Wednesday, April 29, 2009
I spend an aweful lot of time going to work and sleeping. That's not the only things I do, but it sure seems to take up a lot of my time recently. Thankfully, I have discovered that I have comic books from Curt that I haven't even begun to read. Blessed be the comic books for they will keep me entertained. However, I have discovered some really interesting nonfiction at which I will have to look. (it just took me two minutes to end that sentence because I was trying to unsplit the infinitive and end without an preposition. Fucking English!) There are a lot of new books coming out about the tech savvy generation and how they are all coming out with some badass stuff. I dare say I might even enjoy reading nonfiction a little.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Oh SNAP!
Best. News. EVER! I'm almost done with Cataloging. I could not be more happy. I don't think I can be a cataloger. A lot of the librarians I have talked to say the same thing I do about how a cataloger is a necessary part of the library, but not something they could do.
Coming up next for me will be Library Use Instruction and Teen Services. Thses will both probably be pretty fun. I'm totally pumped for Teen Services. I get to read all the best YA fiction and nonfiction and learn how the library can support the young adults of the community. We're bringing games into the library and letting kids use the internet for free and all the other cool things that all you kids are doing these days.
Library use instruction will be with all of my library peeps. Tim and Therese and Meg and I think maybe even Bridget.
[edit: Not Bridget.]
Thank goodness I've finished my homework. I just spent the last forty minutes mid sentence because I was on facebook.
Coming up next for me will be Library Use Instruction and Teen Services. Thses will both probably be pretty fun. I'm totally pumped for Teen Services. I get to read all the best YA fiction and nonfiction and learn how the library can support the young adults of the community. We're bringing games into the library and letting kids use the internet for free and all the other cool things that all you kids are doing these days.
Library use instruction will be with all of my library peeps. Tim and Therese and Meg and I think maybe even Bridget.
[edit: Not Bridget.]
Thank goodness I've finished my homework. I just spent the last forty minutes mid sentence because I was on facebook.
Technical Services Interview
The Midland Lutheran College library sits at the center of the college campus. It serves a student population of over 600, a faculty and staff population of over 300, and limited community access to a city of over 25,000 people. While the library does not get as much traffic as it could, there are a consistent number of students, faculty, staff, and community members who utilize the Midland library resources daily. To facilitate this exchange of information, the library employs four full time staff members, one part time staff member, and about two dozen work study students to fill in the various tasks of cataloging, processing, reference help, page duty and circulation. Generally, the four full time staff members do a majority of the technical services work, but the technical services department of the library is not so much a “defined” position as much as it is a series of assignments divided among the staff.
My interview was with Dr. Tom Boyle, Director of the Midland library. We held our interview via email and follow up phone call. Dr. Boyle has been with the Midland Library for over 15 years, and has taken the time to give me a lot of advice with the cataloging class on top of this interview. My first question for him concerned the selection of materials for the library. Dr. Boyle directed me to the Luther Library website for the general acquisition policy for the college. There are four, hierarchical priorities:
1. Materials to support the current teaching program of the College, noting it is an undergraduate institution.
2. General reference materials in fields not currently covered by College programs but of such importance that they belong in all scholarly libraries.
3. Materials to support the research needs of the faculty and to assist administrative and service personnel in the effective performance of their duties (this may include works dealing with topics of current concern to members of the campus community).
4. Materials to support cooperative programs with other libraries or academic institutions; to maintain and develop a limited number of special collections (such as the Library of Biblical Literature); to form a basic collection in support of anticipated future programs of the college; and to acquire appropriate varieties of recreational library materials. (www.mlc.edu/library)
Dr. Boyle says he uses tools like Booklist, Library Journal and Choice. The library’s book supplier (Baker and Taylor) also has lists of recommended books for college libraries. For the most part, Dr. Boyle is in charge of the selection of materials, but in some instances, individual departments (Nursing and Education) select books to be added to the collection. Each department of the college has a book budget at the beginning of each academic year in which to add books to the collection. In addition to books, print journals are purchased with input of the various departments. The electronic resources are all mostly packaged with indexes (Academic Premier, ERIC, CINALH) and in most instances; the library will drop the print subscription if an electronic version becomes available.
Once the materials come into the library, an order card is created and the process begins. The order card is like a checklist of everything one would need to know about the book. It indicates the title, source, cost, date, PO #, etc. and is placed in the item. Preliminary processing involves stamping the book, placing the security strip and the barcode. Any one of the full time staff members and on occasion some of the work-study students who have been trained in the process do this. On the occasion of the library making a large purchase of books, a purchase order is needed from the business office. However, the standard method of payment is directly from the library budget.
After the preliminary processing is done, Dr. Boyle will catalog the item. Our library uses the OCLC Connexion service, so the cataloging of items can sometimes be easier. Dr. Boyle finds the record in OCLC, notifies them we have the item and exports the MARC record to us. We then have to import the record into the LIS system. Once on the LIS, the record is linked to the barcode attached to it and given a Dewey and Cutter number and the item is placed on the new books shelf.
