2005 LITA National Forum Concurrent Sessions

Alternative Models of Scholarly Communication:    The "Toddler Years" for Open Access Journals and Institutional Repositories

Greg Tananbaum, President, Berkeley Electronic Press

Mary Steiner, University of Pennsylvania

 

Two prominent - and promising - alternatives emerging in the scholarly communication realm are open access journals and institutional repositories. This session focuses on (1) why the academy is increasingly moving into the aggregation and dissemination of scholarship generally, and toward open access journals and institutional repositories specifically; (2) what decisions, challenges, and opportunities the academy faces in seeking to create change within scholarly communication; (3) how various projects have confronted these issues; and (4) the early results of these efforts. Among the underlying themes that will also be addressed are the serials budget crisis, the benefits and drawbacks of electronic publishing, whether open access truly equals free, and the extent to which the university library should step into a publishing role. Both a broad topography and a specific case study will be presented.

 

Application of JPEG 2000 in Archives and Libraries

Peter Murray, Assistant Director, Multimedia Systems, OhioLINK

 

For many years, libraries and archives have used the JPEG and TIFF coding standards to store and make available images in an electronic format. Decades of research in image compression techniques as a subfield of signal processing have yielded advancements through the use of wavelet transformation (as opposed to JPEG which uses discrete cosine transformation and various competing standards for TIFF compression), and some have adopted products based on proprietary wavelet compression implementations such as SID. In the 1990s, under the auspices of the International Standards Organization and the standards section of the International Telecommunication Union, the Joint Photographic Experts Group worked to create a new imaging standard using wavelet compression. The work of the committee reached a pinnacle in December 2000 with the ratification of Part 1 of the JPEG 2000 standard. As JPEG 2000 is embraced by specialized vertical markets (such as medical imaging and national defense intelligence gathering) and appears in the consumer digital camera and scanner markets, it has the potential to revolutionize common practices in libraries and archives. In addition to achieving greater magnitudes of compression with reduced or no loss of image data, JPEG 2000 was designed to imbed the technical and descriptive metadata associated with images that has become crucial to long-term usability of the image file as a digital artifact. With funding from the Gladys Kreible Delmas Foundation and the Connecticut State Library, the University of Connecticut convened the Symposium on the Adoption of JPEG 2000 by Archives and Libraries in November 2004 to begin the process of understanding, coordinating and accelerating the implementation of the standard by providing a forum for delegates to outline the efforts required to achieve wide-scale adoption.

 

Breaking Out of the Box:    Creating Customized Metasearch Services Using an XML API

Michael McKenna, Metasearch Technology Architect, California Digital Library

Roy Tennant, User Services Architect, California Digital Library

David Walker, Web Development Librarian, California State University-San Marcos

Raymond Yee, Technology Architect / Lead Software Developer, University of California-Berkeley

 

In addition to its own standard interface, Metalib, one of the premiere federated search systems used by libraries today, provides an XML-based API known as the X-Server.    Little known and rarely used, the X-Server nevertheless offers libraries the ability to create highly customized metasearch systems and portals, ultimately producing more usable and powerful research tools.    This session will include a brief introduction to the X-Server and showcase implementations at the California Digital Library, the Interactive University Project at UC Berkeley, and Cal State San Marcos.

 

Collaboration, Software, and Meta-Organizations

Edward Almasy, Co-Director, Internet Scout, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Lisa Saywell, Co-Head, Digital Content Group, University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center

David Sleasman, Knowledge Manager, SCALE, Wisconsin Center for Education Research

 

New technologies are opening possibilities to cross-organizational collaborations both within and between institutions. Libraries, academic institutions, and research projects are poised to begin leveraging this opportunity to build large digital libraries; build, populate, and encourage the use of repositories and digital archives in “real” time; and make that material available to scholars globally. Collaboration software and technology creates opportunities outside existing organizational structures, but establishing a technological infrastructure is only half the battle. Workflow, access control, sustainability, intellectual property, and “publication” of gray literature often create even more obstacles. Each issue requires thought,    understanding, planning, and consensus from each partner for a digital project to succeed. The speakers will present three views, based on recent project experience. Specifically addressed will be the advantages, challenges, and limitations of each approach—both technical and organizationally—from the perspective of one institution, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Included are David Sleasman discussing the role of enterprise-grade collaboration software (Vignette Business Collaboration Server) for a multi-institution research project; Lisa Saywell will discuss the use of Dspace for the University of Wisconsin’s digital repository; and the Internet Scout Project's software development efforts on open source, turnkey software (CWIS/SPT) for the National Science Digital Library.

