Classification of resources -- Science Net

[Wayne Daniels]

In the wake of Nick Arnett's posting about the use of classfication schemes in
information retrieval, I thought I might mention the use of Dewey in our own
Science Net <http://sciencenet.tpl.toronto.on.ca>. There you will find a
series
of gatways to K-12 resources in the sciences. There will eventually be eight
subjects in all, two of which -- Physics and Chemistry -- are now available.
(Because only these are currently on offer, I suggest, if you visit the site,
to try the "Subject" search option: the "A-Z" index will eventually give
access
to all the Dewey and Dewey-ish subject labels used for each "shelf" of
resources, but is at present, necessarily, a bit thin.) 

Within each subject -- and the first two offer more than 600 links apiece --
the subdivisions can be explored via menus. Choosing, say, "Electricity and
electronics" under Physics will cause a page to appear that displays the
offering. In addition to a shallow -- so far -- vertical hierarchy, the sites
are, as it were, cross classified by target audience: teachers, K-6, and 7-12.

Science Net forms part of a larger structure, the Virtual Reference Library.
Subject searching via search engine will eventually be possible, from that
location, of the database that comprises Science Net. 

Please take a look and let me know what you think. There will be an article
appearing in forthcoming
issue of Library Hi Tech, written by myself and Kathy Scardellato (team leader
for the Virtual Reference Library Project) which goes into both Science Net
and
the VRL in greater detail. 

Cheers,


Wayne Daniels
Science Net Project Coordinator
Virtual Reference Libary Project -- 3rd Floor
North York Central Library
5120 Yonge Street
Toronto, ON
M2N 5N9

tel: (416) 395-5659
fax: (416) 395-5429

wdaniels at nypl.north-york.on.ca 
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