Strange Bedfellows

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Strange Bedfellows
The Ultimate Digital Library

• When Libraries, Vendors, and Dot-coms Meet

Where the New Information Players Meet
Insert shameless self-promotion here
On sale now!
Andrew K. Pace Head, Systems NCSU
Libraries andrew_pace_at_ncsu.edu
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Who is this guy?
for those of you not familiar with my
opinionated (and semi-informed) rants on
listservs, in CIL and SLN, and from atop various
soapboxes.

• Graduated from library school in 1996
• Innovative Interfaces, 1996 - 1999
• first year on the Help Desk
• Product Manager WebPAC, Advanced Keyword,
  Z39.50,
• KidsOnline, Ereserves, etc.

• NCSU Libraries, 1999 - vested next February
• DRASIRSI Web2, laptop lending, MyLibrary,
  ebooks, etc.
• Liaison to Digital Library Initiatives
• self-appointed library ombudsman
• Journalistic Soapboxes
• Computers in Libraries, Coming Full Circle,
  2000-current
• Smart Libraries Newsletter, contributing editor,
  2002-current

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Strange bedfellows, indeed

• Libraries and
• The Dark Side Library Automation Vendors
• The Competition Internet dot-coms
• The Anathema Library as business

And the not so strange

• First Principles Privacy, confidentiality, and
  anonymity

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The Dark Side

• Cant we all just get along?

The question of who is to do library
automationlibrarians or computer expertsis no
longer meaningful. --Richard De
Gennaro, 1968
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From Co-dependence to Co-development

• Vendor-Library partnerships
• Market testing
• Beware the homegrown backlash
• Getting Vendors to listen

?Ethos
Pathos?
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The Competition
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The worst level of Internet service that users
will accept is the best level of service they
have ever seen.
-paraphrased from Ron Dunn, Thomson
Learning National Online 1999
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User Focus

• Library
• Academic Disciplines
• Library Promotion
• Paid Subscription Access
• Current Awareness
• Personalized Links

• Business
• Credit Card Processing
• Chat
• Calendars (with user postings)
• Classified Ads
• Surveys / Polls
• Personalized Links

vs.
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Organizational Focus

• Business
• Money
• Money
• Money
• IPO
• Chapter 11
• Library School

• Library
• Teaching and Learning
• Information Literacy
• Careful Selection
• Human Contact

vs.
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Yahoo-style Subject Categories
A given users like to browse
To enable a person to find a book of which either
is known author, title, or subject. -
Charles Cutter, 1904
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True Browse no keyboard required
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Librarians Give it a Try
(sort of)
Electronic and Web Resources Only
Why ?
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Vendors Give it a Try
(sort of)
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Dot-coms Do It for Real
(pretty much)
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Dear Library Users, We apologize for making this
so difficult...
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Radical Notions

• Canned browse index searches for popular searches
• LCSH subsets and Local Subjects
• Indexing
• Thesaurus Building
• Faceted Classification
• Integrated Taxonomic Information Systems
• Systems for the Intellectual Organization on
  Information
• Knowledge Management

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Radical Notions ?
Re-invent the catalog?
shistoryyear1990-1999langengmatbook locma
insortrelevance
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Radical Classification
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Radical Classification
Local Marc Subfield r c Core resource n
Narrowly related resource b Broadly related
resource
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Google-Style Quick-Search
Animal Control
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WebFeat
Muse Global
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Amazon-style Online Catalogs
To assist in the selection of a book. -
Charles Cutter, 1904
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Amazon-style Online Catalogs
Added Value?
LCSH !
Browsable Catalog!!!
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Are we losing the feature war?
LIBRARIES
AMAZON

• Phrase/Keyword search

• Go!

• View MARC record

• Who cares?

• MARC minutia

• Cover photos Book jackets

• Other authors links

• Alternate format links

• Type your search

• Browse best sellers, prize winners, and subjects

• You should also search...

• Customers also bought...

• Trust us, its a good book

• Editorial/Customer reviews

• Just arrived

• Previews / Coming soon

• Shelf-browsing book sales

• Bargain books online

• Stacks map

• Peak Inside

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Baby Steps Toward Catalog Enrichment

• Enhanced Hitlist Displays
• Enhanced Record Displays
• Added Value Content
• Getting Outside the Box

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Explicit more like this option
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Catalog Enrichment
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PREPARE YOURSELF FOR DEBATE
FROM THE MARC 505 !!
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(No Transcript)
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What else can we do?
Subtitle what should we demand from our vendors?

• Relevance Ranking
• Sort titles by most checked out
• at least show number of circulations!
• Reviews, Book Flaps, TOCs, Cover Art
• Online Book Sales
• Build browsable catalog links
• Build the Get it for me button
• Rev up to Internet Speed

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Whos already doing it?
TLC
Booksense
SIRSI iBistro / iLink and Rooms
InMagic
ExLibris - SFX
Innovative - Millennium
Syndetics
Tacoma Public Library
Endeavor - ENCompass
Fretwell-Downing
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The Competition Stacks Up

• The Partners
• SIRSI - iBistro
• ExLibris SFX
• LSSI
• Syndetics
• Booksense
• InMagic
• ltinsert your vendors name heregt

• The Competition?
• Amazon
• eBrary
• AskJeeves
• business.com
• XanEdu
• Google
• Questia

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The Anathema Library as Business
THE VALUE BALANCE EQUATION Benefit (importance to
the patron) cost (to the patron) customer
value Benefit (importance to the library) cost
(to provide) value delivery Ex. Public
Printing Benefit (100) cost (10) customer
value (90) Benefit (10) cost (100) value
delivery (-90) Reference Services Benefit (100)
cost (0) customer value (100) Benefit (100)
cost (200) value delivery (-100)

• Altruism and good business practice are not
  mutually exclusive
• Business model planning does not require a dollar
  figure on the bottom line
• Good management of digital products and services
  is crucial to library relevance in the digital
  arena

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Library as Business Products

• Product smothering
• Singular focus when all you have is a hammer,
  everything starts looking like a nail
• Product orphaning
• Longing for something new
• No more service owner
• Product neglect
• Both benign and purposeful

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First Principles

• We protect each library users right to
  privacy and confidentiality with respect to
  information sought or received and resources
  consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.
• --Principle
  III, ALA Code of Ethics, 1995

It may have once been true that on the
Internet no one knew you were a dogthese days
marketers probably know your favorite brand of
dog food.
--Josh Dubeuman and Michale Beaudet
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Library Privacy Violations Alive Well

• User profiling

• Borrower histories

• Web Application Logs

• MyLibrary

• Ask a Librarian

From Privacy Police to Privacy Ambassadors
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Conclusions

• Leveraging information expertise
• Valleys, Plateaus, and Mountains
• Cautiously embracing the business model
• Distinguishing libraries

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Even Strange Bedfellows Can Dream
http//www.lib.ncsu.edu/presentations/2003ncla/
Andrew K. Pace Head, Systems NCSU
Libraries andrew_pace_at_ncsu.edu