The final step in the whole process remove the item from the new books shelf, cut down the book jacket to just the summary and author information on the front and back flaps, tape those to the inside of the book, and place the permanent book label on the spine with the Dewey call number and the Cutter number. College work-study students usually do this job. The whole process can take as little as a week to process, but takes longer time over the summer months and during the college breaks when the full library staff is unavailable.
My interview was with Dr. Tom Boyle, Director of the Midland library. We held our interview via email and follow up phone call. Dr. Boyle has been with the Midland Library for over 15 years, and has taken the time to give me a lot of advice with the cataloging class on top of this interview. My first question for him concerned the selection of materials for the library. Dr. Boyle directed me to the Luther Library website for the general acquisition policy for the college. There are four, hierarchical priorities:
1. Materials to support the current teaching program of the College, noting it is an undergraduate institution.
2. General reference materials in fields not currently covered by College programs but of such importance that they belong in all scholarly libraries.
3. Materials to support the research needs of the faculty and to assist administrative and service personnel in the effective performance of their duties (this may include works dealing with topics of current concern to members of the campus community).
4. Materials to support cooperative programs with other libraries or academic institutions; to maintain and develop a limited number of special collections (such as the Library of Biblical Literature); to form a basic collection in support of anticipated future programs of the college; and to acquire appropriate varieties of recreational library materials. (www.mlc.edu/library)
Dr. Boyle says he uses tools like Booklist, Library Journal and Choice. The library’s book supplier (Baker and Taylor) also has lists of recommended books for college libraries. For the most part, Dr. Boyle is in charge of the selection of materials, but in some instances, individual departments (Nursing and Education) select books to be added to the collection. Each department of the college has a book budget at the beginning of each academic year in which to add books to the collection. In addition to books, print journals are purchased with input of the various departments. The electronic resources are all mostly packaged with indexes (Academic Premier, ERIC, CINALH) and in most instances; the library will drop the print subscription if an electronic version becomes available.
Once the materials come into the library, an order card is created and the process begins. The order card is like a checklist of everything one would need to know about the book. It indicates the title, source, cost, date, PO #, etc. and is placed in the item. Preliminary processing involves stamping the book, placing the security strip and the barcode. Any one of the full time staff members and on occasion some of the work-study students who have been trained in the process do this. On the occasion of the library making a large purchase of books, a purchase order is needed from the business office. However, the standard method of payment is directly from the library budget.
After the preliminary processing is done, Dr. Boyle will catalog the item. Our library uses the OCLC Connexion service, so the cataloging of items can sometimes be easier. Dr. Boyle finds the record in OCLC, notifies them we have the item and exports the MARC record to us. We then have to import the record into the LIS system. Once on the LIS, the record is linked to the barcode attached to it and given a Dewey and Cutter number and the item is placed on the new books shelf.
The final step in the whole process remove the item from the new books shelf, cut down the book jacket to just the summary and author information on the front and back flaps, tape those to the inside of the book, and place the permanent book label on the spine with the Dewey call number and the Cutter number. College work-study students usually do this job. The whole process can take as little as a week to process, but takes longer time over the summer months and during the college breaks when the full library staff is unavailable.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
This was shown to me just last night. I think it speaks volumes about how wonderful Craigslist can be when used propery.
Date: 2003-07-16, 11:20PM EDT
if:
You never have your library card, and then you cough on me while explaining that you don't even have an ID on you.
You refuse to learn to use the computers for yourself, and get impatient when I dont know your yahoo password.
You stare blankly as I check in your 40 books so you can pay a five-cent fine.
You contest a five-cent fine.
You call me "dear" and "doll" and "sweetie".
You physically turn my computer monitor around to watch my screen if I'm helping you. appalling.
You want to know why we dont order the paperbacks you want, after the ten letters you've written to our superiors.
You refuse to ever, ever, ever buy a book.
You angrily explain you need this book more than other people do, as you are in a prestigious "book club".
You are over sixty and compliment my eyes/smile, and wink.
You smell worse than the garbage that keeps you warm.
You put out your cigarette on your way in.
You light your cigarette in the lobby on the way out.
On good days you smell like actual vodka rather than scope.
You rearrange the items on my desk.
You pick up the book you saw me put down to assist you, and start to read.
You are banging on the door to get in, so you can save 50 cents on the newspaper.
You cut up the newspaper.
You steal the newspaper. we only have one newspaper you know.
You want a particular book a friend recommended, but you dont know the title or author or year of publication, and your friend has recently passed on.
You say anything other than "no shit, right?" when you catch me yawning.
..Such as "are we BORING YOU?"- the answer is, yes.
You let your child scream for more than 30 seconds without escorting him out.
Your stroller needs WD40.
When your child starts hysterically bawling, and we dont have to look at a clock to know it is precisely 11am. take him to the fucking park.
Your computer starts making a beeping noise because of your disk, so you just leave it for us to figure out. You play dumb: we are on to you. Your disk has your name on it, jackass.
You state loudly that librarians shouldnt have peircings. They shouldnt be fucking on their desks after-hours either, I suppose?
You believe that being ancient means you can be an asshole.
the end.
dickheads.
your librarian hates you
Date: 2003-07-16, 11:20PM EDT
if:
You never have your library card, and then you cough on me while explaining that you don't even have an ID on you.
