Tag Archives: integrated library systems

GSLIS publications digitized

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I was excited to find out that some important publications from UIUC GSLIS are now digitized and available in UIUC’s institutional repository, IDEALS. These include:

Allerton Park Institute Proceedings(1954-1997)
Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing (1963-1995)
Occasional Papers (1949-2004)

These are highly important publications in terms of recent library history, and it is great that they are now readily available like this. I know that the Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing in particular discussed important, cutting edge development around MARC and early integrated library systems (including NOTIS from Northwestern University Library and LDMS from The University of Chicago Library), and that you can’t get a complete picture of library automation history without reading papers presented there. Take a look at http://www.ideals.uiuc.edu/handle/2142/154.

(Found out via message from Sue Searing, LIS librarian, to GSLIS faculty earlier today. )

Proposal for e-resources management course

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One of the things that came up in conversation a few times when I was at NASIG this past weekend was that last year I made a proposal to UIUC GSLIS for a new, advanced course on electronic resources management. My intent in proposing this new course was that an existing course that I taught, Technical Services Functions, would be a prerequisite as would perhaps one or two other existing courses. More than that, however, my goal with this course is to get GSLIS students some much-needed focused exposure to the increasing dominance of e-resources (especially serial e-resources) in libraries of all types. Such a course is, in my view, long overdue. And the students themselves are clamoring for it.

Several people I spoke with at NASIG showed interest in what I had proposed so I have dug the following draft syllabus outline out of my email (thanks, Gmail, for making it so easy). If you have a moment and are interested in this topic, let me know what you think about it, either by commenting on this post or sending me an email.

Electronic Resources Management: A Suggested Course Outline
—————————————————————————
I. Definitions and Distinctions
a. What is an e-resource?
b. How does it differ from and how is it similar to other, more traditional library materials?
b. Overlap with integrated library systems work, serials management, acquisitions, collection development, etc.
II. Conceptual Framework
a. Access vs. ownership for libraries
b. Effect of living in an Amazon/Google/iTunes worlds
c. Relevance and authority issues for e-resources vs. other library material
d. Virtual vs. in-person library service
III. Types of E-Resources
a. E-journals
b. Websites
c. E-books
d. Databases
e. Other
IV. Management Challenges
a. Diversity of selection and workflow processes
b. Explosive growth in availability
c. Preservation issues
d. Issues for intellectual access (e.g. website lists or links vs. traditional cataloging vs. other methods for organization)
e. Licensing and copyright
f. Fiscal resources
g. Balancing “traditional” vs. e-content
h. Rapid change and high user demand
i. Evaluation of use vs. cost and other metrics
V. System Tools for Managing E-Resources
a. Locally developed
b. Commercial tools
c. Classes or categories of tools (e.g. OpenURL resolvers vs. ILSs vs. ERMS vs. Other)

Radically restructured database architectures

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ACM Queue – A Call to Arms – Long anticipated, the arrival of radically restructured database architectures is now finally at hand.

This article on the need for further research and development into new database architectures is pretty interesting. Although somewhat technical in parts, I think I got the gist of it. I found this point interesting:

One interesting development worth noting, however, has to do with the integration of database systems and file systems. Individuals who keep thousands of e-mail messages, documents, photos, and music files on their own personal systems are hard-pressed to find much of anything anymore. Scale up to the enterprise level, where the number of files is in the billions, and you’ve got the same problem on steroids. Traditional folder hierarchy schemes and filing practices are simply no match for the information tsunami we all face today. Thus, a fully indexed, semistructured object database is called for to enable search capabilities that offer us decent precision and recall. What does this all signify? Paradoxically enough, it seems that file systems are evolving into database systems…

I wonder if this is how Apple’s new search technology, Spotlight, works? I haven’t really read that much about the technical underpinnings of it, so this is just a dumb guess. I know that supposedly, Longhorn (the next major version of Windows) also has a revolutionary search engine built into it.

Regardless, any talk about new database architectures will surely have significant ramifications for libraries who are still heavily reliant upon integrated library systems. Also for libraries who increasingly rely upon web-based searching capabilities as well as web services.