Was:Anatomy of a netscam/ Organizing Web Information -Reply

[Jim Campbell]

Now that we've added Organizing Web Information to the header, let me
suggest yet another turn to the topic.

In my Web work I'm not trying to compete with with Hotbot, access
everything of any interest, and bring order to chaos. My goal is more
modest and really very similar to the goals I've had in many years as a
materials selector. I try to work with my clientele to identify their
needs and then select and provide easy access to resources likely to
meet those needs. On the page for our German Department I feel no
obligation to list all the various German-English dictionaries on the
Web. Most of them are intended for elementary school children. Rather
I'm linking to the one dictionary in Munich that's of some real use.
Alta Vista and Yahoo are there for people who really want to go out and
sample others.

There are some efforts at selection, the Magellan stars and the top 5%
and all, but we've seen that these can be directed by commercial
motives and, the big difference, they work from general principles. A
site that does a great job of explaining particle physics to sixth
graders may be deserving of four stars and still not be of much
interest to graduate students in the field.

I can't disagree with those who say that we will have much better
methods of searhing the Internet. I hope so. It will make it much
easier to find resources to point our users to.

    -  Jim Campbell
    Networked Information Coordinator/Web Manager
    University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA 22903 USA
    campbell at virginia.edu * Tel: 804-924-4985 * Fax: 804-924-1431