WorldCat Local software review

Read the WorldCat Local software review authored by Steve Shadle of the University of Washington Libraries. The UW Libs began offering a WorldCat Local-based search service on April 30, 2007 (reference). One of the points made by Shadle in the article concerns the role of WorldCat Local compared with that of the integrated library system search interface (which, in UW's case, is a III Millennium Web OPAC system): "In the end, our library has decided that the discovery and service benefits seen in the implementation of WorldCat Local have been substantial enough that we have made WCL our default search and that the library catalogue is now a niche product, like many other specialized databases" (228).

Alliance libraries currently offering WorldCat Local-based search to users

A number of Orbis Cascade Alliance libraries have purchased WorldCat Local (see this page, scroll to bottom). This is a current list of Alliance libraries that are offering WorldCat Local-based search to their users:

• Eastern Washington University
• Lewis and Clark College
• Linfield College
• Oregon Health and Science University
• Pacific University
• Portland Community College
• Reed College
• Seattle Pacific University
• University of Oregon
• University of Portland
• University of Washington
• Warner Pacific College
• Washington State University
• Willamette University

This represents almost half of the Alliance members that participate in its consortium borrowing program.

wsu digital collections content thru WSU WorldCat

With the inclusion of OAIster database content in WorldCat.org, an extensive amount of WSU digital collections data is now accessible through WSU WorldCat.

Take the Kimble Northwest History collection data as an example. In terms of objects, this is the largest online WSU digital collection. Items from this database are interfiled with other results retrieved from WSU WorldCat searches. Here are some sample searches, with results limited to the NW History database:

Subjects: bonneville dam | Senator William E. Borah | Mining - machinery and equipment

Box numbers: 81 | 82 | 83
(the collection is stored in boxes in a nonpublic area of the Holland Library)

The addition of OAIster in WSU WorldCat brings the WSU Libs one step closer to the "single search box" vision for library resources.

using Amazon subject feeds to enhance WSU WorldCat access

I did attend the Mashathon in Seattle, though I'm hard pressed to come up with evidence that I did so. This is about the best photo that I have found...I've got my back to the camera, second from the left, wearing the grey top.

Later in the two day session, I presented on an idea that I have...using Amazon subject lists and directing users from titles to WorldCat.org (or, more specifically, to a WorldCat Local instance). I demo'd a simple, published Yahoo Pipe that illustrated the idea.

However, small problem: the complexity of the Amazon feed eludes what Yahoo Pipes supports. The Pipes program relies upon the ISBN number embedded in a string in each feed item. However, the Kindle items on the list don't have ISBNs, at least in the data.

I wrote a 35 line Visual Basic .NET/ASP.NET program (output) that repurposes the Amazon feed in the Computers and Internet category. Kindle book links on the list will direct users to the Amazon record; print book links on the list will take the user to the WSU WorldCat service. (To see the feed from the consumer end, look in the right pane of this space, under heading "Amazon.com: Bestsellers in Books > Computers & Internet.") In any event, I hit the wall in Yahoo Pipes on this one...it's a good programming tool, but it has obvious limits.

My goal is to create some lists for several Amazon categories.

worldcat mashathon 2009

I'm participating in the WorldCat Mashathon 2009, which is being held at the University of Washington. I'm on the far right, grey top, back to camera.

I've learned quite a bit thus far and I'm looking forward to day 2. I've done some work with the WorldCat Search API in the past (example). I spent most of yesterday building another Visual Basic/ASP.NET application that uses Search API and xISBN to build a search application that displays info on all related editions on the search results screen.

I've also spent some time in working with Yahoo Pipes and WorldCat-related web services. We worked through this basic application a few minutes ago.

And, believe it or not, I have an Alliance-related conference call that I have to participate in at 1:00 PM. It will be a busy day.

hi-level view of discovery and delivery

Read this article this evening, which I recommend as a high-level view describing the changes in library discovery systems.

The author, Carol Pitts Diedrichs, does a nice job of tying together information on current search/fulfillment system trends. Her view of these systems (NCSU's Endeca; WorldCat Local; Encore) as transitional, designed to improve search for current users, is a sound one. The section "Discovery-Where We Are Going" describes a range of options for libraries to present resources (Google Scholar, Flickr, Wikipedia, Google Books...), but in practical terms, providing any kind of cohesive service requires a unified search system like that envisioned by Mike Eisenberg; this quotation is included in the article: "the simple but powerful 'Google search box' is a model for what we need in libraries-beyond federated search, this means one-step access to the full-text of library resources" (81).

library systems and transformational change

Reading this 2009 article from the Journal of Library Administration. The authors cite Richard West's and Peter Lyman's three stages of technology implementations in libraries: modernization, innovation, and transformation. It's the transformational changes - switching an organization's workflow from print-based to electronic-based; creating a new discovery system paradigm (example) that present the greatest risks and, at the same time, offer the greatest potential rewards to a library organization, in terms of service benefits.

Also, I was struck by an observation made by the authors (Laura Kinner and Christine Rigda) on open source systems: "There are a lot of articles about OSS implementations but there are few case studies showing success. This makes it difficult to get support from administrators and even colleagues who may favor the 'name brand' over open source" (410).

discovery of library resources - how we got into this predicament...

This 2007 D-Lib Magazine article is a good read, in terms of understanding why library catalog search systems fail to meet the expectations of current users.

Karen Markey provides a numbered list of items that describes, in her view, why library search systems failed to keep up with current technology and user expectations. These reasons stand out to me:

"failure of the library staff issuing the Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to act in concert about needed system improvements"
My take: Lack of recognition of the severity of the problem.

"the failure of ILS vendors to monitor shifts in information-retrieval technology and respond accordingly with system improvements"
My take: a natural consequence of the point above.

"the focus of the technical services department on other priorities, e.g., retrospective conversion, cataloging backlogs, authority control, etc."
My take: In this meta-article on library systems, Mark Andrews notes the focus of libraries and librarians upon traditional work led to the overall problem with discovery systems (recognition of a problem, forcing changes in RFPs...). This appears to me to be a sound conclusion.

next-generation discovery

Reading this foundational article on the Endeca deployment at NCSU: http://washingtonstate.worldcat.org/oclc/103589739&referer=brief_results. Having led the WorldCat Local implementation here since early 2009, the authors' take on why NCSU made the leap to modernize its discovery service several years ago is instructive:

Several organizational and cultural factors contributed to making this project possible. Of significance was an ongoing administrative commitment to fund digital library innovation, including projects that involve some risk. Library staff share this feeling that calculated risks are opportunities to improve the library as well as to open up new challenges in their own jobs. Critically, they also believe that not all issues, particularly “edge cases,” (i.e., rarely occurring scenarios) must be resolved before releasing a new service.

next generation library automation and serials

Reading this Marshall Breeding article: http://washingtonstate.worldcat.org/oclc/429091909&referer=brief_results: "Today's realities of hybrid electronic and print distribution, aggregated packaging of content, and complex terms of access and ownership expressed through license agreements bear little similarity to the models of print subscriptions that prevailed when the mold of the ILS was established."