You refuse to learn to use the computers for yourself, and get impatient when I dont know your yahoo password.
You stare blankly as I check in your 40 books so you can pay a five-cent fine.
You contest a five-cent fine.
You call me "dear" and "doll" and "sweetie".
You physically turn my computer monitor around to watch my screen if I'm helping you. appalling.
You want to know why we dont order the paperbacks you want, after the ten letters you've written to our superiors.
You refuse to ever, ever, ever buy a book.
You angrily explain you need this book more than other people do, as you are in a prestigious "book club".
You are over sixty and compliment my eyes/smile, and wink.
You smell worse than the garbage that keeps you warm.
You put out your cigarette on your way in.
You light your cigarette in the lobby on the way out.
On good days you smell like actual vodka rather than scope.
You rearrange the items on my desk.
You pick up the book you saw me put down to assist you, and start to read.
You are banging on the door to get in, so you can save 50 cents on the newspaper.
You cut up the newspaper.
You steal the newspaper. we only have one newspaper you know.
You want a particular book a friend recommended, but you dont know the title or author or year of publication, and your friend has recently passed on.
You say anything other than "no shit, right?" when you catch me yawning.
..Such as "are we BORING YOU?"- the answer is, yes.
You let your child scream for more than 30 seconds without escorting him out.
Your stroller needs WD40.
When your child starts hysterically bawling, and we dont have to look at a clock to know it is precisely 11am. take him to the fucking park.
Your computer starts making a beeping noise because of your disk, so you just leave it for us to figure out. You play dumb: we are on to you. Your disk has your name on it, jackass.
You state loudly that librarians shouldnt have peircings. They shouldnt be fucking on their desks after-hours either, I suppose?
You believe that being ancient means you can be an asshole.
the end.
dickheads.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Post surge
Sorry for the huge influx of posting. I just remembered that I'm supposed to be showing what I learned. I can tell you that I am having a heyday with OCLS's online Connexion site. The Web Dewey features make life so much easier, even if Dewey does not. I'll pull through though. I got more than half of my assignment done already but I had to take an Entertainment Weekly break. Catch up on some of the latest pop culture and read the theories on Lost for this week. If you haven't had a chance to get addicted to this show then I suggest you start with season 2 and just go!. You'll be so glad you did.
I"m also starting the book I found at the Fremont public library called Library 2.0: a guide to participatory library service. It's written by Michael Casey and Laura Savastinuk. So far I'm only to the basic stuff, but there are some really great insights ahead. I'll give a full review when I finish it this weekend. Until then, happy trails.
I"m also starting the book I found at the Fremont public library called Library 2.0: a guide to participatory library service. It's written by Michael Casey and Laura Savastinuk. So far I'm only to the basic stuff, but there are some really great insights ahead. I'll give a full review when I finish it this weekend. Until then, happy trails.
Authority control and controlled vocabulary
In the age of instant gratification, the information agencies that house a vast majority of the world’s authoritative information are seeing less action. Thank in part to Google, patrons of libraries can now find their information on the internet with the help of keyword searching and a very sensitive mathematical algorithm to rank websites. Libraries, being based formerly within the wooden alcoves of card catalogs, are fantastically put together in terms of access points like author, title, and subject. In fact, the Library of Congress (LOC) regularly puts out thousands of new subject headings a year. It is through these headings that information can be essentially “tagged” with a controlled vocabulary word to access it. Cookery for cookbooks and Myocardial infarction for heart attacks are just a few examples within the LOC subject headings. These are certainly not the only subject headings either. However, the simpler task is to search with a keyword. The five articles I described in the annotated bibliography below all deal in a fundamental way with authority control or controlled vocabulary. Each makes the argument that the way of doing business in the information retrieval game is dependent upon authority control. The one ring to rule them all.
First, we’ll look to controlled vocabulary and it’s place within the OPAC. Controlled vocabulary is essentially an agreed upon list of words and phrases that are used within the catalog in order to steam line the search process and ensure that all bibliographic records for a title are uniform. The most important place for controlled vocabulary is the subject heading. It is within the subject heading that books, articles, videos, songs, sheet music, art and any other piece of information can be linked together with other information of similar description. Music by Bach and Beethoven would be found together in classical music, Signs, Unbreakable, and The Village would be found under bad movies. The controlled vocabulary dictates what words are used to describe the information. In “Controlled vocabularies: implementation and evaluation,” Marshall shows how to use a controlled vocabulary not only with an online card catalog, but also in any instance that controlled vocabulary is used. She explains that even if attaching a controlled vocabulary to a full text search would involve false hits. In fact, if one gives “consideration to defining the environment” with regard to what exactly the controlled vocabulary will search “will yield more precise results” (Marshall 2006 p. 55). In order for controlled vocabulary to work, there needs to be a framework in which it can be contextualized. Thankfully, the authority control gives us controlled vocabulary a place to roam.
