. Further work is planned to test extracting and combining usage data as noted above.
Meanwhile, EDINA and MIMAS are developing the search interfaces for SUNCAT (the national serials catalogue) and COPAC (the national research libraries’ catalogue) as part of the D2D (Discovery to Delivery) project. The work includes providing Web 2.0 and other tools to enable users to share metadata and to link from bibliographic records to ‘the thing itself’ (or a means of obtaining it). The project partly builds on the recommendations and findings of the DPIE (Development of Personalisation for the Information Environment) investigations of 2008.
Continuing the theme of ‘joining up’, the JISC Scholarly Communications Working Group recently commissioned a study into the existing and potential links between library management systems and digital repositories.
And the winning entry at the recent Dev8D Web Developers event was a prototype reading list system which aimed to make it easier to extract information for reading lists from catalogues, Amazon and elsewhere and then make the reading lists available in different applications.
Following the major ‘Google generation’ report of early 2008, efforts also continue to understand what information services people actually need with the launch of a new British Library/JISC study of young researchers’ use of online and physical information environments. JISC’s Publishers’ Action Group has also commissioned an observational study of how individual students and academic staff in Business and Economics use electronic information resources.
So, there is a lot going on - and that is just within a JISC context. If nothing else, the activity in this area illustrates that the ‘library management system’ is even more the subject of debate than it was when the JISC/SCONUL study was commissioned not so very long ago …
Modelling the ‘library domain’: a consultative workshop on June 19
The challenge of making library resources visible and accessible in the Web 2.0 environment was a major focus of last year’s JISC/SCONUL study of Library Management Systems.
The JISC TILE (Towards Implementation of Library 2.0 and the e-Framework) project was subsequently commissioned to draft a high level ‘library domain model’ which could be used to further thinking about the functions and processes that library systems need to support in future.
We are now organising a workshop to consult on the domain model proposed, and how it might be used in the future.
Who should attend?
The workshop is intended for a mix of senior and middle library managers in a range of roles (so, not confined to colleagues with formal IT/systems management responsibilities).
Where and when is it?
Friday 19th June 2009 at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, central London.
What is the programme for the day?
The programme consists of a mixture of presentations and group work.
How do I register?
Due to the consultative nature of this workshop, we have a limited number of places. If you would like to attend, please register your interest by 18th May 2009, and we will contact you thereafter to confirm your place or add your name to a waiting list.
Library round up: event, discussion and new domain model
This post more or less repeats some JISC news items (sorry) but I wanted to make sure readers of this blog saw some JISC library related activity that has been discussed, published and presented this week. In particular I want to draw attention to Peter Murray-Rust’s blog posts on the Library of the Future, in case anyone wants to contribute before he speaks at the JISC/Bodleian Library event on 2 April. You can register to attend the Libraries of the Future event in person or in Second Life. Related information:
Overview. Speakers. Registration. Agenda.
Event tag: LOTF09
Peter has blogged some ideas and sought feedback (you’ll need to scroll through a few pages on his blog to see all of the discussion). He has identified some people and organizations that, as a scientist he personally considers relevant to librarians / libraries of the future. He only includes a couple of librarians; the list of those identified leans towards computer scientists not information scientists. In general (my crude summary of a wide ranging discussion!) he appears to be highlighting the need for a revolutionary attitude, more experimentation and for academic librarians to be promoters of good policy and practice with regards to ownership and access to scholarship, and the need to move to the web.
“…the librarians of the future. They build vital, communal, information resources. They invite collaboration, either directly or implicitly. They overthrow conventional wisdom and entrenched systems and interests.”
The blog discussion is interesting, there have been quite a few contributions, and I think it points to the importance of communication between librarians, computers scientists, researchers, learners and university managers.
And to briefly draw your attention to some other library focused activity from JISC this week:
The TILE (Towards the Implementation of Library 2.0 and the eFramework) project report and briefing paper has been published. This includes a library domain model developed to identify what the library processes are in the networked environment in the light of changing behaviour and information provision. The work has focused in particular on two increasingly important areas in delivering relevant services, these are context/personalization and contribution. There will be further consultation on the domain model via a workshop later in the year.
Finally at the JISC Conference this week there was a session on the Future of Academic Library – this discussed issues such as shared services, the evolving library collection and introduced a collaboration between JISC, SCONUL, BL, RLUK and RIN to consult and develop positions on the way in which libraries can respond to change.
New arrivals on the JISC IE Team
The JISC IE team is delighted to welcome some new faces to its ranks. Ben Wynne has come to JISC after most recently being the Deputy Librarian at the University of the West of England and brings considerable experience to his new role as Programme Manager focusing on the Digital Libraries area. His first task at JISC will be to investigate how libraries should be responding to a Web 2.0 world and he will be following up the recommendations of the JISC and SCONUL commissioned study of the Library Management Systems and Electronic Resource Management System landscape (April 2008) http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/resourcediscovery/libraryMS
In addition to this, Ben will also begin by looking at issues relating to Trust and Provenance of digital information.
