Report for the Library of Congress: Preliminaries

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Report for the Library of Congress Preliminaries

• Karen Calhoun
• EndUser Meeting, Chicago
• April 22, 2006

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The Catalog The First Self-Service Information
Tool
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The Way We Worked
Books Journals Newspapers Gov docs Maps Scores AV
Dissertations
Library catalogs
Special collections Manuscripts Papers Univ
records
Archives
Journal articles Conference proceedings Etc.
Abstracting Indexing services
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From Dempsey, Lorcan et al. 2005. Metadata
switch. In E-Scholarship A LITA Guide (Chicago
LITA).
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LC Action Item 6.4 Support research and
development on the changing nature of the catalog
to include consideration of a framework for its
integration with other discovery tools.
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Objectives

• Examine the issues broadly (in major research
  libraries)
• Describe current situation
• Assess obstacles and feasibility
• Create a vision and (actionable) blueprint for
  change
• Produce a report to elicit dialogue,
  collaboration, and movement

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Methodology

• Interdisciplinary literature review
• Structured interviews
• 23 noted library and information science
  professionals
• A business perspective
• Product life cycle
• Competitive strategy

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The Decline of the Catalog

• Users bypassing the catalog
• 89 of college students say they begin with
  search engines vs 2 with library Web pages
• One piece of a fragmented library information
  landscape (and hard to use!)
• Principle of Least Effort
• Metasearch in trouble
• Cataloging practice does not scale
• Just how much do we need to continue to spend on
  carefully constructed catalogs?Deanna Marcum,
  LC Associate Librarian

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The Continuing Importance of the Catalog

• Books and serials are not dead, and they are not
  yet digital
• ARL libraries spent the lions share of 665
  million on books and serials in 2004

The legacy of the worlds library collections is
tied to the future of catalogs
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New
New users, Existing uses
New users, New uses
Examples -Programs for freshmen -Push to
course Web pages
Examples -Mass digitization -Large scale
integration with other systems -Universal access
USERS
Existing users, Existing uses
Existing users, New uses
Examples -Minor enhancement to existing catalogs
Examples -E-journal discovery -Subject
pathfinders -Export to bibliographic management
software
Existing
New
USES
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Thirty-two Options Three Strategies A
Radical Abridgement
Mass collections catalogs Digitize Open
access Participate in the substitute industry
LEAD
EXPAND
Invest in shared catalogs Link pools of scholarly
data Seek partners
Improve the users experience Greatly enhance
delivery (fast!) Standards development/compliance
Recycle and reuse catalog data Innovate and
reduce costs
EXTEND
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NC State Universitys Endeca-Powered Catalog
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CalCat
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To Learn More

• The Changing Nature of the Catalog and Its
  Integration with Other Discovery Systems
• http//www.loc.gov/catdir/calhoun-report-final.pdf
  
• Rethinking How We Provide Bibliographic Services
  for the University of California
• http//libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/sopag/
  BSTF/Final.pdf

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Implications for the ILS?

• Extend strategy
• Discovery layer with ILS back end?
• Expand strategy (shared catalogs)
• Modularity Think in terms of linking rather
  than building
• Web services (importance of standards)
• Leadership strategy
• Outward integration-Library collections and
  other scholarly information objects more visible
  in the users environment
• ILS a service layer for supporting rights
  management, linking, inventory control, delivery