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The Educational Role of the Library in a Digital Environment
Part I: Library Reference Resources when Digital
Michael Buckland NORSLIS Visiting Professor Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative andSchool of Information, University of California, Berkeley
SALT, Uppsala, October 2, 2008
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A report on work by several people: Aitao Chen, Fredric Gey, Ray Larson, Barry Pateman, Vivien Petras, Ryan Shaw, and others.
Work supported by two U.S. federal government agencies: The Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Three projects:Support for the Learner ecai.org/imls2004Biography ecai.org/imls2006Irish Studies ecai.org/neh2007
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Some ideas about learning. . . . 1. Understanding requires knowing the context2. Best place to read is inside library with reference works
3. Using Internet resources should be like using a library reference collection – and as easy and as reliable
4. Design: Find the context of any museum object, document, or performance: What is related to it in what it is, where it came from, when it originated, and who is associated with it?
5. WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and WHO (“4W”) as a structure
6. Make better use of existing descriptive metadata
7. Re-design reference library for online environment
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Text with a interesting details.Who was she?Where is that?What is this?What else was happening? Reader
Library resourcesEncyclopediasAtlases, place nameBiographical dictionariesBibliographiesLibrary catalogStatistical seriesetc., etc. . . . .
In a paper environment, reading inside a library is the best place to learn. It is well designed to explain the context!
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Any word, name, document, or event
Any resource:Audio, Images, Texts, Numeric data, Objects, Virtual reality, Webpages
Any catalog: Archives, Libraries, Museums, TV, Publishers
Connect it with its context – and other resources.
Facet Vocabulary Displays
WHAT Thesaurus Cross- e.g. LCSH references
WHERE Gazetteer Map
WHEN Period directory Timeline
WHO Biograph. dict. Personal e.g. Who’s Who relations
Context and relationships: Ireland and Irish Studies – Project diagram.
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The reference library and reference library is open from9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (09:00 – 17:00)
The “9 to 5” problem
Students are writing papers at home on laptops from9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. (21:00 – 05:00)
What is wrong with this situation?
What can we librarians do about it?
Comment: The online environment is not visible.One cannot see important structures.
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WHAT Subject headings Cross-references in& between vocabularies
Within a vocabularyKung fu movies SEE Martial Arts films [LCSH] FORMERLY Hand-to-hand fighting, oriental, in motion pictures
Between VocabulariesEconomics = 330 [Dewey Decimal Classification]
180/280 [US Patent classification] = 3711 [Standard Industrial Classification] = TL 205 [LC Classif.] = Automobile
Extending a search from one source to another ordinary means a change in vocabulary. Internet: Many sources and vocabularies!
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WHERE Place name list MapSt. Petersburg = Санкт Петербург = Saint-Pétersbourg,Cluj (Romania, Roumania, Rumania) = Klausenburg = Kolozsvar.
Ctesiphon (Ancient site)
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WHAT is WHERE? Catalog + Place name list + map. Search for books on Folklore, then geographical sort.
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WHERE is WHAT? Draw box on map around South America. Place name list names capital cities (“PPLC”) for search in catalog.
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WHEN Named Time Periods TimelinePeople speak of time by naming periods and events: - In reign of Charlemagne… - During the Weimar Republic… - After the Vietnam War… - When I was a student…This is culturally situated and resembles place names.
So a “Named Time Period Directory” like a place name list:Place name list (= “gazetteer”)
Place name – Type of place – Lat. & Long. – whenNamed period directory
Period name – Type of period – Chron. Time -- where
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WHEN? Search: What happened in IRELAND in 1690s?
Time Period Directory records in Google Earth. Zoom to Ireland and 1690s. Icon for siege of Limerick, 1690. Click link for library search. Catalog records list books and show context.
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WHEN Time Period Directory Timeline
Search LC CatalogSearch Wikipedia
Browse
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WHO Biographical Dictionary Complex relationships
Life events metadata
WHAT: Actions prisoner
WHERE: Places Holstein
WHEN: Times 1261-1262
WHO: People Margaret Sambiria
Better is to have external links to the best resources!Current project: Context finding for biographical texts. Example: Electronic search engine pioneer.
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Comment: Facet genres include other facetsLibrary subject headingsTopic – Geographic subdivision – Chronological subdivision
Place name gazetteerPlace name – Type – Spatial markers (Lat & long) – When
Time Period DirectoryPeriod name – Type – Time markers (Calendar) – Where
Biographical DictionaryPerson – Activity type – Time – Where – Who else
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A “4W” search interface
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Entry Vocabulary Index suggests correct LCSH with different spelling
Buttons for searchable resources & local catalogs
Search term recommender service for LC Subject Headings
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Potentially related people
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Potentially related periods
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Mostly in India 16th-18th century
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Find out more about this area.
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Different Browsing Options!
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Zooming to South Asia
Set limits in time frame
Select
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General information about the country of India…
Interface generates menu page
WikipediaCIA Factbook
BBC Ethnologue
Berkeley Natural History Museums
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ECAI Cultural Atlases: presenting history in its geographical & chronological contexts