terms and conditions … libraries, subject terminologies and the web lorcan dempsey vp research...
TRANSCRIPT
Terms and conditions …
libraries, subject terminologies and the web
Lorcan Dempsey
VP Research OCLC
Opening keynote, Dewey EPC meeting,March 16, 2004
My qualifications to speak on this topic …
Overview
Overview
• Focus on the environmental ‘conditions’ in which ‘terms’ are used– Prelude …– Collections and …– Digital libraries and …– Finally …
Prelude
‘Burn the catalog’
“Electronic catalogs, wherever you go in the academic world, have become a horrible crazy-quilt assemblage of incompatible interfaces and vendor-constrained listings. Working through […] a relatively small collection, you still have to navigate at least five completely different interfaces for searching. Historical epochs of data collection and cataloguing lie indigestibly atop one another.” Tim Burke, Swarthmore
“I’m to the point where I think we’d be better off to just utterly erase our existing academic catalogs and forget about backwards-compatibility, lock all the vendors and librarians and scholars together in a room, and make them hammer out electronic research tools that are Amazon-plus, Amazon without the intent to sell books but with the intent of guiding users of all kinds to the books and articles and materials that they ought to find, a catalog that is a partner rather than an obstacle in the making and tracking of knowledge. ” Tim Burke, Swarthmore
So …
• We need to find better ways– of leveraging the accumulated library
investment in knowledge organization systems
– of demonstrating their value – and of releasing their value in a web
environment.
• (OCLC Research activities)
Collections
Collections grid
high low
low
high
stewardship
uni
que
ne
ssBooksJournalsNewspapersGov. docsCD, DVDMapsScores
Special collectionsRare booksLocal/Historical newspapersLocal history materialsArchives & Manuscripts, Theses & dissertations
Research and learning materials •ePrints/tech reports•Learning objects•Courseware•E-portfolios•Research data
Freely-accessible web resourcesOpen source softwareNewsgroup archives
learning materials, courseware
• Digital assets
• ‘Learning objects’
• Content packages
• E-portfolio
• Courses
Increase in number of courses which use course management systems
2000 2002 Change
Carnegie Mellon University* 150 567 378%
Denison University* 25 150 600%
[i] * Information Technology and Libraries, June 2003 (p. 80).
* personal communication, Scott Siddal
oclc taskforce on elearning
• Diffusion of information skills and use through the learning process
• Life cycle management of learning materials
• Systems interaction between library and learning management systems
Picture courtesy Dan Rehak, Carnegie Mellon University
What is going on?
Many different controlled and local vocabulariesInterest in place, time, audience, coverage
Many different controlled and local vocabulariesInterest in place, time, audience, coverage
Small number of established universal schemes. Many well developed disciplinary resources.
Small number of established universal schemes. Many well developed disciplinary resources.
Many different controlled and vernacular vocabulariesInterest in place, time, audience, coverage, …Emerging interest in SW/ontologies, …New development communities …
Many different controlled and vernacular vocabulariesInterest in place, time, audience, coverage, …Emerging interest in SW/ontologies, …New development communities …
A great variety …A great variety …
Collection directions
BooksJournals
Special collections
Freely-accessible web resources
Research and learning materials
high low
low
high
stewardship
uniq
uene
ss
?? ??
????
So ..
• Questions– Warrant– Functional
requirements of a general classification system in new environment?
• Becoming more important:– Mappings– Local control of
display and hierarchy for particular user communities
– Data distribution– Machine-
processable
Digital libraries and the web
Interconnected library environment
• More complex library systems environment– ILS, portal, resource sharing, resolver, digital asset
management, …
• More complex institutional systems environment– Learning management system, university portal,
local government portal, …
• Growing use of shared services– Directory, identity management, trust
management, …
A library portal example
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
I’m looking for something through my
library’s portal.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
authenticationauthentication
I’m looking for something through my
library’s portal.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Directory: user profileDirectory: user profile
I’m looking for something through my
library’s portal.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Query brokerQuery broker
I’m looking for something through my
library’s portal.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Directory: service description
Directory: service description
I’m looking for something through my
library’s portal.
I’m looking for something through my
library’s portal.
Wow! I should be able to find what I need in
this results list.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Content: results listContent: results list
I’d like to get this book.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Request brokerRequest broker
I’d like to get this book.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Directory: ILL policyDirectory: ILL policy
I’d like to get this book.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Directory: service descriptionDirectory: service description
I’d like to get this book.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Content: circ/ILL systemContent: circ/ILL system
I need this article too.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Request brokerRequest broker
I need this article too.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
openURL resolveropenURL resolver
I need this article too.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Directory: local knowledge baseDirectory: local knowledge base
I need this article too.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Directory: service descriptionDirectory: service description
I need this article too.
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
Content: articleContent: article
Directory: ILL policy
Directory: ILL policy
Subject attributes
Common services
Content services
Application services
Presentation services
The User
AuthenticationAuthentication
Directory: user profile
Directory: user profile
Query brokerQuery broker
Directory: service description
Directory: service description
CatalogCatalog
Request brokerRequest broker
Circ/ILL systemCirc/ILL systemOpenURL resolverOpenURL resolver
Directory: local knowledge base
Directory: local knowledge base
Article dbArticle db
Terminology service
Terminology service
Subject
Digital assets
Digital assets
Some other examples
• Query routing (e.g. QuestionPoint)
• Document routing (e.g e-prints UK)
So …
• Libraries need to manage many types of objects – some of which have subject attributes
• We will increasingly treat vocabularies and terms as resources in their own right
• Workflow integration becomes more important – services need to be available where they are needed– Metadata creation– Searching …– Data exchange and terminology services
Manage many objects …
• Then:– ‘information assets’
were primary objects of interest.
– Subjects, etc, were seen as attributes of assets.
– Systems built to reflect this.
• Now:– We manage multiple
objects, their representations and relationships:
Assets– Works; manifestations;
copies Rights Collections Services Terms
– Concepts– Names– Places
Users …
Dataassets
1. Objects2. Collections3. Services4. Terms5. Users6. Institutions7. Rights8. Schemes9. Rules10.Version Control11.Queries
Web services
Digital library objects!
Place, person, subject, genre, …Place, person, subject, genre, …
Terms are resources
• Webulated– URI for concepts, …– Concepts are citable– Build services on top
of this– Vocabulary may be
manifest through several services
• E.g. URI for a Dewey numberInfo:ddc/22/eng//004.678
• Example services– Mappings– Caption, etc– Navigate
hierarchy– Validation– Given a concept, return
Authors ISBNs …
Integrate with workflow
• Multiple editing environments
• Multiple searching environments
• …
• Growing interest in distribution of data– Protocol access– Data exchange
Dataassets
dataservices
Applicationservices
Web services
Examples:Discovery environmentEditing environmente.g Dspace
Name authority service
KOS service
Object metadatarepository
ValidateAutomatic class.NavigationExchangeMapping
The past is another country ..
• Need to think differently – using terminologies as resources in a distributed network environment calls forward different way of thinking
– Making functionality available within multiple workflows
– Available through human and machine interfaces
So ..
• Questions– Warrant– Functional
requirements of a general classification system in new environment?
• Becoming more important:– Mappings– Local control of
display and hierarchy for particular user communities
– Machine-processable– Data distribution– Webulated– A suite of
terminology services
Thank you,
http://www.oclc.org/research/