Electronic Developments in Scotland Subjectbased Cooperation

1
Electronic Developments in Scotland
Subject-based Co-operation

• Jake Wallis
• Centre for Digital Library Research
• http//cdlr.strath.ac.uk

2
Overview

• Centre for Digital Library Research (CDLR),
  Current CDLR projects
• Electronic Developments in Scotland
• Recent developments
• Subject-based co-operation
• Conspectus

3
Overview

• RCO (Research Collection Online) Database
• Dynamic Clumping
• CAIRNS gateway
• Demonstration of the basic system

4
Overview

• Future developments
• Collaborative Collection Management (CCM)
• Scotlands Virtual Catalogue
• SLAINTE, CAIRNS A Scottish Portal?

5
The Centre for Digital Library Research (CDLR)

• Strathclyde University, 1999 (1991)
• Funding University, RSLP, Elib, SHEFC, JISC,
  SOEID/SEED
• Quality academic research with practical outcomes
• Wide spectrum of digital libraries and digital
  learning issues
• International contribution, but a Scottish focus

6
Current CDLR Projects

• Projects relevant to main focus
• CAIRNS (Co-operative Academic Information
  Retrieval Network for Scotland
• SCONE (Scottish Collections Network Extension)
• SEED (Scottish Executive Education Department
  Project)
• HILT (High Level Thesaurus)

7
Current CDLR Projects

• Projects of peripheral interest
• GDL (Glasgow Digital Library)
• DIO (Digital Information Office)
• BUBL (an internet information service)
• EBONI (Electronic Books On-screen Interface

8
Current CDLR Projects

• GAELS (Glasgow Allied ELectronically with
  Strathclyde)
• CVU (Clyde Virtual University)
• JISC Intellectual Property Rights Study

9
CAIRNS

• CAIRNS (Academic, SCURL) but cross-sectoral in
  nature
• Membership Universities, NLS, E.D. Public
  Libraries
• Work with BUBL, SLAINTE, NGfL, SCRAN
• General aims distributed union catalogue
  single user interface allowing users to search
  clumps of servers subject-based
  dynamic-clumping

10
SCONE

• Aims to
• Expand the coverage of the RCO collection
  description database that is the key to
  navigation in the CAIRNS clump and make the
  database the focus of CCM and information or
  user landscape control in Scotland

11
SCONE

• Investigate alternative methods of measuring
  collection strength
• Provide tools to support Collaborative Collection
  Management (CCM), e.g. a collections management
  portal
• Map Conspectus to other subject schemes

12
SEED

• Aims to
• Extend the scope of the RCO dynamic clumping
  database (and hence CAIRNS)
• Examine the feasibility of extending this data to
  include collections held by public libraries and
  elsewhere in Scotland

13
HILT

• High Level Thesaurus
• HILT aims to develop a high-level subject
  thesaurus that will be usable across sectors,
  domains and regions in the UK and will 'hook
  into' international schemes like DDC and LC. It
  is required to enable such things as

14
HILT

• Cross -searching of Scottish information systems
  in the context of CAIRNS and Digital Scotland
• Cross-searching of similar cross-sectoral groups
  UK-wide
• Cross-searching of RDN hubs and services
• Individual clumps and services such as NGfL and
  BUBL

15
Electronic Developments in Scotland

• Recent developments
• Subject-based co-operation
• Conspectus
• RCO (Research Collection Online) Database
• Dynamic Clumping
• CAIRNS gateway

16
Electronic Developments in Scotland

• Future developments
• Collaborative Collection Management (CCM)
• Virtual Catalogue of Scotland
• Scottish Portal

17
Today

• Some Z39.50 catalogues, some www, telnet or
  collections only
• Resources and users mainly HE
• Only some collections described
• No user landscapes, interfaces
• Subject-based, regional sub-clump
• Staff CCM facilities limited
• Co-operation matrix limited

18
Conspectus Hierarchy

• 25 Divisions
• 250 Categories
• 7000 subjects
• For example
• Agriculture
• AGR 179-214 Veterinary medicine
• AGR 198 Diagnosis

19
Conspectus Divisions

• AGRICULTURE
• CARTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS
• ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY
• EDUCATION
• GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
• MILITARY SCIENCE
• PHYSICAL SCIENCES
• PSYCHOLOGY

20
Conspectus Categories

• AGR 1-49 Agriculture
• AGR 50-123 Plant culture
• AGR 124-139 Forestry
• AGR 140-178 Animal culture
• AGR 179-214 Veterinary medicine
• AGR 215-243 Aquaculture, Fisheries, Angling
• AGR 244-257 Hunting sports

21
Conspectus Subjects

• AGR 179 Veterinary medicine, general
• AGR 188 Veterinary public health (including
  preventative medicine, zoonosis control, and
  general quarantine)
• AGR 190 Veterinary pathology (including
  post-mortem examinations)
• AGR 191 Diagnosis
• AGR 195 Special microbial disease
• AGR 196 Veterinary parasitology

22
RCO

• The original version of RCO is a database that
  allows users to identify collection subject
  strengths, based on the Conspectus exercise, and
  then access (separately) each relevant catalogue.
  