 

Currency, Convenience and Access:    RSS Technology Applied to Subscription Database Content

John Law, Director, Product Management, ProQuest Information & Learning

Jenny Levine, Internet Development Specialist, Metropolitan Library System

 

RSS is being widely adopted across the online community and is firmly taking root in the library community. This elegant technology takes advantage of existing infrastructures and standards enabling seamless, automatic transfer of content across domains for integration within user applications. This session will describe new RSS services available for your subscription databases from senior ProQuest product manager John Law. Participants will learn from a thought-leader on RSS in the library space, Jenny Levine, several concepts for leveraging these capabilities to enhance your library’s online presence and the patron’s experience in your library.

 

E-Matrix:    The Development of NCSU Libraries' Electronic Resource Management System

Stephen Meyer, NCSU Libraries Fellow, North Carolina State University

Andrew Pace, Head, Systems, North Carolina State University

 

Electronic Resource Management (ERM) is an important new emerging technology in libraries. The ERM system is one of the major products that library automation companies are developing alongside the traditional integrated system. In addition, the Digital Library Federation has recently created a report on ERM that includes, among other things, functional requirements, an ERD, a data dictionary and workflow mappings for designing an ERM system. This presentation would provide an overview of the efforts to develop a homegrown ERM system at NCSU Libraries, the E-matrix system. While the purpose of the DLF ERM was to provide specifications for a vendor-built system, NCSU Libraries has expanded upon that specification to develop a locally relevant—yet extensible—system to manage serials (electronic and print) and electronic resources.    E-Matrix radically changes technical services workflow without diminishing the integrity of the integrated library system and greatly enhances public access to serials and electronic resources.

 

Falling Down the Portal:    Adventures in Federated Metasearch Technology

Katherine Dabbour, HSI Grant Activity Director, California State University-Northridge

Lynn Lampert, Coordinator of Instruction and Information Literacy, California State University-Northridge

 

What would Alice do? Does one portal fit all? Or will the user find their search results too big or to small to fit their research needs?    If librarians and students follow today's "white rabbit" of federated searching will it lead them to better search results?    Or will they face the threat of "losing their heads" in the endless haze of information overload? In 2004, California State University, Northridge embarked on implementing a metasearch and portal tool from Ex Libris (Metalib), that utilizes federated search technology to provide students with the option of a single search interface for their research.   Since our implementation we have studied how this new form of searching has impacted the user, librarian and the library instruction program's ability to deliver information literacy instruction across the curriculum.   Results of a web-based survey of student perceptions and focus group interviews with librarians will be discussed. This presentation will provide attendees with an overview of our library's implementation of Metalib and information on how both librarians and students view this addition to their research tools.

 

Federated Search:    Context, Capability, and Consequences

John Law, Director, Product Management, ProQuest Information & Learning

Brenda Reeb, Director, Management Library, University of Rochester

John D'Ignazio, Association of Research Libraries

 

Extending federated search results to bridge users into more sophisticated databases was the original intention of a joint project of the University of Rochester, Endeavor, and ProQuest. In this contextual research study, the four panelists observed users in their “native” environment at the University of Rochester as the users interacted with a federated search tool.    From these observations, the presenters discovered unmet needs with the relatively new federated search process. From diverse perspectives, presenters will discuss findings, highlight opportunities, and propose next-generation federated search interface features and techniques for the integration of federated and native database search technologies.

 

Google and the University of Michigan Library Digitization Project

Rebecca Dunkle, Head of Onsite Access/Distributed Services, University of Michigan

Laura DeBonis, Google

 

Google and The UM University Library have embarked on a project to digitize the 7 million volume UM collection, starting with the 2.4 million volumes in the Library's remote shelving facility. Learn about the process itself as it's being implemented - the mechanics of actually digitizing a collection at the rate of a million volumes a year - and what this means for access and services to library users.

