Prohibition or profit motive: competing visions for the endgame
Corrall & Dove - Web scale discovery and information literacy: competing visions or mutual support?
-
Upload
il-group-cilip-information-literacy-group -
Category
Education
-
view
726 -
download
1
Transcript of Corrall & Dove - Web scale discovery and information literacy: competing visions or mutual support?
Web Scale Discovery and Information Literacy – Competing Visions or Mutual Support? Sheila Corrall, University of Sheffield iSchool
John Dove, Credo Reference
LILAC 2012, Glasgow
Presentation outline • SeCng the scene − context, products and features of web scale discovery
• SoluHon or problem − impact on resource use, implicaHons for user educaHon
• Known item and exploratory searching − on the open web and via the library
• Reference services supporHng discovery • Four quesHons for reflecHon and debate
The context for web scale discovery Social • 24/7 online networked society • self-‐service and mutual support • Google generaHon
Technological • digital asset management • cloud compuHng • mobile connecHvity and apps
Economic • world financial crisis • exchange-‐rate volaHlity • service closures and job losses
PoliHcal • public expenditure cuts • doing more with less • demonstraHng value and impact
Perceptions of libraries, 2010 “When comparing libraries to search engines, overwhelmingly, Americans consider search engines to be more convenient, faster, more reliable and easier-‐to-‐use. Americans consider libraries to be more trustworthy and more accurate.
While Americans ranked libraries ahead of search engines in trustworthiness and accuracy, this disHncHon evaporates when asked about the informa(on that is provided by search engines and libraries. Most Americans (69%) believe the informaHon they find using search engines is just as trustworthy as they would find from their library.”
(OCLC, 2010, p. 40)
Information Literacy What students need to learn • Finding research tools beyond Google and Wikipedia • Understanding the purpose of the library • NavigaHng the library • Assessing quality and reliability of informaHon • Discerning between different types of materials • ConducHng effecHve searches • Narrowing topics • CiHng sources and avoiding plagiarism
Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries (ERIAL) project
Next generation discovery services Commercial • AquaBrowser Library • BiblioCommons • Ebsco Discovery Services • Encore (InnovaHve Interfaces) • Primo Central (Ex Libris) • SirsiDynix Enterprise • Summon (Serials SoluHons) • Visualizer (VTLS) • WorldCat Local (OCLC)
Open source • Blacklight • Fac-‐Back-‐OPAC (Kochief) • LibraryFind • Rapi • Scriblio (WPopac) • SOPAC (Social Opac) • VuFind (Breeding, 2010; Yang & Wagner, 2010)
Desired features of discovery services • Single search/point of entry − for all library materials
• State-‐of-‐the-‐art web interface • Enriched content
e.g. book cover images, user input
• Faceted navigaHon of results e.g. dates, formats, locaHon
• Simple keyword search box − on every page
• Relevancy ranking e.g. influenced by circulaHon data
• Did you mean . . .? − spell-‐checking mechanism
• RecommendaHons • User contribuHons
e.g. summaries, reviews, raHng, tagging, folksonomies
• RSS feeds • IntegraHon with social
networking sites • Persistent links (Yang & Wagner, 2010)
Web scale discovery – the story so far • Combining next-‐generaHon catalogues with federated search − integraHng print and digital, local and remote, records and content
• Providing access to library resources within user workflows − search from library homepage, LibGuide, uni portal, Blackboard, etc
• Allowing libraries to create mulHple profiles for communiHes − subject subsets of discovery resources to avoid overwhelming users
• Early reports of dramaHc impact on use of licensed resources − students able to find things easily, but not able to interpret results
• ImplicaHons for informaHon literacy and reference support − from database searching to understanding and evaluaHng informaHon (Gross & Sheridan, 2011; Howard & Wiebrands, 2011; Luther & Kelly, 2011;
Kenney, 2011; Way, 2010; Wisniewski, 2010)
One-stop info-shopping: pros and cons ✔ Convenient, easier and faster
access to informaHon ✔ Integrated into user workflow ✔ Student exposure to a wider
range of sources and material ✔ More visibility and use of
library scholarly resources ✔ Beker value for money from
investment in content
✔ Shils focus to higher-‐order informaHon literacy abiliHes
✘ Dumbing down the informaHon search process
✘ Problems with material from news databases
✘ Students need more help to make sense of search results
✘ Less funcHonality than naHve database interfaces
✘ NeglecHng development of basic informaHon skills
✘ Poor foundaHon for higher degrees and future careers
Seven Pillars of Information Literacy (SCONUL, 2011)
“InformaHon literacy is knowing when and why you need informaHon, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner.” (CILIP, 2004)
Competing visions of the library? The resource-‐based view of the library
• The library is essenHally a bundle of informaHon and other resources
• The library creates value through the use of its disHncHve resources
• Resource uHlisaHon is the key performance measure
(Barney, 1991; Wernerfelt, 1984)
The informa:on literacy view of the library
• The library is essenHally a place of learning
• The library creates value by developing the ability to understand and use informaHon in context
• InformaHon competence is the key measure of success
How? Advanced search opHons
Single search box
What? Approved scholarly content
Open web
content Most people start a search with Google
Some use Google Scholar (with library links)
Web scale discovery steers users back to the library
Librarians, faculty and grad students want more func:onality
Students need help in understanding search results
Dimensions of 21C search
Scenarios for the webscale discovery world • Library promotes discovery
tool as starHng point for student research
• Students move away from Google to discovery tool − get easier faster access
to reading list items − find more appropriate
resources for papers
BUT unable to select effecHvely from results
• Library uses teaching sessions, teachable moments or learning resources to explain how to use discovery tools − make sense of results − manage searches beker
• Library provides customised versions of discovery tool for parHcular user groups − exposing them to subject-‐
based subsets of resources
Session Htle here
Web-‐scale Discovery – What’s Missing from this Library Answer to Google?
• Familiar with keywords or relevant search terms
• Have specific information in mind
(article, book, journal, etc.) • Know where to start (website,
database, stacks)
• Lack of subject orientation and familiarity with keywords
• Need guidance to start searching • Need general information
Information need
“For over three-fourths (84%) of the students surveyed, the most difficult step of the course-related research process was getting started.”
Truth Be Told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age, Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, Project Information Literacy Progress Report, University of Washington's Information School, November 1, 2010 (72 pages, PDF, 602 KB).
OTHER16%
GETTING STARTED
84%
• Provides background and vocabulary
• Comprehensive and consistent • Easy to access and use • Provides potentially useful links
• Not always trustworthy • Not customized for audience • Does not actively promote IL skills
• Starting point for most people • OK for known item searches • Links to Wikipedia articles
• Millions of results
“Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink
from a fire hydrant.” Mitchell Kapor
!
• Summary, overview and background information
• Vocabulary building • Easily digestible • Links to relevant library resources
Four questions for reflection and debate 1. Are web scale discovery tools a good starHng point
for subject searches or for exploring new topics? 2. Will such tools help students become competent
informaHon users in the work place and later life? 3. Do we need to change our informaHon literacy
educaHon to fit the new discovery environment? 4. Can we augment our discovery services to support
and deliver our informaHon literacy mission?
LILAC 2012, Glasgow