The other new arrival on the team is David Flanders, well known to many in the JISC community as the driving force behind the much talked-about and highly-praised recent event, Developer Happiness Days. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2009/02/devohappyday.aspx
David was the recipient of JISC funding in his previous role at Birkbeck College, working on the SOURCE project and also playing a principal role in the ‘Wisdom of CRIG’ initiative which provided expert support on technical and other matters to the emerging base of UK respositories. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/digitalrepositories2007/wocrig.aspx
David will be able to bring very practical knowledge and expertise to his role as Programme Manager (Digital Libraries), not only with hands-on experience of technical development, but also using his experience of working within the constraints of the JISC funding framework to help us examine our processes and procedures and ensure they continue to offer the wider community maximum benefit and value for money.
Not only is the IE team expanding but other new faces are arriving at JISC as well. Whilst formally belonging to the e-Research team, it seems very likely that the work that Simon Hodson will be doing will have a great deal of overlap with the Repositories and Preservation area as he has been given responsibility for a new programme that JISC will formally announce in the near future around the whole area of ‘research data’. Simon joins us from the University of Hull and has also been on the receiving end of JISC funding, working as part of the VRE programme.
We are delighted to welcome all of them and anticipate taking great advantage of their respective expertise in a number of areas to scope and progress new and exciting areas of work.
Scholarly Infomation Practices & Library Services: OCLC report
This new report, Scholarly Information Practices in the Online Environment: Themes from the Literature and Implications for Library Service Development, from OCLC Research has already had a lot of publicity, not least via Lorcan Dempsey’s blog. But I thought I’d just mention it here in case others haven’t picked up on it
I have just read it and I really liked it. Not because it told me lots of new things but because it manages to very clearly set out a summary of the salient aspects of the information behaviour of researchers from a range of literature and it draws out the implications for library services. I think it is really well written.
Just the kind of report for someone that finds themself ‘information rich and time poor’! (Leigh term):-).
Palmer, Carole L., Lauren C. Teffeau and Carrie M. Pirmann. 2009. Scholarly Information Practices in the Online Environment: Themes from the Literature and Implications for Library Service Development. Report commissioned by OCLC Research. Published online at: http://www.oclc.org/programs/publications/reports/2009-02.pdf [pdf]
Mashing thingISBN and library lookup using yahoo pipes courtesy of Mashed libraries 2008
I attended the Mashed libraries event organised by Owen Stephens and UKOLN on Thursday 27th. See Owen’s blog for an overview of the day. I am not a techie but I do love to mess around with software so I was expecting to be an interested observer rather than do any mashing myself. However the event was so good that even a tinkerer like me was able to put something useful together as a result.
Tony Hirst demonstrated how to use Yahoo Pipes to do a number of useful things. One of the things Tony showed was how to use LibraryThing’s ThingISBN api to look up alternative editions of a book using the ISBN. Tony goes into detail about this pipe on his blog.
I am a regular user of my local public library but the opac search experience is truly horrible; clunky, slow and restrictive. The fastest and most reliable way to search is by ISBN. However the problem with ISBN searching is that the opac covers 9 boroughs so there are bound to be alternative versions of most books and the opac is not clever enough to be able to detect this so I have to augment ISBN searches with painful title or author searches. ThereforeTony’s pipe offered a possible solution to my problem.
Tony’s pipe was designed to link the results for all the alternative ISBNs to Amazon so it was simple to tweak it to display links to my local library instead. My version of Tony’s pipe can be seen on my yahoo pipes page.
However it would be a bit of a pain to have to go to yahoo pipes every time I wanted to look up alternative ISBNs for a book so I tried to think of ways to make it more convenient. My first instinct was to try and make a netvibes widget that I could use to search for alternative ISBNs. However making a widget that accepted variable input in the ISBN field proved beyond me. Just as I was about to give up I thought of a different way.
I already use Jon Udell’s library lookup bookmarklet to scrape ISBNs from Amazon pages and search for them in my local library catalogue. Perhaps it was possible to use this with the pipe?
It was not only possible but incredibly simple. You can select the pipe to output alternative ISBNs in an RSS feed. When you do this, you get the following url: http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=6c6dc73754946fa278bbc1f76cddc469&_render=rss&isbn=0099469693
All I had to do was plug this url (minus the isbn number at the end) into the library lookup bookmarklet generator, choose Innovative from the vendor list, click the build button and drag the result to your browser toolbar. Now I have a bookmarklet that can scrape an ISBN from an Amazon record and look up all alternative versions of the book on my local library opac.
It is not perfect, it is ugly and it does not distinguish between ISBNs for books that the library holds and those that it does not. However, it is something that I will use on an almost daily basis and I am unreasonably pleased with myself. Thanks Tony, Owen and Mashed Libraries.
I find events like Mashed libraries incredibly useful and I always come away buzzing with ideas. JISC will be putting on an event for developers early next year. Look out for more news on this on the event blog at http://dev8d.jiscinvolve.org
***Update***Thanks to Owen’s prompting on Twitter, I have now modified the pipe so that it only displays links to editions of the book that the library holds. This uses the content of the h1 tags on the opac pages to judge whether a book is held or a null result is returned and then filters out the null results. It is a rather inelegant solution and is very specific to the opac of my local public library but I imagine could be generalised if you were willing to mess about with it.