 

The IUG Clearinghouse: Planning and Creating a Resource Sharing Tool for INNOPAC/Millennium Librarians

Cheryl Gowing, Director, Technical & Access Services, University of Miami

Corey Seeman, Assistant Dean for Resource and Systems Management, University of Toledo

Elizabeth Thomsen, Member Services Manager, NOBLE: North of Boston Library Exchange

Caleb Tucker-Raymond, Webmaster, Innovative Users Group

 

In June 2004, the Innovative Users Group (IUG) launched a resource called the IUG Clearinghouse.    Established as a database accessible via the Internet, the Clearinghouse includes information on resources that IUG members have created to work with Innovative’s INNOPAC and Millennium Integrated Library Systems.    These resources include web forms, scripts, guides, manuals, tutorials, coding examples and other tools designed to supplement what is available on Innovative’s documentation and customer services website.   The resource is member-driven and supported, with no direct participation from Innovative Interfaces, Inc.   The launch of the Clearinghouse took place after work by a group of IUG volunteers over one year to create a web-based tool that would facilitate the sharing of resources.    The presentation will provide background for this project, how the IUG Clearinghouse works, and how the database was developed.   Additionally, we will explore the technical issues associated with mounting a MySQL database on the Internet and the tools that we used to ensure that it was easy to use for both contributors and IUG members.

 

Library Instruction Tutorials:    Bottom-Up Design Structures for Maintenance and Scalability

Christopher Sean Cordes, Instructional Technology Librarian, Iowa State University

 

There are a number of methods and tools used by libraries to deliver instructional tutorials online, notably: HTML, Flash, Authorware, gif animations, Camtasia, and PowerPoint, among others. The challenge for the tutorial is not whether structures for delivering tutorial content can be created, but whether these structures are scalable and maintainable.    The presentation describes the processes involved in designing a scalable, portable, and maintainable application structure to deliver library instructional content. Highlights of the presentation will include choosing scalable technologies by establishing needs and requirements; separating content from design using modularization; creating scalable web application using open standard technologies; and fostering adoption through dialoguing and brand integration.

 

Life Maps:    Making Genealogy Come Alive for Your Patrons

Marcy Allen, Coordinator, Government and Legal Information Unit, Western Illinois University

Brian Clark, Reference/Media Librarian, Western Illinois University

 

Life Maps is a new groundbreaking way of handling genealogy, archives, and community outreach, all in one.    By creating a web map of your county, with links to streaming video, you can create a living genealogical archive and provide community outreach to a traditionally underserved population of senior citizens.

 

Metadata That Supports Real User Needs

Jennifer Bowen, Head of Cataloging, University of Rochester

David Lindahl, Director of Digital Library Initiatives, University of Rochester

 

Metadata enables popular web applications to connect users with what they are looking for. Library systems are built upon metadata standards like MARC, but there is often a missing connection between library metadata and real user needs. This session will present a range of cutting edge library applications built by following a user-centered design process, and taking advantage of both new and existing metadata standards. The CUIPID (Catalog User Interface Platform for Iterative Development) project at Rochester implements an XML-based library catalog with Google-like ease-of-searching, spell checking, and extensibility. The GUF (Get Users to Full-text) project offers an OpenURL-resolver that gets users to the best full-text without the typical link-resolver menu (e.g. SFX menu), and that is more robust than current commercial products.

 

The Michigan eLibrary:    A Statewide Gateway to Library Materials

Anne Donohue, MeL Delivery Coordinator, Michigan Library Consortium

Debbi Schaubman, MeL Catalog Implementation Specialist, Michigan Library Consortium

 

In January 2005, the Library of Michigan (LM) and the Michigan Library Consortium (MLC) will unveil the new Michigan eLibrary (MeL).    It will feature a gateway to the online databases that LM licenses for statewide access, a union catalog of library holdings, and federated searching of commercial and non-commercial sources. The release marks the culmination of more than two years of work by staff at LM, MLC, and Michigan State University. Libraries of all sizes and types have been involved in vendor selection, policy formulation, and system development. Every library in the state will be eligible to participate in the union catalog, making this one of the few truly multitype statewide resource sharing efforts in the country. The presentation will detail the challenges of working with multiple vendors of multiple library systems, bringing up a system that is significantly larger than anything Innovative has done before, designing a user interface that balances library users’ desire for simplicity with the complexities of providing federated searching, and developing policies that meet the needs for every size library -- from large research libraries to small public and K12 libraries.

