Ross makes a good point about libraries (not) working together. The JISC MOSAIC project (which Dave mention earlier http://www.sero.co.uk/jisc-mosaic.html ) tried to get more libraries to contribute usage data to supplement the data that Dave has heroically put out for free re-use. It didn't really succeed in that regard. Maybe the barriers were technical--the spec may have been too complex? (the 'data collection guide' is available from the website link lsited below). Maybe there was other barriers too (though *not* the lack of historic circ data).
What *was* interesting and successful though was the use make of the (Huddersfield’s-Dave's) data once they were freely available. The results of the competition to exploit usage data are still there -go to the mosaic project page 'documents http://www.sero.co.uk/jisc-mosaic-documents.html and click on the 'MOSAIC demonstrator links' document. There was a nice diversity of approaches. One of the interesting things was making connections through 'courses'. That has some interesting potential...
JISC is holding a follow up event: 'Gaining business intelligence from user activity data'
on 14th July in London. http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2010/07/businessintelligence.aspx
And on library recommender systems that are based on non circ usage data...BiBTip http://www.bibtip.org/ *seems* to be going strong in Germany.?...why aren't libraries in the UK or US elsewhere using it?
Ken
CEO, Ken Chad Consulting Ltd16 Regency Court. Brentwood. UK
Tel +44 (0)7788 727 845. Email: ken_at_kenchadconsulting.com www.kenchadconsulting.com
Skype: kenchadconsulting
Check out the Higher Education Library Technology' website (wiki) http://helibtech.com/
> Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 09:26:58 -0400
> From: rossfsinger_at_GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] next "next-generation library catalog"
> To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>
> On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 12:02 PM, David Pattern <d.c.pattern_at_hud.ac.uk> wrote:
> > We've had recommendations ("people who borrowed this...") based on circ data in our OPAC since 2005 and it's had a huge (positive) impact on how stock circulates and on how many items students borrower per year, e.g.
> > http://library.hud.ac.uk/catlink/bib/415607/cls/
>
> > Much as I love bX, I do wonder what's stopping libraries from collaborating and doing recommendations themselves?
> >
> In the U.S., it's become fairly customary to expunge borrowing history
> as way to avoid getting entangled in the USA PATRIOT act.
>
> It would certainly be possible to anonymize the data before expunging
> it, but, realistically, this is something the vendors should be
> building into their systems rather than replicating (and supporting)
> at every node.
>
> Same goes with bX -- I think most libraries view their link resolver
> as a black box (and, indeed, some probably are) so getting the initial
> uptake would be tough. The sad fact of trying to do anything
> pan-institutionally in libraries is that if it's not backed by a
> vendor, libraries aren't interested.
>
> -Ross.
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Received on Thu Jul 01 2010 - 11:00:53 EDT