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Introduction to LIS508
Thomas Krichel
2002-09-05
Structure of talk
• First talk about me
• Then talk about you.
• Then talk about the course
About me • Born 1965, in Völklingen (Germany)• Studied economics and social sciences at
the Universities of Toulouse, Paris, Exeter and Leiceister.
• PhD in theoretical macroeconomics• Lecturer in Economics at the University of
Surrey 1993 and 2001• Since 2001 assistant professor at the
Palmer School
Why?
• During research assistantship period, (1990 to 1993) I was constantly frustrated with difficult access to scientific literature.
• At the same time, I discovered easy access to freely downloadable software over the Internet.
• I decided to work towards downloadable scientific documents. This lead to my library career (eventually).
Steps taken I
• 1993 founded the NetEc project at http://netec.mcc.ac.uk, later available at http://netec.ier.hit-u.ac.jp as well as at http://netec.wustl.edu.
• These are networking projects targeted to the economics community. The bulk is– Information about working papers– Downloadable working papers– Journal articles were added later
Steps taken II
• Set up RePEc, a digital library for economics research. Catalogs– Research documents– Collections of research documents– Researchers themselves– Organizations that are important to the
research process
• Decentralized collection, model for the open archives initiative
Steps taken III
• Co-founder of Open Archives Initiative
• Work on the Academic Metadata Format
• Co-founded rclis, a RePEc clone for (Research in Computing, Library and Information Science)
What is IT
• Computer
• Some devices attached to computers, such as printers, screens etc
• Networks
• In colloquial language, also related to information that is being transformed by these tools. This is the I without T, IwoT.
Why study IT
• Mastery of a tool
• Understanding information in a precise way
• Interact with service providers in a competent way
• Play an active role in transformation of library and information services
• Saving the planet
Study IT to master a tool
• A computer is not like a car• A network more than a wire• Arguably one of the most complex thing
create by (wo)man, subject to its own scientific discipline
• Since much time is spent on computers optimizing interaction is productive.
• But there is a danger to study proprietary technology.
Study IT to understand Information
• To make information computer processable, it needs to be digitized and
• there have to be precise instructions for the computer to deal with the information in every situation that can possibly arise
• Learning how to do that is a considerable help to understanding information itself
Study IT to interact with others
• In many libraries, there is insufficient computer support. “The answer is no, what is the question?”
• Without knowledge, you are completely at the mercy of your surroundings for help.
Study IT to transform services
• Walk-in physical libraries will decline over time, and this decline will take place over your professional work time
• Those who have good IT skills with thrive, and those who don’t will perish
• Networked information and archiving will become more important
Study IT to save the planet
• There is a divide between have and have-nots in information.
• More free information will make the world a better place– Move away from commercial information– Organize freely available information– Promote access to information
Organization
• Normal lecture
• Quiz at the beginning of every lecture
• Topics to be fixed by next week
• Essay 50% on an approved topic
• Since the course is NOT a hands-on introduction, I will add a hands-on tail after each lecture
• No text purchase required
What do you want to learn
• Computers
• Networks
• IwoT
http://openlib.org/home/krichel
Thank you for your attention!