Authority control will probably start a war someday. Not really, but the kinds of decisions the people in charge of authority control have to make cause countless people to get upset. In recent events, the LOC stopped producing authority files for series. While this doesn’t seem like much, many libraries rely on the LOC to give them a sense of direction. In an article by Mirna Willer, the dealings of the international authority body IFLA are called into question. She ask whether we are ready to see authority control reach new heights in the new environments opening up to it or sit back and wait for information technology to do the work for us later (2006 p. 56). The new heights and new environments she’s talking about are authority control taking part in art galleries, museums and archives, in seeing the expansion of authority control to encompass more information than it has before. She leaves her question unanswered, but also leaves a stinging barb with the authority community regarding their unwillingness to take up this task.
Finally, the happy marriage between controlled vocabulary and authority control creates the OPAC. The online public access catalog is the life and blood of the modern library. Searches live and die by how well information can be accessed on these system. What three of the articles show is that there is as much a need for authority control and controlled vocabulary now as ever there was. Gross and Taylor perform a study to look at the ability of keyword searching within the OPAC’s holdings to net good results if those keywords were not reliant upon the subject headings. (Subject headings, remember, are the happy union between a controlled vocabulary and an authority to determine that a particular topic will be labeled with that particular controlled term.) Gross and Taylor discover that as much as 36 percent of the returned information would not have been if it weren’t for the subject heading matching to a subject heading or a cross reference to a subject heading. When taking into account foreign language materials, the percentage jumps to as much as 100 percent in some cases. (2005 p. 216, 223). Thomas Mann’s articles show a similar argument; only Mann provided detailed search examples based on actually user queries. In his first article, Mann discusses the use of Google’s keyword searching with Google Paper, an online repository of digital books. Mann walks us step by step through how searching by keyword and searching by subject term yield different results, weighing that searches conducted with subject headings are far more appropriate than those without. Mann’s second article takes that small demonstration and creates a 30 page walk through on how to take a topic and break it down, dummy it up, look in different places and look along the same lines (Mann 2007 p. 11-13). Each of his techniques involves modifying the use of controlled vocabulary and relying upon the authority of the system to find relevant materials and not the hope that a keyword will catch the right set of information. It is because of the backbone of authority control and controlled vocabulary that Mann is able to better attend to the needs of his patrons, not the unfeeling machine giant Google and its keyword ranking system.
What remains to be seen is what happens next. While it is certain that the authority control and controlled vocabulary are certainly a better means of searching for information, Google and search engines like it are here to stay and they are completing directly for the hearts and minds of today’s scholars and today’s youth. Will the OPAC grow to incorporate the one time seamless search many of us are used to, or perhaps the search engine giants will take on their own controlled vocabulary and become an authority in and of themselves. But like Willer asked, who will be at the forefront of this new move to innovation with the enemy? Who will move first, and who will survive when the smoke clears? We shall all have to wait and see.
First, we’ll look to controlled vocabulary and it’s place within the OPAC. Controlled vocabulary is essentially an agreed upon list of words and phrases that are used within the catalog in order to steam line the search process and ensure that all bibliographic records for a title are uniform. The most important place for controlled vocabulary is the subject heading. It is within the subject heading that books, articles, videos, songs, sheet music, art and any other piece of information can be linked together with other information of similar description. Music by Bach and Beethoven would be found together in classical music, Signs, Unbreakable, and The Village would be found under bad movies. The controlled vocabulary dictates what words are used to describe the information. In “Controlled vocabularies: implementation and evaluation,” Marshall shows how to use a controlled vocabulary not only with an online card catalog, but also in any instance that controlled vocabulary is used. She explains that even if attaching a controlled vocabulary to a full text search would involve false hits. In fact, if one gives “consideration to defining the environment” with regard to what exactly the controlled vocabulary will search “will yield more precise results” (Marshall 2006 p. 55). In order for controlled vocabulary to work, there needs to be a framework in which it can be contextualized. Thankfully, the authority control gives us controlled vocabulary a place to roam.
Authority control will probably start a war someday. Not really, but the kinds of decisions the people in charge of authority control have to make cause countless people to get upset. In recent events, the LOC stopped producing authority files for series. While this doesn’t seem like much, many libraries rely on the LOC to give them a sense of direction. In an article by Mirna Willer, the dealings of the international authority body IFLA are called into question. She ask whether we are ready to see authority control reach new heights in the new environments opening up to it or sit back and wait for information technology to do the work for us later (2006 p. 56). The new heights and new environments she’s talking about are authority control taking part in art galleries, museums and archives, in seeing the expansion of authority control to encompass more information than it has before. She leaves her question unanswered, but also leaves a stinging barb with the authority community regarding their unwillingness to take up this task.
