Participatory WWW Database Development and Resource Classification

[Gerry McKiernan]

  As part of a planned enhancement of CyberStacks(sm) - my
recently-announced, demonstration prototype 'virtual' Science
and Technology Reference Collection, I plan to initiate
a program of 'Participatory Database Development' (PDD)
that will involve two major components:

    1) Solicitation from a defined community of users,
       recommednations of WWW/Internet resources they
       believe should be included and/or added to
       a section of the CyberStacks(sm) collection

       If appropriate funding is provide, we plan to
       fully develop the Agriculture (S) of CyberStacks(sm)
       by organizing within its framework, all _significant_
       WWW/Internet resources of a Reference nature that
       that are document-like objects (e.g. serial or
       monographic works) and/or discrete resource (e.g
       a WWW research service (e.g. MathSearch)).

       During the construction of this section, we will
       contact appropriate potential users of this section
       through relevant listserv and newsgroup broadcasts.
       requesting suggestions of resources for inclusion and
       incorporation. Those resource suggested by participants
       will be reviewed and given the highest priority for
       inclusion within CyberStacks(sm).

       For those resources which are requested but not currently
       available, we will re-search the Net for such a resource
       or one of a similar nature, and incorporate it if found.
       If not found to be available, we will contact an appropriate
       publisher as recommend that such a work be considered for
       Web publication

    2) During and after this solicitation process, we
       will request that users suggest the most specific
       category _or_ categories within Cyber Stacks(sm)
       where a recommended or incorporated resource may
       be classified, or may _also_ be classified.

       The intent of this component is to place resources
       where users themselves would expect to find them
       as well as in places where librarians believe they
       _should_ be classified.

       In placing resources in more than one category we
       will be embarking on a further development of CyberStacks(sm)
       that makes greater use of the hypertext functionally of
       the Web browsers themselves and the versatility of the
       CyberStacks(sm) scheme.

  In preparation for these planned enhancements and studies,
I am interested in specific projects of a similar nature or
other studies that have involved 'participatory database development'.
I am particularly interested in studies of user-designated, or user-
defined or user-enhanced categorization of resources, preferably
within a hypermedia environment.

  I would also appreciate any and all comments, thoughts or reactions to
this approach.

  If you have not already visited the CyberStacks(sm) prototype, please
pay a visit; the NEW URL for CyberStacks(sm) is:

             http://www.public.iastate/edu/~CYBERSTACKS/

Virtually,

Gerry McKiernan
Curator, CyberStacks(sm)
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011

gerrymck at iastate.edu

                     "The Future IS Now!"