Fetch Booboo, Fetch!

K. Antelman, E. Lynema, A.K. Pace (2006). “Toward a Twenty-First Century Library Catalog.” Information Technology & Libraries, 25:3. 128-139.

In their article on North Carolina State University’s purchase and implementation of the Endeca Information Access Platform, Antelman, Lynema and Pace (2006) discuss the history of library catalogs, and how North Carolina State University is leading the way towards a third generation of card catalogs. Historically, online catalogs developed from the physical card catalog system, and thus provided similar access points as the card catalog in the first generation of catalogs, developed in the 1960s and 1970s. In the second generation of catalogs, keyword searches became more popular, and provided a new ease of use not seen before. The authors of this article discuss in detail the implementation of the Endeca Information Access Platform at North Carolina State University. This system has a number of 3rd generation catalog features, including related record search and browse and integration of keyword, controlled vocabulary, and classification-based approaches,” though it is clear that there is still a distance to go before online catalogs like this can be end-user focused.
There were a couple of things that really stood out to me while reading this article, including how quickly the NCSU team was able to implement Endeca, how intentional they were in modifying the platform to their own language, and style, and the assessment that they conducted constantly though the course of implementation. I was struck by how the team started with five outcomes they wanted to achieve, and were intentional in assessing those outcomes over the course of several months after implementation. I would l have liked, in this article, to see more comparison to the platforms used by large book changes, like Barnes and Noble, or Borders. I believe those systems are what end-users are very comfortable with, and I would have liked to have seen how the Endeca platform held up against those systems. This leads me to my question: What assessments have been done on the platforms used by large booksellers, should those platforms be implemented in libraries, what unintentional weaknesses would that present?

C.N. Mooers (1960). “Mooers’ Law or, Why Some Retrival Systems Are Used and Others Are Not.” Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 1996 vol: 23 iss:1
What a fascinating article! Rather, what fascinating remarks by Mr. Mooers! I vehemently disagree with his statements in current every day society, but I am getting ahead of myself. First let me summarize what Mr. Mooers argued in his remarks during a panel discussion at the Annual Meeting of the American Documentation Institute at Lehigh University in 1959. Mr. Mooers stated that people will avoid using a retrieval system (specifically in Libraries) when it is more painful and troublesome for a customer to having information than to not have it. He believes this statement to be true, because in practice librarians have found that in many situations retrieval systems that are technically poor see a lot more use than other systems which are technically superior.
While I do understand Mr. Mooers point of view, I can’t begin to find it relevant in today’s society. Children today are being born into a society where they are trained from birth to filter the plethora of information thrown at them from every angle possible. I believe the millennials of today are rather more comfortable with too much information. Take for example the fact that there are so many search engines available, google, yahoo, bing, and then tell me that people today are not more comfortable with an overabundance of information. Furthermore, the first article for this assignment Antelman, Lynema and Pace (2006), argue that many people want to believe in serendipity when picking books, Endeca’s platform allows users to see other items that may be of interest to the searcher, again an overabundance of information for the user, and something they prefer. Finally, I look to a number of the social networking site available to the general population, where we are constantly fed updates on what others are doing, this to me clearly states that while Mooers’ Law may have been relevant in the 1950s, it is no longer relevant in today’s society. What I will agree with is that people will always seek the least painful and troublesome route to get to an end result, but most would not classify too much information as either painful or troublesome. My discussion question for this article would be how can we make library card catalogs both easy to use and full of information, does it mean that we should look to commercial sites for our own development, or should we create something using a consortium of librarians?

Technology, historically speaking..

I have never really written a blog before, I have long suffered under the notion that I am not witty enough to have created something that others will want to read. This blog, of course, is not for personal pleasure, but rather is helping me as I work my way through my information systems course in the School of Library Science. I will include, on a weekly basis, a brief synopsis of the articles we have read for class, and of course what I took away from the experience of reading those articles. Lastly, I hope to include a solid discussion question that I can bring up during class, and will secure me a solid grade for this summer session! So here it goes…

Kochtanel and Matthews (2002). Ch.1. The evolution of LIS and enabling technologies. In Library Information Systems, pp, 3-12.

In the first chapter of Kochtanel and Matthews’ book we are provided with a structured overview of the origins and evolution of Library Information Systems from the first punch card systems in Texas and Missouri to the detailed digital landscape that users work with today in libraries across the country. Libraries have long been on the cutting edge of technology, forced into such a role to initially streamline processes that already existed within libraries (i.e. circulation and cataloging), and currently to provide end users with greater access to resources and materials. When libraries began working with technology in the 1960s, the utilized large mainframe computers that were both expensive and consumed great amounts of space, with the advent of minicomputers in the mid-60s, more libraries were able to access technology, and further streamline their processes. Most recently, personal computers (or PCs), have provide users with unprecedented access to information, and forced library information systems to analyze what their purpose is.
For me personally, this was an incredibly helpful chapter to read! While I have a very base understanding of computer systems in general, I found the organization of this information was useful. I appreciated the description of the different acronym terms that I have come to know well during my time in SLIS, as well as the historical overview of the role that technology has been able to play through the evolution of libraries in America. I think the greatest thing I took away from this chapter was that initially technology was introduced to the libraries to make systems that were already in place easier, but it has now morphed into a primary function of service in libraries across the country.
My discussion question at the end of this article is: how can libraries continue to adapt and stay relevant with the advent of smart phones and other super mini technology devices.

Arnold Hirshon (2008). Environmental Scan: A repot on trends and technologies affecting libraries.

Well, it would appear that I spoke too soon, as my discussion question has found some answers in the next article we read. In his environmental scan, Hirshon discusses in detail the many technologies that libraries currently work with on a daily basis, as well as the problems that come along with working with such technology. Interestingly, Hirshon also focuses on the type of end user that libraries will be working with for the next 20 years, these are users that are tech savvy, and have grown up in a world where there has always been internet. Hirshon seems to argue very strongly that it is important that libraries and librarians themselves work hard to stay current, and adapt from just being a collection to being a service organization.
I personally found this article to be fascinating on a number of levels. The first section that caught my eye was the fact that today most libraries have access to high performance storage and computing systems, Hirshon argues that this allows us to preserve even greater amounts of archival workm at a negligible cost. While I agree, I do have to wonder what we lose in this exciting new process. The second part of this article that caught my eye was Hirshon’s argument that mobile computing will overtake personal computing. I couldn’t agree more, being a person who currently owns and Iphone, and having found myself preferring to surf the web through the phone rather than my lap top. It is important that that libraries find ways to stay current, I know the DC public library has created an app, that is widely used and keeps them current, it also puts them right back in their end users faces. The last section of this article that particularly caught my eye was that libraries might cease being a physical space, and will begin to exist more on the virtual plane. I think this is an absolutely fascinating idea, it makes me wonder if, as a librarian, I will really be sitting at home on a computer plugged into second life to answer reference questions. I think that we need to see the constantly changing technology as an exciting opportunity for us to grow and evolve, and think outside the box. I believe that the physical structure of the library is important, but that we need to rediscover what our identity is to best serve all our patrons.
The question I would like to discuss after reading this article is: How does the library stay current with technology, but still ensure that they are accessible to their older clients who may not be as comfortable with technology?

I suppose that wraps up these two articles, more to come soon! For now, toodles!