Finally, the happy marriage between controlled vocabulary and authority control creates the OPAC. The online public access catalog is the life and blood of the modern library. Searches live and die by how well information can be accessed on these system. What three of the articles show is that there is as much a need for authority control and controlled vocabulary now as ever there was. Gross and Taylor perform a study to look at the ability of keyword searching within the OPAC’s holdings to net good results if those keywords were not reliant upon the subject headings. (Subject headings, remember, are the happy union between a controlled vocabulary and an authority to determine that a particular topic will be labeled with that particular controlled term.) Gross and Taylor discover that as much as 36 percent of the returned information would not have been if it weren’t for the subject heading matching to a subject heading or a cross reference to a subject heading. When taking into account foreign language materials, the percentage jumps to as much as 100 percent in some cases. (2005 p. 216, 223). Thomas Mann’s articles show a similar argument; only Mann provided detailed search examples based on actually user queries. In his first article, Mann discusses the use of Google’s keyword searching with Google Paper, an online repository of digital books. Mann walks us step by step through how searching by keyword and searching by subject term yield different results, weighing that searches conducted with subject headings are far more appropriate than those without. Mann’s second article takes that small demonstration and creates a 30 page walk through on how to take a topic and break it down, dummy it up, look in different places and look along the same lines (Mann 2007 p. 11-13). Each of his techniques involves modifying the use of controlled vocabulary and relying upon the authority of the system to find relevant materials and not the hope that a keyword will catch the right set of information. It is because of the backbone of authority control and controlled vocabulary that Mann is able to better attend to the needs of his patrons, not the unfeeling machine giant Google and its keyword ranking system.
What remains to be seen is what happens next. While it is certain that the authority control and controlled vocabulary are certainly a better means of searching for information, Google and search engines like it are here to stay and they are completing directly for the hearts and minds of today’s scholars and today’s youth. Will the OPAC grow to incorporate the one time seamless search many of us are used to, or perhaps the search engine giants will take on their own controlled vocabulary and become an authority in and of themselves. But like Willer asked, who will be at the forefront of this new move to innovation with the enemy? Who will move first, and who will survive when the smoke clears? We shall all have to wait and see.
Authority control Literature review.
Gross, T., & Taylor, A. (2005). What have we got to lose? The effect of controlled vocabulary on keyword searching results. College & Research Libraries, 66(3), 212-30. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.
This article, from a cataloging journal, is a study on the use of OPAC searches using keywords vs. subject headings. First, the article gives a history of the similar studies that try to address the same question the researchers are looking to find. Their method for the purposes of the study was to look at the query requests of an OPAC system for three days at a single institution and see if any returns would not have been available if the search term had not correlated to a subject heading. The results showed that 35.4 percent of returns would not come up if the LC subject headings were excluded. The study also found that in the case of foreign language titles, the total percent could be as large at 50 percent of returns. Gross and Taylor determined that LC subject headings were a vital part of the cataloging process because their existence benefitted the users much more than if LC subject headings were not available.
Mann, T. (2005). “Will google’s keyword searching eliminate the need for LC cataloging and classification?” (2005, Aug 15). Library of Congress professional guild local 2910. Retrieved April 4, 2009 from http://www.guild2910.org/searching.htm
The foundation of this article plants itself firmly on the concept that the new Google Print is not as effective when it comes to finding appropriate resources because it is utilizing Google’s keyword search algorithms to search through its database and not subject headings. Mann demonstrates using the search phrase “Afghanistan” and “history.” Imputing those into Google tenders more than 11,000,000 hits. Putting “Afghanistan” into an OPAC tenders a list no more than fifty hits long. Each hit is actually a subject heading that links the user to titles within that subject. These subject headings can lead a user to books that do not directly refer the Afghanistan within the title of the work or perhaps only address Afghanistan for a chapter. It also returns all sources in a foreign language. Google’s search method is dependant on keywords within the article and the weight those keywords hold to determine relevance. This means that if your search term translates to something else in a foreign language, then all the results of that language would be lost. Afghanistan in Farsi is certainly not spelled the same as English. Mann contends that the need for subject searching within the library is key for research.
***. (2008). The Peloponnesian War and the future of reference, cataloging, and scholarship in research libraries. Journal of Library Metadata, 8, 53-100.
A more detailed follow up to Mann’s previous article, he continues within the same vein as before, noting that utilizing search engines for research is failure because keywords, while very useful for simple fact finding missions, are not well equipped to handle academic researching needs. Mann uses an example this time of a users need to find information about the Peloponnesian War and the use of tributes to fund that war. The user tried a traditional web based search engine. Mann uses the metaphor of the five blind men who come across an elephant. The first only feels the tail and claims it’s a rope and so on and so on. None can see the entire picture because each is too caught up with the very localized. The same is true for Google searching. One cannot see the whole elephant with keywords because it divides the whole too far down. Subject headings are better way to address information, but putting the parts together to make a whole picture. Mann details how a user can use all of the functions of a library OPAC to refine or expand upon the topic, using techniques like related record searching, and searching for literature reviews as other ways to find similar information. Mann suggests that there is a need for less seamless one-time searching and more need for multiple search techniques.
Marshall, J. (2006). Controlled vocabularies: implementation and evaluation. Key Words, 14(2), 53-7, 59. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.
Marshall’s article is the second in a series about controlled vocabulary. She briefly summarizes part one of the series and informs the reader that this second part should be used with the intention that a controlled vocabulary is already in place and one is deciding how to use it. Marshall begins by giving different options of how one could display controlled vocabulary. One was is similar to the LC and Sears schedule, giving a term, and the broader and narrower topics within the same controlled vocabulary. She also showcases index entry, multi level hierarchy, top term, and static concept map styles as other means to implement controlled vocabularies. She then gives several ways to search a controlled vocabulary. She describes eight distinct components of searching with controlled vocabulary including text operants, a user interface, and user feedback cycles. These all have to do with the means of searching with controlled vocabulary. Her final point is to show how one evaluates the controlled vocabulary. One is through heuristic critique, where a panel of experts determine how well the vocabulary works. She also points readers to an article on how to prepare for an expert panel to evaluate the controlled vocabulary thesaurus. She leaves with the final thought that a controlled vocabulary thesaurus is never completed until it is no longer used for indexing or is no longer updated. Controlled vocabulary’s work is never done until it is retired.
