administering collections of internet links (fwd)

[Robert J Tiess]

<A.S.Mcnab at lboro.ac.uk> writes:

>On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Elizabeth L. Blakely wrote:
>
>> Like many libraries we are creating a set of topically organized 
links to
>> Internet sites, a miniature "Yahoo" that provides annotated links
selected
>> to support our user groups particular needs.  As our lists of sites
grows
>> we find the overlap and time to edit hard-coded lists time consuming
>> hampering its growth and consistency.
>
>So why do it?  Unless you are required to do so for political reasons 
(and
>I am aware that in some academic institutions the powers-that-be see it
as
>fitting for their LIS staff to spend time on Internet resource discovery
>and producing customised web pages), you are re-inventing the wheel. 
>There are a number of specialised Subject-Based Internet Gateways and
>general directory services which you could direct your users to.

As more resource directories and search services are appearing
every day, it is quite tempting simply to point users to these often
polished and seemingly perfect guides.  However, Elizabeth focuses
on the issue of electronic resource development when she states,
"annotated links selected to support our user groups particular needs." 
That is primarily why those among us see time invested in the creation of
"miniature Yahoo[s]."  Yahoo! is far too general and vast to use as a
sole
guide to the Internet, and its annotations leave much to be
desired--let's
keep in mind the annotations are, for the most part, entered by URL
submitters and may not explain or be accurate.  Furthermore, the
annotations are often not even independent clauses, and the newest of
sites don't become available through search engines until they've been
indexed, which could be a while, depending on the search engine used.

Now, I personally rank Yahoo! as one of the best search services ever
created for the Internet.  However, I believe Internet-enabled libraries
have something approaching a responsibility to offer a more useful,
intimate, tighter-scoped, and stabler reference point for patrons
linking to electronic resources through the library's web site.  The
entire Internet can and should be made available, including links to
Yahoo! and other search services, but if you have the time, I think
there's a great value in developing link collections.  It may indeed be
tantamount to "reinventing the wheel," but every library is unique, and
such an original link collection could be used to complement any
given library's general, local or special collections.  So, while simply
linking to a remote resource directory is convenient, particularly for
those libraries with limited or no time or interest for developing their
own, something is being lost, whether it's a sense of direction for
patrons new to the Internet or the electronic resource individuality
that can only really come from a staff willing to invest a fair amount
of time and effort in establishing a limited set of useful reference
links.  Electronic resource collection is critical

As link collections lacking the corporate backing of Yahoo! (et al)
come and go, it's probably better in this regard to administer your own
link collection:  less remote site 404 Errors, as you can more quickly
locate and alter/delete links (as opposed to search sites that take an
average minimum of two weeks to add or update a link in their
database) and, more importantly, you eliminate the possibility of not
having the total hypothetical remote resource directory in the event a
remote server goes down, changes its IP address/domain name, or
goes offline permanently.  At least your own library's electronic
resource directory would be on your server, in your editorial control,
and there indefinitely for your patrons.


Robert J. Tiess

P.S.  I recall a site close to home, so to speak, called Library Land,
by Jerry Kuntz of RCLS (www.rcls.org)--a great "mini Yahoo" in its
own right, replete with resources specific to libraries, and one I
would surely cite as an excellent example of a well-developed link
collection as well as evidence of a need and a use for customized
link lists.  And then there's my own library's site, which will shortly
be undergoing its next evolutionary step with the establishment of
something tentatively titled Project Vitalink, a resource guide I am
engineering to focus on sites most likely contained in most
search engines out there, but sites I believe our patrons have
expressed a desire to visit.  It will absorb some other resource
guides presently available at our web site and offer something
infinitely more substantial and customized to meet our patron's
local and sophisticate needs.