Search (151 results, page 8 of 8)

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Abstract

Reviews commercial services offering CD-ROM and online hybrids designed to allow frequent updating of CD-ROM databases, the capability of linking to other databases and data banks, and the means of enabling pay as you go metering and secure sales of proprietary data. Focuses on the services provided by: Teleshuttle, which embeds a specialized software communications module in a conventional CD-ROM; NetAnswer for CD Answer, a comprehensive Internet and WWW software and services product; TMS Inc.'s MasterView Express image storage and retrieval database; Infosafe; CD-MAX; and products designed for CD-ROM and online direct selling catalogues; such as Connect Inc.'s Digital Production System and Digital Delivery's Catalog Builder 2.5. Concludes that CD-ROMs without online access are bound to be increasingly limited in future applications

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Footnote

Arlene G. Taylor, (University of Pittsburgh), in her talk "Introduction to the Crisis," stated that there has been an erosion of confidence in subject cataloging, which is frequently thought not to be cost-effective. Signs of the crisis are 1) an administrative push to cut back or eliminate subject cataloging, 2) lack of sufficient education in the theory and practice of subject analysis, leading to a lack of understanding on the part of non-catalogers, 3) a widespread negative view of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), and 4) a view of classification as only a way of arranging items on a shelf, and therefore clearly dispensable in an age of online information. Reasons for the erosion of confidence are 1) the availability of keyword searching, which many people think is sufficient, 2) the difficulty of subject analysis in an expanding universe of knowledge--including the increasing variety of materials, and of different formats, not all of which are suitable for traditional subject analysis--increasing variation of word usage even in the same language, the appearance of new subjects requiring new terminology, and the use of multiple thesauri with little or no attempt to relate them to each other), and 3) the "since it can't be perfect" syndrome, i.e., since subject analysis is subjective anyway, so why bother? Francis Miksa, (University of Texas at Austin), spoke about "Bibliographic Control Traditions and Subject Access in Library Catalogs". Suggesting that we need a broader perspective, partly historical, and a new approach and methodology, he discussed 1) bibliographic control as a general model and the various traditions of bibliographic control, and 2) the measure of a single bibliographic item, and how much information about it belongs in an entry in a bibliographic control system. Bibliographic control is any attempt to gain power over the information-bearing objects which comprise the bibliographic universe. The universe of knowledge is intangible and ordered, and resides in information-bearing objects, while the bibliographic universe is tangible--being made up of objects--but unordered; bibliographic control consists of identifying and ordering bibliographic objects so that they can be retrieved and used to help people reach the universe of knowledge. The types of bibliographic control that have arisen are--in chronological order--1) bibliography, 2) library cataloging, 3) indexing and abstracting, 4) documentation and information storage and retrieval, 5) archival enterprises, and 6) records management. The nature of a single bibliographic unit--that is, the basis of an entry in a bibliographic organization system--differs among these traditions of practice: in archives, it is a collection from a single source, in records management a group of records, and in library cataloging it was originally one book containing one work by one author.
The third topic was that the crisis is mainly due to reference and bibliographic instruction librarians, who are not telling users how to use the retrieval systems created by catalogers. They should tell users about the red books, about the importance of Narrower Terms (NT, including those that are alphabetically adjacent to Broader Terms (BT) as these cannot be found in screen displays), about the usefulness of subject headings from records for relevant items located by author, title, or keyword for finding similar items. (Of course, this will not work if the headings are at the wrong level of specificity!); and about the subdivisions of subject headings. Some bibliographic instruction librarians are telling users not to use LCSH, so the users are missing many--sometimes most--of the relevant items. If the retrieval system is going to work, reference and bibliographic instruction librarians have to explain how subject headings work, rather than concealing or even disparaging them. Michael Gorman, (California State University--Fresno), talked about "The Cost and Value of Organized Subject Access," saying that systematic subject access is the key to effective use of libraries, and it is therefore both cost-effective and cost- beneficial, even though many administrators don't think so. But there are problems, both inherently and in application. Good subject access maximizes both recall and relevance. Specificity is extremely important; it best meets the needs of most users, because the cataloger has already differentiated the items. It is also extremely important that a verbal subject system have a syndetic structure, so that the user can explore broader, narrower, and related subjects. The time spent by the cataloger in creating subject headings should be inversely proportional to the time spent by the user on retrieval; the canon of service of our profession demands adding that value at the front end instead of shifting the burden to (infinite numbers of) users. Direct and indirect benefits to the user increase with the amount of time spent on subject headings; if we believe that the whole purpose of a library is to make its collection accessible, we can't afford not to provide detailed access to collections. Effective retrieval is impossible without authority control (which however is free, since it is just cataloging done right). Gorman contrasted the "howling desert" of the Internet with the well-ordered world of libraries, comparing the Internet to a used bookstore in which the bindings, indexes, and front matter have been removed from all the books and they are arranged in no order. The user searches for clumps of related material, but has no idea of its source. It may seem ordinary to go into the largest library and be able to find a specific item, secure in provenance and immediately usable, but this is beyond the wildest dreams of Net-surfers. We need fast and efficient access to recorded knowledge and information, because we have lives to live and can't spend time surfing; subject access is an essential part of this, and is vital for future seekers of truth.