 

NCIP Plus 2:    Making It Work

Gail Wanner, Resource Sharing Product Specialist, SirsiDynix

Sue Beidler, Head of Collection Management and Systems, Snowden Library, Lycoming College

Vicki Terbovich, IT Department Head, Maricopa County Library District

Candy Zemon, Senior Product Strategist, Polaris Systems

Slavko Manojlovich, Associate University Librarian (IT), Memorial University of Newfoundland

Clare MacKeigan, VP & General Managaer, Relais International

 

Just over two years have passed since the approval of Z39.83-2002 - the NISO Circulation Interchange Protocol - by the National Information Standards Organization. In 2003, all of the major Integrated Library System (ILS) vendors began work on their NCIP implementations, and by late 2004, a significant amount of interoperability testing had taken place. A few libraries are already in production using NCIP. Most ILS vendors are delivering their beta or production NCIP software to customers in 2005. By the time LITA National Forum 2005 takes place in October, a number of production level NCIP implementations will be operational. This program will highlight speakers who have actual NCIP implementation experience at their libraries. They will speak about their reasons for needing NCIP functionality, installation and implementation issues, and the benefits that they have seen in the short time since they began using NCIP functionality.

 

The New Books List:    An Open Source Software Case Study

Michael Doran, Systems Librarian, University of Texas at Arlington

 

The New Books List is a database-backed web application that was developed in-house at the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries and was subsequently released as open source software.    It is now in use at over 300 libraries in 34 states and 9 countries.    Using this application as an example, the session will cover the design, marketing, support, and intellectual property issues that arise when a locally created software application is released as open source.

 

Office for Information Technology Policy Update

Carrie Lowe, Internet Policy Specialist, Office for Information Technology Policy

Rick Weingarten, Director, Office for Information Technology Policy

 

Rick Weingarten and Carrie Lowe, from ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy, will update participants on the latest developments in Washington, DC affecting libraries and the uses of technology.

 

Paper Still Persists:    Providing Print-on-Demand Options in a Web World

Brenda Chawner, Senior Lecturer, Victoria University of Wellington

 

In 1998, Walt Crawford used the phrase "paper persists" to argue that physical collections (of books) will continue to be important (Crawford 1998). As we move to an increasingly web-based information environment, users still want printable versions of information. People print digital information for a variety of reasons, including needing a permanent record (of an online transaction, for example) or finding it easier to read and understand long documents on paper. This session will begin with an overview of factors that affect readability and comprehension of screen- and print-based documents. It will then review and assess current techniques for providing print-on-demand options for users of web-based information. The session will conclude with a description of a server-based PDF conversion facility, pdf2you, which takes a collection of standards-compliant web pages and converts them to a PDF document on demand. A major advantage of this automatic conversion is that the PDF file is always synchronized with the HTML version. Pdf2you can be used in combination with wiki software to provide an easy-to-use way of creating and publishing content for both web and print from a single source.

 

Pervasive XML for the Digital Library:    Tools, Tricks, and Techniques

Miriam Blake, Development Team Leader, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Beth Goldsmith, Library Without Walls Team Member, Los Alamos National Laboratory

 

As digital libraries and their information become an ever-more ubiquitous presence, issues of collaboration, personalization, and presentation become of greater importance.    No longer can libraries exist as information silos which offer limited mechanisms for data storage, exchange, and presentation.    Rather, the ability to easily manipulate, exchange, and customize information can no longer be overlooked. To this end, XML has become a more (some would say *the*) accepted standard for library metadata and data in the last decade.   However, compliant use of the standards, as well as knowledge of simple ways to manipulate data to and from XML is still relatively new territory.   In our presentation, we discuss how the LANL Research Library has adopted XML standards for data storage and how the use of XML technologies (xslt, xpath, processing tools) has affected the manner in which we ingest, store, exchange, and display information to our digital library users.

 

Presidential End of Term Web Harvest - Lessons Learned

Mark Phillips, Digital Projects Department Lab Manager, University of North Texas Libraries

 

During December 2004 the University of North Texas Libraries Digital Projects Department (DPD) carried out a research project to harvest all government websites implementing the NARA Presidential End of Term Web Harvest bulletin (NARA Bulletin 2005-02).    The harvest comprised roughly four terabytes of harvested web content.    The DPD encountered various types of storage, network, security, and management issues along the way.    Over the spring of 2005 the DPD will be looking at ways to provide access to this dataset and explore possible research that can be carried out on this rich collection of data.   The findings of this research will be commented on as well as the lessons learned during the initial web harvest.

 

Reimagining Technology's Role in the Library Building

Susan Thompson, Coordinator, Library Systems, California State University-San Marcos

David Walker, Web Development Librarian, California State University-San Marcos

 

Cal State San Marcos recently completed a 5-year building project. During the planning for the new building, Library Systems took a fresh look at technology’s role in the library that resulted in a radical redesign of computer support for users and staff. After the project was completed, the reality of actually living in the building revealed a number of new challenges that spurred additional development of creative technical solutions. The end result is an interesting combination of state-of-the-art computing, highly customized applications, and redefined relationships within the library, with campus IT and with our users. This session will look at the various technology roles in the library and describe some of the innovative solutions we developed.

