Charting New Waters with the Oregon Explorer

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Charting New Waters with the Oregon Explorer

• Digital Library Development
• www.oregonexplorer.info

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Digital Library Development

1. Creating the vision
2. Building the Explorer sites
3. Involving users
4. Charting the future

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What we set out to do

• Library Goals
• Provide user centered service leading to user
  self-sufficiency
• Enhance the collection in areas of historical
  strength and institutional excellence (e.g.
  natural resources)
• Digital Library Strategy
• Take a lead role in developing a natural
  resources digital library for the State of Oregon

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Defining Digital Libraries

• Working definition
• a managed environment of multimedia materials
  in digital form, designed for the benefit of its
  user population, structured to facilitate access
  to its contents, and equipped with aids to
  navigate the global network
• Mel Collier,ISDL97,
• http//www.dl.ulis.ac.jp/ISDL97/proceedings/collie
  r.htm

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Assessing the needs of users

• Approach Create a natural resources digital
  library based on what users want and need
• Content
• Access
• Geographic Scope
• Uses and Usability
• Services
• Method 35 face-to-face interviews and 1 workshop
  with users of natural resources information

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Needs assessment findings

• Users can articulate what they want and need from
  a digital library
• Users want a wide variety of information in a
  wide variety of formats
• Topics of greatest interest include land and
  water use, watersheds, and forestry
• Place matters Access to multiple spatial scales
  wanted and needed (watershed, county, state,
  region)
• A useful natural resources digital library did
  not exist!

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Desired digital library features

• Users were not aware of any accessible
  information system or digital library that
  enables
• Spatial and non-spatial information discovery
• Information integration and synthesis
• Evaluation of information quality and
• People networking.
• Highlight access to multi-format information,
  tools for integration and synthesis, people
  resources and stories.

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Oregon Explorer Vision

• Oregon Explorer the go to place for natural
  resources information
• Use the power of todays cutting edge information
  technology to create a state-of-the-art
  web-accessible natural resources digital library
  building on, accessing and integrating data from
  state and federal agencies, local governments,
  university scientists and citizens to support
  informed decisions and actions by people
  concerned with Oregons natural resources and
  environment.

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A new approach

• Received private and public grants
• Partnered with the OSU Institute for Natural
  resources, public agencies, conservation groups,
  and UO
• Utilized content specialists, science writers,
  graphic and web interface designers, and
  programmers
• Involved users throughout both projects

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Digital Library Development

1. Creating the vision
2. Building the Explorer sites
3. Involving users
4. Charting the future

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Creating Prototypes
WillametteExplorer.info
NorthcoastExplorer.info
UmpquaExplorer.info
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Three Keys to Success

• Content
• Context
• Access

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Browsing and searching multi-format
geo-referenced content
Where available
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Reports and Publications
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Local Resources
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Statistics
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• What do these data mean?

Why should I care?
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Value of Adding Context?

• Willamette Story 38 of all page requests on
  willametteexplorer.info are for these pages

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Developing tools to integrate and understand data
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Submitting content
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Furthering Access and Openness

• Use of DSpace for content storage
• Broadening search scope
• OAI harvesting
• Federated searching

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Digital Library Development

1. Creating the vision
2. Building the Explorer sites
3. Involving users
4. Charting the future

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Connecting with people
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Training users
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Developing the Oregon Explorer
New metasearch tool enabling searching across
collections
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Digital Library Development

1. Creating the vision
2. Building the Explorer sites
3. Involving users
4. Charting the future

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Continuing to chart new waters

• Serving statewide .5m and 1m imagery
• Adding topic portals (e.g., wildlife, fire risk)
• Sharing integrated content from local providers
  (e.g., fish passage data)
• Creating tools for decision-making
• Developing a business plan and marketing strategy
• Forming new partnerships and funding strategies

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Your Questions and Live Demo
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The Oregonian, Feb. 6, 2006, Front Page
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How to contact us

• Janine Salwasser, program manager
• Janine.salwasser_at_oregonstate.edu
• Bonnie Avery, natural resource librarian
• Bonnie.avery_at_oregonstate.edu
• Tim Fiez, system architect
• Tim.fiez_at_oregonstate.edu

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