OverviewTechnology - Bringing Power to the

Information Pipeline October 23, 2004

Darlene Fichterhttp://library.usask.ca/~fichter/

Data Library CoordinatorUniversity 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 & friendsWhat technologies are they using now that

they didn’t 2 years ago or 6 months agoJot 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

1

2

34

5

Tip: Where is the new technology on the hype cycle?

What do I Think is Waxing?

Broadband Home: Armchair RevolutionUltimate jukebox has every

– song ever recorded– movie ever made– game ever created– Every book ???

Infinite televisionEarly adopters: 12,500 songs,125 hours of video (300

gigabytes) on tap

Welcome to the Broadband Home of the Futurewww.wired.com/wired/archive/12.01/wiredhome_1.html

Broadband Library?

My “personal” libraryWhat will be our role?

– Digital library for the “have nots”?Or full circle?

– Institutions of learningMedia literacyTrusted 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 onAlways connectedAlways 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

Adapted from Cathy DeRosa, OCLC Presentation on the Environmental Scan

Web/InternetDatabases/Publications

LibraryCollections

Intranets & Institutional Content

How Our Customers See It

Databases/Publications

Expectations & Learned Behaviors

Infosphere is continuousOur 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/ChimneysCreative Commons – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/

Result

User is left to cope with the fragmentationFrustrated usersTime wastedLost 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 FrameworkTransmit 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

WeblogsFriends of friends sitesWikisInstant MessagingSocial bookmarking sites

Libraries and Weblogs

“Push Button Publishing” for the Web

No need to know HTMLNo need to know about FTP and serversSign up for an account at a free service like

– www.blogger.comHave a web page in 3-5 minutes!

Some Ways Libraries Use Weblogs

New ResourcesLibrary Construction NewsTeen BlogsBook discussion blogs

www.waterborolibrary.org/blog.htm

RSS & Libraries – Spread the News

What is RSS?

Rich Site SummaryReally Simple SyndicationThink 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 freeComes free with weblog or can easily be

created by hand or with a script

Instant Messaging and LibrariesSome libraries are using it for “low cost” reference or

in the libraryPluses

– 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 answersCut 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 projectsTypical 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 lookCommunity (social software)More than scholarly resources

– Events– People – News– Special Tools

Development Site: http://library.usask.ca/test/abportal

Digital Library Projects

Many opportunitiesCan 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