Source

Cataloging and classification quarterly. 22(1996) no.2, S.90-97

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Abstract

Advances in information storage and communication technology have made it possible to tranport all recorded formats - sight, sound, motion and text - to wherever networking infrastructure exists. In this virtual library environment anyone equipped to reach the network can potentially retrieve the resources it offers. Paradoxically, while access to information has been technologically facilitated through Internet, the process of locating desired information has become more complex for the user. Issues confronting virtual library managers are discussed - computer literacy, the user interface, user education, and organization of electronically available knowledge. The challenge to library professionals in the new virtual library environment is to develop and implement standards for organizing the diverse electronic recources available, and to facilitate information retrieval, in order to continue to provide the best possible service to the largest number of users

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Abstract

The aim of the ELISE project (Electronic Library Image Service for Europe) is to investigate the feasibility of providing an electronic image delivery to European member states via international networks, by developing a prototype system. The prototype will provide access to images via a detailed textual record incorporating fully indexed and searchable fields. Images are identified by fields in the database which contain pointers to locate the files. The database and imagebank can therefore be stored in different locations. Image quality provided by the system is established as a compromise between storage requirements, network speed, image decompression speed and what the copyright owner will be happy to provide. Small thumbnail images are used to provide a visual browsing facility

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Abstract

Presents an overview of cataloguing and indexing activities taking place in Scotland. Outlines the background to the current cataloguing scene by describing the work of SCOLCAP (Scottish Libraries Cooperative Automation Project) during the 970s and 1980s, and the activities of the Library's Association's Cataloguing and Indexing Group in Scotland, founded in 983. Scotland now dhas a well established infrastructure of professional information organizations including the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries and the Scottish Library and Information Council. Describes 4 current cataloguing and indexing projects: SALSER (Scottish Academic Serials); CATRIONA (Cataloguing and Retrieval of Information Over Network Access); SLAINTE (Scottish Libraries across the Internet); and BOSLIT (Bibliography of Scottish Literature in Translation). Proposes 3 important future developments: a distributed catalogue of research and educational materials held in the libraries of Scotland; an effective mechanism for the storage and preservation of electronic information objects of national significance; and a standard, integrated catalogue or index of all local history resources

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Abstract

Paper presented at the 14th biennal conf. of IATUL, Cambridge, Mass., USA, 8.-12.7.1991: new technologies and information services - evolution or revolution? Ed.: Jay K. Lucker and published by the British Library on behalf of IATUL. The provision of enhanced subject access and access to a wider variety of bibliographic resources for library users have been influenced by technology. This has occured throuigh advances in workstations, storage media, graphics, networks and search engines such as BRS/SEARCH. Presents the results of a study by the Council of Library Resources on online catalogues. Discusses access to the periodical literature, library workstations, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign library's microcomputer workstation, the OKAPI search system for online catalogues and the Scottish Academic Libraries Bibliographic Information Network