Willer, M. (2006). Name authorities in the library context. International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control, 35(3), 55-7. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.
Willer begins by prefacing that this article will make three points and ask one question. The first point is a sort of history lesson detailing the IFLA’s principles, standards and concepts. The IFLA is essentially a group dedicated to an international authority system and its implementation. The beginnings of this group have its roots in the 1960’s and can still be felt through their workings with national authority systems in 2003 at a meeting of experts on international cataloging code. Her second point describes what happens to authority records in a networked environment. When looking at a national catalog or national union of catalogs, the systems work by making their uniform heading the authority for subscribers to that particular catalog or union. This is especially difficult with union catalogs because the authority cannot be considered true unless all authorized forms conform to the uniform heading. Willer points to CERL (Consortium of European Research Libraries) as an organization that has found a way around this hiccup. The CERL thesaurus is actually composed with a number of different national cataloging rules so that libraries have a choice according to national traditions or local user needs. Willer’s third point concerns the reader with the interoperability of the system into other organizations. She explains that archives and museums have addressed an interest in working co-operatively with the IFLA. It shows a mutual understanding and acceptance on the level of conceptual models and agreement on interoperable content. These different information-holding bodies could work together to make a more uniform authority, if they could agree to build it together. Willer’s question is a big one. Is the authority control community ready to move toward national or international authority control? She wonders if the folks responsible for information and communication technology will take charge, or if those responsible for authority control can get their act together.
This article, from a cataloging journal, is a study on the use of OPAC searches using keywords vs. subject headings. First, the article gives a history of the similar studies that try to address the same question the researchers are looking to find. Their method for the purposes of the study was to look at the query requests of an OPAC system for three days at a single institution and see if any returns would not have been available if the search term had not correlated to a subject heading. The results showed that 35.4 percent of returns would not come up if the LC subject headings were excluded. The study also found that in the case of foreign language titles, the total percent could be as large at 50 percent of returns. Gross and Taylor determined that LC subject headings were a vital part of the cataloging process because their existence benefitted the users much more than if LC subject headings were not available.
Mann, T. (2005). “Will google’s keyword searching eliminate the need for LC cataloging and classification?” (2005, Aug 15). Library of Congress professional guild local 2910. Retrieved April 4, 2009 from http://www.guild2910.org/searching.htm
The foundation of this article plants itself firmly on the concept that the new Google Print is not as effective when it comes to finding appropriate resources because it is utilizing Google’s keyword search algorithms to search through its database and not subject headings. Mann demonstrates using the search phrase “Afghanistan” and “history.” Imputing those into Google tenders more than 11,000,000 hits. Putting “Afghanistan” into an OPAC tenders a list no more than fifty hits long. Each hit is actually a subject heading that links the user to titles within that subject. These subject headings can lead a user to books that do not directly refer the Afghanistan within the title of the work or perhaps only address Afghanistan for a chapter. It also returns all sources in a foreign language. Google’s search method is dependant on keywords within the article and the weight those keywords hold to determine relevance. This means that if your search term translates to something else in a foreign language, then all the results of that language would be lost. Afghanistan in Farsi is certainly not spelled the same as English. Mann contends that the need for subject searching within the library is key for research.
***. (2008). The Peloponnesian War and the future of reference, cataloging, and scholarship in research libraries. Journal of Library Metadata, 8, 53-100.
A more detailed follow up to Mann’s previous article, he continues within the same vein as before, noting that utilizing search engines for research is failure because keywords, while very useful for simple fact finding missions, are not well equipped to handle academic researching needs. Mann uses an example this time of a users need to find information about the Peloponnesian War and the use of tributes to fund that war. The user tried a traditional web based search engine. Mann uses the metaphor of the five blind men who come across an elephant. The first only feels the tail and claims it’s a rope and so on and so on. None can see the entire picture because each is too caught up with the very localized. The same is true for Google searching. One cannot see the whole elephant with keywords because it divides the whole too far down. Subject headings are better way to address information, but putting the parts together to make a whole picture. Mann details how a user can use all of the functions of a library OPAC to refine or expand upon the topic, using techniques like related record searching, and searching for literature reviews as other ways to find similar information. Mann suggests that there is a need for less seamless one-time searching and more need for multiple search techniques.
Marshall, J. (2006). Controlled vocabularies: implementation and evaluation. Key Words, 14(2), 53-7, 59. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.
