With a tool like Endeca, it seems that there are really 2 options for
integration of all these different streams of library content.
1. Bring it all into Endeca - the old catalog becomes centralized search
point for all different types of information. We will probably try to
bring some of our non-catalog digital collections into Endeca to
experiment with how this might work (electronic thesis/dissertations,
for example). The nice thing about a dis-integrated catalog search tool
like Endeca is that we can easily bring in different streams of data
without figuring out how to store it all in a single database. The
problem is that we don't own all of the content we want to search.
2. Create an Endeca catalog web service. I think we're already leaning
in that direction, with a preliminary goal of providing the top X
catalog results in some web service-y format to our library web site
search. Once that tool is built, it would hopefully be able to integrate
content into lots of other places as desired.
In my personal experiences, tradition federated search tools like
MetaLib are fairly slow and cumbersome to work with. I'm not sure I want
to include non-article content streams in this tool if they could be
more quickly accessed using web services in some other interface. I
think that's what Ross was saying.
Isn't the driving force the need for a better interface to our
collections? In that light, the back-end only needs to change as much as
necessary to build the better interface.
-emily
Ross Singer wrote:
> Neither Endeca nor Primo do any indexing of content outside of the
> control of the library. Much like they defer holdings status and
> circulation to the ILS, they would defer the retrieval of remote
> information to a metasearch engine (well, in the case of Primo,
> anyway).
>
> What we're looking at, rather than a "new kind of catalog" is a
> decoupling of services. The cataloging/circulation/acquisitions/etc.
> still happens in Voyager/Aleph/Unicorn/HIP/etc.; the cross searching
> of Compendex/Web of Science/Applied Science and Technology Index still
> happens in Metalib/Webfeat/MuseGlobalbasedmetasearch/etc.; fulltext
> linking still happens in SFX/Article Linker/1Cate/etc. The difference
> is that all of the 'native' interfaces to these services are bypassed
> in lieu of a web services model and what we're aiming for is a new
> presentation layer.
>
> Is the goal on this list to create a better cataloging system? Or a
> better interface to our collections? That's really the main question
> here.
>
> -Ross.
>
> On 6/7/06, Sloan, Bernie <bernies_at_uillinois.edu> wrote:
>
>> Jenny,
>>
>> I don't think I have anywhere near enough runs on the board to predict
>> what might happen in the next 14 years. :-)
>>
>> I'd be happy if I could accurately predict the next three years!!
>>
>> Having said that, I'd love to hear some discussion of the newly
>> developing area of OPAC "front ends" (e.g., NC State's Endeca
>> implementation, ExLibris's new Primo offering, etc.).
>>
>> How do these newer developments relate to federated search engines?
>> Seems like federated search was the greatest thing since sliced bread
>> not all that long ago, and already we are jumping to newer better
>> products that seem to be doing some of the same things to a certain
>> extent.
>>
>> Just trying to provoke discussion... :-)
>>
>> Bernie
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
>> [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Jenny Warren
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 10:33 PM
>> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
>> Subject: Re: Food for thought (from 14 years ago)
>>
>> Now, Bernie, we need you to tell us what's going to happen in the NEXT
>> 14 years - I think you have the "runs on the board" (Australian
>> cricketing expression).
>> Jenny Warren
>>
>> Sloan, Bernie wrote:
>> > This new list reminds me of a note I posted to the PACS-L listserv
>> > nearly 14 years ago. In that note I talked about the idea of a
>> post-OPAC
>> > era. Maybe we are finally ready to embrace that concept? :-)
>> >
>> > The text of my 1992 posting follows...comments welcomed! :-)
>> >
>> > Bernie Sloan
>> > -------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1992 08:46:01 CDT
>> > Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum
>> > Sender: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum
>> > From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum
>> > Subject: Post-OPAC Era
>> >
>> > FROM: AXPBBGS --UICVMC
>> >
>> > From: Bernie Sloan
>> >
>> > Subject: The post-OPAC era
>> >
>> > I've been following the discussion of "third generation OPACs" with
>> > interest, and thought I might contribute my two-cents-worth.
>> >
>> > The idea probably isn't original or novel, but it struck me that
>> perhaps
>> > we might want to start thinking in terms of a post-OPAC age. Many
>> people
>> > have commented on the paradigm shift that will be put in motion by
>> > expanded and enhanced access to electronic information resources. I'm
>> > not sure that we can fully make that shift if we continue to think
>> > (whether consciously or subconsciously) of an information universe
>> that
>> > revolves around the OPAC.