 

Reserves Direct:    An Open Source Electronic Reserves Solution

Kyle Fenton, Team Leader for Linux Administration and Web Development, Emory University

Maurice York, Team Leader, Circulation and Reserves, Emory University

 

Electronic Reserves as a library service has been around since the mid- to late- 1990s, but it has often been treated as something of a stepchild in the larger family of academic library services. As the field of instructional technology has grown and as electronic resources have become student’s preferred mode of study, however, eReserves has grown to be a timely and critical marquis service of the library directly supporting classroom instruction. At the same time, the ubiquitous presence of courseware such as Blackboard is forcing a reconsideration of exactly how reserves fits in to the larger picture while at the same time offering new possibilities for collaboration and integration of library and IT services. This session will take a detailed look at the development of an open source eReserves system, ReservesDirect, built by Emory University. We will take a look at how this system was built from the ground up, the needs that have been and continue to be expressed by students and instructors, and how various technologies have been brought together to address those needs.

 

Small Scale Project Management

Frank Cervone, AUL for Information Technology, Northwestern University

 

Most project management texts and workshops are not very useful in many libraries because they focus on large, complex projects. However, just because our projects may be small or our departments may only have a few (or even one!) person, that doesn't mean that project management is not a useful and viable tool for managing what we do. In this workshop, you'll learn how project management fits into smaller-scale environments, how to use project management techniques to improve your project outcomes and what project management tools are useful in a smaller-scale environment.

 

Downloadable Books, Audio, and Video: One Experience

Michelle Jeske, Manager of Web Information Services and Resource Sharing, Denver Public Library

It's an exciting and challenging time to be delivering new digital formats to library customers. Several vendors offer downloadable eBooks and audio eBooks as well as streaming digital music; some have beginning or advanced plans to provide downloadable video. Find out about the successes and challenges of providing good customer service with these popular and not-quite-perfect formats. The Denver Public Library circulates more eBooks and Audio eBooks online than some of its smaller branches circulate traditional materials.

Streaming on a Shoestring:    Multimedia at the National Agricultural Library

John Gladstone, Web Manager, National Agricultural Library

 

Capturing content in audio and/or video for conferences, training sessions, and company-wide announcements allow information to be reused and shared with others either live or on demand. Broadband penetration and the wide distribution of media players coupled with low-cost video cameras, disk space, and user-friendly encoders and editors have helped open the door to entry-level video production. This presentation will showcase the hardware/software tools, skill-sets, lessons learned, and decision processes that will enable participants to take the first steps in setting up their own media center. Techniques for capture, editing, and archiving will be demonstrated using real world examples and video clips.

 

3D Information Visualization:    An Introduction and Practical Applications

Brad Eden, Head, Web and Digitization Services, University of Nevada-Las Vegas

 

This presentation will discuss 3D information visualization, how it is almost ready to hit the general marketplace, why it is important for information organizations to know about and begin experimenting with this technology, and what is currently out there in terms of experiments and softwares.    The author has recently written 3D Visualization Techniques for Library Technology Reports (January/February 2005), and wants to share this amazing technology and current experimentations with information organizations.    Ways to begin experimentation in this technology will be suggested as well.

 

Utilizing the Benefits of Native XML Database Technologies

Alan Cornish, Systems Librarian, Washington State University Libraries

 

This presentation will provide information on the strengths of native XML technology, including a comparison of native XML with more widely-used relational database management systems. As a specific example, information will be provided on the application of a native XML database product, IXIASOFT TEXTML, to the development of a union catalog of Encoded Archival Description finding aids.

 

Web Feeds:    The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread!

Gerry McKiernan, Science and Technology Librarian and Bibliographer, Iowa State University Library

 

‘RSS’ is an umbrella term for a variety of XML files which enable the sharing of Web site content. For many, RSS is an initialism for ‘Rich Site Summary’; for others it refers to ‘Really Simple Syndication’; while for others it stands for ‘RDF Site Summary.’  In this presentation, we will review the nature and structure of Web feeds and their adoption by select news and commercial Web sites, and profile the variety of current uses by libraries that include announcements, database results, instruction, reference services, as well new book and new journal issue alerts.