Marshall’s article is the second in a series about controlled vocabulary. She briefly summarizes part one of the series and informs the reader that this second part should be used with the intention that a controlled vocabulary is already in place and one is deciding how to use it. Marshall begins by giving different options of how one could display controlled vocabulary. One was is similar to the LC and Sears schedule, giving a term, and the broader and narrower topics within the same controlled vocabulary. She also showcases index entry, multi level hierarchy, top term, and static concept map styles as other means to implement controlled vocabularies. She then gives several ways to search a controlled vocabulary. She describes eight distinct components of searching with controlled vocabulary including text operants, a user interface, and user feedback cycles. These all have to do with the means of searching with controlled vocabulary. Her final point is to show how one evaluates the controlled vocabulary. One is through heuristic critique, where a panel of experts determine how well the vocabulary works. She also points readers to an article on how to prepare for an expert panel to evaluate the controlled vocabulary thesaurus. She leaves with the final thought that a controlled vocabulary thesaurus is never completed until it is no longer used for indexing or is no longer updated. Controlled vocabulary’s work is never done until it is retired.
Willer, M. (2006). Name authorities in the library context. International Cataloguing and Bibliographic Control, 35(3), 55-7. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.
Willer begins by prefacing that this article will make three points and ask one question. The first point is a sort of history lesson detailing the IFLA’s principles, standards and concepts. The IFLA is essentially a group dedicated to an international authority system and its implementation. The beginnings of this group have its roots in the 1960’s and can still be felt through their workings with national authority systems in 2003 at a meeting of experts on international cataloging code. Her second point describes what happens to authority records in a networked environment. When looking at a national catalog or national union of catalogs, the systems work by making their uniform heading the authority for subscribers to that particular catalog or union. This is especially difficult with union catalogs because the authority cannot be considered true unless all authorized forms conform to the uniform heading. Willer points to CERL (Consortium of European Research Libraries) as an organization that has found a way around this hiccup. The CERL thesaurus is actually composed with a number of different national cataloging rules so that libraries have a choice according to national traditions or local user needs. Willer’s third point concerns the reader with the interoperability of the system into other organizations. She explains that archives and museums have addressed an interest in working co-operatively with the IFLA. It shows a mutual understanding and acceptance on the level of conceptual models and agreement on interoperable content. These different information-holding bodies could work together to make a more uniform authority, if they could agree to build it together. Willer’s question is a big one. Is the authority control community ready to move toward national or international authority control? She wonders if the folks responsible for information and communication technology will take charge, or if those responsible for authority control can get their act together.
Trends in Technical Service
Tenopir, C. (2009, March). Visualize the Perfect Search. Library Journal, 134(4), 22-22. Retrieved April 13, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.
Breeding, M. (2009, March). Library Automation in a Difficult Economy. Computers in Libraries, 29(3), 22-24. Retrieved April 13, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.
The rising trends in technical service in libraries are varied and to be quite honest sometimes really hard to understand. There are a lot of things that technical service librarians do that even regular librarians just shake their heads in amazement. For instance, some of the complex things that have to be done for serials make my head spin. Thankfully, sometimes the technical service librarians discuss things that are not really hard to understand. The topic I have chosen to discuss dealing with technical services is the aim of libraries to catch up to Google, and the cost effective ways to do it.
Tenopir’s article was my starting off point. She talked about the new ILS interface called Summon. It debuted at the ALA Midwinter conference. The goal of Summon is to compile and present a library’s materials in a similar way to Google. Google relies on the complex algorithm and the literally billions of pages of information to somewhat reliably return accurate information to users entering queries. Summon will attempt to relevance rank whole libraries, using content, machine and human feedback, number of times an article has been cited, impact factor and peer review status of the original journal, and (in the case of magazines and newspapers) currency (Tenopir 2009, p 22). Summon is still in the testing stage at a few universities in the United States. Tenopir also voices interest in a new type of “visual searching” wherein users can search visually instead of by content. The best part is that the interface is guided by the content. The International Children’s Digital Library allows filters for happy book and sad books, color of cover, length, and type of stories. The moral of the story is that libraries creating technical services that emulate and expand upon some of the features of popular and (heaven forbid) easy search engines littering the internet these days.
Breeding’s article was really the clincher for my investigation into trends in library technical service. In his article, he overviewed some of the trends he has noticed in technical services, but more importantly, he discusses the cost of these services and their impact on libraries. This is an important factor in all libraries but especially now, with a down economy and everyone tightening their belts. One conflict Breeding noted that often arises is the deep discount that vendors will offer libraries that currently use one of their legacy products. This has put libraries in a bind. More often than not, the library will go with the cheaper upgrade, even if the service is not the absolute best (Breeding 2009, p. 23). This means that systems like Summon might not be available to every Tom, Dick and Joe library across the country. However, Breeding points to a number of ways to bring innovative ILSs into small libraries without buying a server farm and hiring the graduating class of MIT to run the system. One way, that I myself have seen successfully managed, is to pool resources with other libraries in order to make a large investment that all can share. The Nebraska Independent College Library Consortium (NICLC) is an ILS and OPAC system that is shared by eight colleges across Nebraska. This allows eight small libraries to pool their academic resources into one pool and purchase a more powerful ILS than could be purchased alone. A second way to bring small libraries big technical service is to utilize something called Software as a Service (SaaS). This mostly subscription based access gives small libraries the access to ILSs and other technical services, but through inexpensive software instead of buying the server farm and putting it in the library basement.
