Eric Lease Morgan University of Notre Dame. With the advent of commodity-priced, globally networked...

Eric Lease MorganUniversity of Notre Dame

With the advent of commodity-priced, globally networked computers, the

information environment has obviously changed.

The availability of full-text indexing techniques have made “hand-crafted” metadata records less necessary

Content is increasingly “born digital” and accessible beyond one’s own walls

Storage costs have plummeted allowing everybody to access the collection locally

Collection – Done by bibliographers and can be supplemented through the use of databases

Preservation – Done by archivists, and is most challenging in the current environment

Organization – Done by cataloguers and can be supplemented by databases and XML

Re-distribution – Done by reference librarians and can use intelligent interfaces to indexes

The catalogue will be less about inventory and ownership. Instead it will be more about access and usefulness.

annotate • buy • cite • compare & contrast • count occurrence of idea • create flip book • create tag cloud • discuss • do

morphology • elaborate • find more like this one • find similar & different • get • graph • highlight • map • print • rank •

reformat • remove from my list • renew • save to my list • search content of • search my list • share • summarize •

trace citation forward & backward • trace idea forward & backward • translate

Create tag cloud – graphically compare & contrast texts

Create flip book – provide alternative ways to search & browse materials

Annotate and share – exploit the wisdom of the crowds

Libraries are always members of larger hosting communities. Learn how to take advantage of this fact and put

searches against the catalogue into the user’s context.

Database and indexes are two sides of the same information retrieval coin. Databases are great for maintaining content. Indexes are great at search. Learn how to exploit the strengths of both to create powerful information

systems.

“Next-generation” library catalogue systems have more things in common

than differences. They all ingest content, index it, and provide services

against the index.

Index everything: books, journals, images, etc.

Make sure your content is accessible to the Big Three

Consider adding open access content Apply your “library eye” to incoming

queries Repurpose the system by exploiting

Service-oriented architectures and REST-ful computing techniques

There are enormous opportunities for librarianship requiring a shift in

attitudes and skills as well as time spent investigating ways to exploit the

current environment.

A rising tide floats all boats.