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Abstract

Reports on the findings of a study conducted to identify the main concepts used in sociology according to their relative significance. A sample of 87 introductory textbooks of sociology was considered, chapter headings used in them were classified and 100 main concepts were identified. A scheme for their arrangement was suggested using 10 major categories. In order to compare the relative significance of each concept for use in the retrieval tools as headings, a proportion of a book used for a concept by all the authors in these books was added. This cumulative proportion has been termed the 'relative weight of a concept', which made it possible to arrange all the 100 concepts into three 'levels of significance categories'. Thus, 44 concepts have been identified as most significant concepts, 26 in the second level of significance, and 30 in the last category of relative significance, only for use as headings in the bibliographic information retrieval tools pertaining to sociology. The study concludes in that no bibliographic information storage and retrieval tool in the field of sociology can justify noninclusion as main headings, the most significant concepts identified, that appear in the first category of relative significance, as these seem to represent the core of the discipline

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Abstract

This paper describes the Book House system which is designed to support children's information retrieval in libraries as part of their education. It is a shareware program available on CD-ROM and discs, and comprises functionality for database searching as well as for the classification and storage of book information in the database. The system concept is based on an understanding of children's domain structures and their capabilities for categorization of information needs in connection with their activities in public libraries, in school libraries or in schools. These structures are visualized in the interface by using metaphors and multimedia technology. Through the use of text, images and animation, the Book House supports children - even at a very early age - to learn by doing in an enjoyable way which plays on their previous experiences with computer games. Both words and pictures can be used for searching; this makes the system suitable for all age groups. Even children who have not yet learned to read properly can by selecting pictures search for and find books they would like to have read aloud. Thus at the very beginning of their school period, they can learn to search for books on their own. For the library community itself, such a system will provide an extended service which will increase the number of children's own searches and also improve the relevance, quality and utilization of the collections in the libraries. A market research on the need for an annual indexing service for books in the Book House format is in preparation by the Danish Library Center

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Abstract

The user of documents, e.g. of a library, faces the task of exploring the data fundus and of selecting information according to his actual intentions. He even may find or happen to find new aspects, and, following these, will further develop his original quest. How can the user be supported by PC-based procedures? Recently at the Institute of Philosophy, Univ. of Innsbruck, the GABEK method (Ganzheitliche Bewältigung sprachlich erfaßter Komplexität) was developed. It has proved useful so far in similar cases of ordering and/or retrieving information; especially to build hidden order structures and to incoporate them into information processing and storage facilities. It seems that the GABEK method might be applied successfully also to the user problems as mentioned above. To clarify his quest the user relies on a database1. This base contains experiences of previous users, which are expressed in natural language sentences. Through a PC-supported dialogue1, founded on database1, the user elaborates a more detailed concept of his own topic. This concept later is termed a 'linguistic gestalt', if it fulfils certain conditions. The linguistic gestalt may include 3 to 10 sentences in natural language, which specify the user's original intentions. The key terms contained in this linguistic gestalt will, in a dialogue2, be employed to retrieve relevant information from database2. Database2 represents the information system, e.g. a library. The procedures as indicated above and the building of linguistic gestalts can be effected by GABEK. Small quantities of data provided, the WINRELAN program (1993) may be used

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Abstract

In an earlier article, Tony McSean and Derek Law questioned the merits of CD-ROM as a technology and suggested that CD-ROM is likely to be supplanted by future technologies (Library Association Record 92(1990) no.11, S.837-838,841). Reexamines the hypothesis in light of subsequent developments. Compares CD-ROM with online information retrieval noting in the case of CD-ROM databases: lack of telecommunication costs; need for better training; poorer currency; relative search costs. The poorer currency of CD-ROM may be solved by providing complementary online and CD-ROM services. Discusses the provision of parallel printed and CD-ROM versions (and in the case of some databases such as LISA online versions as well), networking issues, and the impact of CD-ROM on printed products possibly leading to the extinction of printed services with catastrophic effects on the printing industry and for people without the means of sccessing CD-ROM databases. McSean and Law failed to predict the revolution in personal computers and to appreciate the effect of networking capabilities. The perceived problem of CD-ROM disc capacity and low retrieval speeds still remain for very large databases. Considers current applications of CD-ROM for electronic libraries and for document and database delivery, particularly over networks such as JANET. Concludes that McSean and Law's assertion that CD-ROM is a transient technology is quite correct in that all information technology has proved to be transient. However, CD-ROM has proved useful attractive alternative to online databases. CD-ROM may bring about its own demise as a storage medium simply because it is efficacious as a delivery medium and if transferred to magnetic media the databases are more efficiently and speedily accessible and more easily networked in local area networks (LANs) or wide area networks (WANs), or nationally as in the BIDS service over JANET