A final thought from Breeding pointed out that in times of recession, libraries and technology firms and most any business turn toward innovation over tried and true practices (2009, p. 24). This innovation could lead to cheaper, better put together programs, services, and technology. Perhaps we might be seeing a cheaper, open source version of a Summon like ILS on the market. Or perhaps we’ll see something even more phenomenal and equally inexpensive. The best part is, we’ll never know until it’s too late and we have something new.
Breeding, M. (2009, March). Library Automation in a Difficult Economy. Computers in Libraries, 29(3), 22-24. Retrieved April 13, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.
The rising trends in technical service in libraries are varied and to be quite honest sometimes really hard to understand. There are a lot of things that technical service librarians do that even regular librarians just shake their heads in amazement. For instance, some of the complex things that have to be done for serials make my head spin. Thankfully, sometimes the technical service librarians discuss things that are not really hard to understand. The topic I have chosen to discuss dealing with technical services is the aim of libraries to catch up to Google, and the cost effective ways to do it.
Tenopir’s article was my starting off point. She talked about the new ILS interface called Summon. It debuted at the ALA Midwinter conference. The goal of Summon is to compile and present a library’s materials in a similar way to Google. Google relies on the complex algorithm and the literally billions of pages of information to somewhat reliably return accurate information to users entering queries. Summon will attempt to relevance rank whole libraries, using content, machine and human feedback, number of times an article has been cited, impact factor and peer review status of the original journal, and (in the case of magazines and newspapers) currency (Tenopir 2009, p 22). Summon is still in the testing stage at a few universities in the United States. Tenopir also voices interest in a new type of “visual searching” wherein users can search visually instead of by content. The best part is that the interface is guided by the content. The International Children’s Digital Library allows filters for happy book and sad books, color of cover, length, and type of stories. The moral of the story is that libraries creating technical services that emulate and expand upon some of the features of popular and (heaven forbid) easy search engines littering the internet these days.
Breeding’s article was really the clincher for my investigation into trends in library technical service. In his article, he overviewed some of the trends he has noticed in technical services, but more importantly, he discusses the cost of these services and their impact on libraries. This is an important factor in all libraries but especially now, with a down economy and everyone tightening their belts. One conflict Breeding noted that often arises is the deep discount that vendors will offer libraries that currently use one of their legacy products. This has put libraries in a bind. More often than not, the library will go with the cheaper upgrade, even if the service is not the absolute best (Breeding 2009, p. 23). This means that systems like Summon might not be available to every Tom, Dick and Joe library across the country. However, Breeding points to a number of ways to bring innovative ILSs into small libraries without buying a server farm and hiring the graduating class of MIT to run the system. One way, that I myself have seen successfully managed, is to pool resources with other libraries in order to make a large investment that all can share. The Nebraska Independent College Library Consortium (NICLC) is an ILS and OPAC system that is shared by eight colleges across Nebraska. This allows eight small libraries to pool their academic resources into one pool and purchase a more powerful ILS than could be purchased alone. A second way to bring small libraries big technical service is to utilize something called Software as a Service (SaaS). This mostly subscription based access gives small libraries the access to ILSs and other technical services, but through inexpensive software instead of buying the server farm and putting it in the library basement.
A final thought from Breeding pointed out that in times of recession, libraries and technology firms and most any business turn toward innovation over tried and true practices (2009, p. 24). This innovation could lead to cheaper, better put together programs, services, and technology. Perhaps we might be seeing a cheaper, open source version of a Summon like ILS on the market. Or perhaps we’ll see something even more phenomenal and equally inexpensive. The best part is, we’ll never know until it’s too late and we have something new.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
FML!
I'm working on my cataloging homework and I've come to the conclusion that easy work is never easy when it requires work. I mean, if I knew that finding subjects would be so FUCKING hard I would never have signed up for the course. Not to mention that fact that I still have to update from the time where she ripped apart my last submission. There is too much to do before Saturday and everything is coming down the pike at once.
Life lesson folks: Don't procrastinate!
In other Library news, I find out if I get my library gig tomorrow. I'm betting on no since it's taken them so long, so i'm not going to be bummed, but if I do get it i'm going to jump for joy. Then be sad because i'll have to leave Daycare (which I love).
That's the news with library services. Who knows, if I get this library gig then I can start writing about patrons and how fucked up their lives are and how shitty my coworkers are and how much smarter I am than the rest of them. JOY!
I'm working on my cataloging homework and I've come to the conclusion that easy work is never easy when it requires work. I mean, if I knew that finding subjects would be so FUCKING hard I would never have signed up for the course. Not to mention that fact that I still have to update from the time where she ripped apart my last submission. There is too much to do before Saturday and everything is coming down the pike at once.
Life lesson folks: Don't procrastinate!
In other Library news, I find out if I get my library gig tomorrow. I'm betting on no since it's taken them so long, so i'm not going to be bummed, but if I do get it i'm going to jump for joy. Then be sad because i'll have to leave Daycare (which I love).
That's the news with library services. Who knows, if I get this library gig then I can start writing about patrons and how fucked up their lives are and how shitty my coworkers are and how much smarter I am than the rest of them. JOY!
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