>> >
>> > I don't think that anyone would argue too strongly with the contention
>> > that OPACs started out as automated card catalogs. Granted, OPACs were
>> a
>> > vast improvement over manual card catalogs, but they were still an
>> > extension of a manual system that was established to manage or control
>> a
>> > library's in-house resources. OPACs (and their card catalog
>> > predecessors) were not designed to cope with the myriad of networked
>> > electronic resources that people are confronted with today. Should we
>> > try, for example, to force the electronic journal to fit into a format
>> > and way of thinking that were designed for the printed word?
>> >
>> > We all need to start thinking of OPACs as a PART of the solution,
>> rather
>> > than as THE solution. More and more, information will be represented
>> and
>> > presented in ways that were largely not considered when OPACs started
>> to
>> > be developed. Does it really make sense to try to manage access to
>> > images, non-bibliographic data, etc., through the OPAC?
>> >
>> > There will always be OPACs (or their equivalents) to help people
>> manage
>> > the flow of information. But efforts in the post-OPAC era should be
>> > aimed at developing gateways to information resources, of which the
>> OPAC
>> > is only a part.
>> >
>> > One of the program titles at the upcoming ALA conference is "Images in
>> > the OPAC: a program on how image databases can be mounted as part of
>> the
>> > online catalog". The description for another program notes that the
>> > program "will stimulate discussion regarding the nature of the catalog
>> > as it changes from a tool for finding local holdings to one that
>> > provides the patron a 'one stop information store'".
>> >
>> > It may be semi-iconoclastic, but should we be trying to retool the
>> OPAC
>> > to play a broader role that might perhaps be better filled by
>> developing
>> > gateway technologies (WAIS, Internet gopher, etc)?
>> >
>> > Bernie Sloan
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: web4lib-bounces_at_webjunction.org
>> > [mailto:web4lib-bounces_at_webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Eric Lease
>> Morgan
>> > Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 3:25 PM
>> > To: Web4Lib
>> > Subject: [Web4lib] a mailing list called ngc4lib has been created
>> >
>> >
>> > A mailing list has been created called NGC4Lib -- Next Generation
>> > Catalogs for Libraries. See:
>> >
>> > http://dewey.library.nd.edu/mailing-lists/ngc4lib/
>> >
>> >
>> > NGC4Lib is open to anybody in the world, and its purpose is to
>> > discuss things including but not limited to:
>> >
>> > * Who are the primary intended audiences for a library's
>> > "card catalog"?
>> >
>> > * Considering the changing nature of information access in an
>> > Internet environment, how is an electronic "card catalog" of
>> > today different from the one designed ten or fifteen years ago?
>> >
>> > * What kind of content should these "card catalogs" contain?
>> >
>> > * To what degree are these things "catalogs" (as in inventory
>> > lists), and to what degree are they finding aids?
>> >
>> > * To what degree should traditional cataloging practices be
>> > used in such a thing, or to what degree should new and upcoming
>> > practices such as FRBR be exploited?
>> >
>> > * How would such a thing get created and by whom?
>> >
>> > * What are some of the functionalities of "next generation"
>> > catalog?
>> >
>> >
>> > Mailing list functions
>> >
>> > To subscribe send an email message to listserv_at_listserv.nd.edu, and
>> > in the body of your message enter "subscribe ngc4lib Your Name" where
>> > "Your Name" is... your name.
>> >
>> > To send a message to the list, send it to ngc4lib_at_listserv.nd.edu.
>> >
>> > To unsubscribe send a message to listserv_at_listserv.nd.edu, and send
>> > "unsubscribe ngc4lib".
>> >
>> > You can also use this link to manage your subscription:
>> >
>> > http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?LMGT1=ngc4lib
>> >
>> > An archive of the mailing list's postings are available from these
>> > two URL's:
>> >
>> > 1. http://dewey.library.nd.edu/mailing-lists/ngc4lib/archive/
>> > 2. http://listserv.nd.edu/archives/ngc4lib.html
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Eric "I Hope Something Doesn't Go Wrong" Morgan
>> > Head, Digital Access and Information Architecture Department
>> > University Libraries of Notre Dame
>> >
>> > (574) 631-8604
>> >
>> > I'm hiring a Senior Programmer Analyst.
>> > See http://dewey.library.nd.edu/morgan/programmer/.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Web4lib mailing list
>> > Web4lib_at_webjunction.org
>> > http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Web4lib mailing list
>> > Web4lib_at_webjunction.org
>> > http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>>
>> --
>> Jenny Warren
>> Information Resources Division
>> Monash University Library
>> (03)9905-9108
>>
--
Emily Lynema
NCSU Libraries Fellow
Research and Information Services
Information Technology
919-513-8031
emily_lynema_at_ncsu.edu
Received on Wed Jun 07 2006 - 08:58:31 EDT