[Web4lib] Interesting Web/Library 2.0data(wasparticpationSkillsfor Library 2.0 Leaders)

Thu May 10 10:06:58 EDT 2007

Mark Costa wrote

> It would even be more amazing if libraries somehow generated 
> metadata on the charts, graphs, and table data within reports 
> and articles so I can extract that information more 
> effectively. 

I don't know if there are any libraries doing this amazing thing, but CSA is
making a very interesting stab at it. See
http://info.csa.com/csaillustrata/

Which to me proves that this is the wrong argument, we shouldn't be
discussing "simple and easy to use VERSUS complex and powerful" but rather
getting people to information in ways that best meet their needs.  Sometimes
that's one approach, sometimes it's another (and that can be true for the
same individual depending on the information needed).  Some researchers will
decide it's a good use of their time to work out complex
information-gathering strategies, some will just look at one or two sources
they're familiar with whenever they're wondering about a project, and some
will just ask the colleague who is known for having a particularly good box
full of articles under his desk. 

So I'd like to see us offering simple and easy to use for those who need it
(including advanced researchers dipping a toe in another discipline) and
powerful and easy to use for those who need that.  That should be true for
our systems and for the advice we offer our users, they should adapt to the
individual need, not force the individual to adapt to them.

- Jim Campbell

Digital Access Librarian | Librarian for German
E-Mail: Campbell at Virginia.Edu | Voice: 434-924-4985

Digital Access Services, University of Virginia Library
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/digital/das/

> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org 
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Mark Costa
> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 9:15 AM
> To: John Fereira
> Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org; Lars Aronsson
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Interesting Web/Library 
> 2.0data(wasparticpationSkillsfor Library 2.0 Leaders)
> 
> What are we arguing about? Oh, .
> 
> LexisNexis and all its various sub-components have a steep 
> learning curve, yet once people develop a proficiency with 
> the interface they are happy with its precision.
> 
> For our purposes, Google is all about one thing: the search. 
> Their page layout screams it; the box sits dead center and 
> there is very little else to distract from that message. Yet 
> when you account for the entire information seeking process 
> of a person, you will notice that it is very complex. It 
> involves both browsing and searching. That is why Yahoo 
> continuously generates more page visits than Google [1]. 
> Google happens to be more successful because they do a better 
> job of monetizing visits and they developed ways to break 
> their services up to allow them to be easily integrated into 
> other people's pages. I think we came to a general consensus 
> that libraries need to do a better job of making their 
> content portable, perhaps by leveraging XML.
> 
> I have two quick anecdotes that may generage some discussion.
> 
> 1) Is anyone here a history major, or perhaps used the 
> ABC-CLIO history databases? If so, you'll probably understand 
> what I am about to say.
> ABC-CLIO, with their decidely un-simple interface allows 
> researchers to search for articles by the time period they 
> cover. If I remember correctly, you can search by years, 
> decades, and centuries. I have not found a better example of 
> how a database caters to its users.
> 
> 2) I am 3 months away from beginnng to work on my PhD. I know 
> I want nothing to do with the library's web site. I hope that 
> they proxy all of their databases, so I can post the links to 
> del.icio.us, grab the feed and stick them on my Netvibes 
> page. I also hope that my favorite journals use RSS, because 
> I do not want to go to a database to search every month. It 
> also would be pretty hot if I can turn a search query into a 
> feed, just to see if anything else is published outside of my 
> favorite journals. Do you know what else would be nice, if I 
> could easily navigate through citations so that I can grab 
> articles easily, and perhaps see what research topics are 
> tangentially related to what I am researching, which may 
> generate new topics of interest. And when I do a search, I 
> won't want the entirety of a library's collection in the 
> search results, because my research does not even remotely 
> touch on the what's contained in the library's digital 
> collection of 18th century love letters or what have you.And please make
it easy for me to share what I 
> find with my colleagues, that would be great.
> 
> I'm probably preaching to the choir, but what makes it really 
> hard for us to do anything is the onerous copyright 
> protections on what we try to disseminate. Perhaps this 
> entire debate is a byproduct of the fact that whether we 
> choose to go complex or stay simple, we are constantly forced 
> with the need to force our users through hoops to get the 
> actual content. I guess no matter how good of a job we do in 
> designing an interface or site, our users will be turned off 
> when they have to look at something like this:
> 
> *Academy of Management journal*  *(0001-4273)*
>           from 03/01/1963 to 12/31/2001 in JSTOR Arts and 
> Sciences IV 
> Collection<http://ck5zj6hy9n.search.serialssolutions.com/log?L
=CK5ZJ6HY9N&D=JAV&&J=ACADOFMANJO&U=http://www.jstor.org/journals/00014273.ht
ml>
>  from
> 1974 to 06/01/2005 in AWC Library Holdings  from 03/01/1987 
> to 12/01/2001 in ProQuest Research 
> Library<http://ck5zj6hy9n.search.serialssolutions.com/log?L=CK
5ZJ6HY9N&D=PRA&&J=ACADOFMANJO&U=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?RQT=318&pmid=
24476>
>  from
> 1992 to 2001 in
> ABI/INFORM<http://ck5zj6hy9n.search.serialssolutions.com/log?L
=CK5ZJ6HY9N&D=CAB&&J=ACADOFMANJO&U=http://firstsearch.oclc.org/dbname=ABI_IN
FORM;FSIP>
> 
> I just want the damn article!
> 
> I realize that this conversation has little to do with small 
> colleges and public libraries, and I appreciate the *smack* I 
> recieved for dragging the public good schtick into the debate 
> when it wasn't appropriate. I also appreciate some of the 
> good links and examples of these practices being put into place.
> 
> 
> 
> [1] http://www.alexa.com/
> 
> 
> 
> --
> Mark R. Costa, MLS
> 
> "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the 
> unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to 
> himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
> --- George Bernard Shaw
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
> 