23
RCO

• The current RCO database, which is used in CAIRNS
  dynamic clumping, not only allows users to go
  from subject strengths to individual catalogues,
  but also to send the same subject search to all
  Z39.50-compliant catalogues using the CAIRNS user
  interface.

24
Dynamic Clumping

• Mechanism to aid user navigation in large
  distributed clump
• User can narrow search to a few key catalogues
  through searching, browsing collections strengths
• Based on Conspectus exercise
• RCO database limited functionality
• CAIRNS dynamic clumper extends

25
CAIRNS

• Focus for CCM and Dynamic Clumping...
• Aims
• Z39.50-based distributed union catalogue
• a common user interface
• RCO collection strengths database
• an RCO-based dynamic clumper

26
CAIRNS

• Embryonic service for finding and accessing
  Scottish Collections
• Address, telephone number
• Webpac or telnet
• Cross-searching with Z39.50
• Developing via SCONE and SEED
• Aims to be cross-sectoral and, if possible,
  cross-domain

27
Demonstration

• A basic, embryonic, version of the system
  encompassing all of the components except the
  staff gateway- has been created and shown to be
  effective by CAIRNS and is developing under SCONE

28
(No Transcript)
29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
(No Transcript)
32
(No Transcript)
33
(No Transcript)
34
Tomorrow

• Every catalogue included, Z39.50
• All resources, every user anywhere
• All collections fully described
• Every useful dynamic clump and user landscape or
  interface
• Better collection management tools
• Complex co-operation matrix across and beyond
  Scotland

35
Collaborative Collection Management (CCM)

• SCAMP Scottish Collections Access Management
  Portal
• RCO itself (expanded by SCONE)
• Cross-searching on order files
• Staff discussion area
• Useful resources directory information, ILL
  arrangements, access agreements

36
SCONE and SEED

• Expanding RCO/dynamic clumping
• Examining alternative methods of measuring
  collection strength
• Providing tools to support CCM
• Mapping Conspectus to other subject schemes
• SEED Public Libraries
• Both linking CCM, user navigation

37
Electronic Materials

• SCONE to add electronic collections
• CAIRNS already covers or will soon add
• BUBL, SLAINTE, NGfL (Scotland)
• SCRAN
• GDL, CVU, DIO
• Moving towards kind of Virtual Union Catalogue
  for that will be a key requirement in Digital
  Scotland

38
CoSMiC

• The Confederation of Scottish Mini-Clumps(CoSMiC)
  initiative (Founders ALF, SESLIN, TAFLIN etc.)
• A standards-based Scotland-wide co-operative
  catalogue and collaborative collection management
  programme needs co-ordination at human level
• Hope is that CoSMiC will provide it

39
CoSMiC

• .by co-ordinating activities at regional,
  sectoral, domain and national level
• .allowing a different vision for each sector or
  domain or region or whatever (electronic
  resources?)
• facilitating collaborative collecting, user
  landscape control through the SCONE staff portal

40
How it all works

• Cross-searchable distributed catalogue and user
  gateway
• Scottish Collections database and user gateway
• Dynamic clumper linking the two
• Staff Collections Management Portal (being
  developed SCONE)
• COSMIC and regional groups

41
Scotlands Virtual Catalogue

• Scottish distributed union catalogue
• Cross-sectoral and cross-domain
• Hard-copy and electronic resources
• Integration with UK union catalogue
• Dynamic clumper based navigation
• Associated CCM same database
• Every kind of user, everywhere
• User and task specific landscapes

42
Expanding CAIRNS

• Already includes more than RCO
• Aim is Scottish cross-sectoral distributed union
  catalogue
• An integrated part of a UK distributed catalogue
• Implies RCO expansion

43
SLAINTE

• SLAINTE a Z39.50 target and already part of
  CAIRNS
• Multiple targets really?
• Directory information of significant value to
  CAIRNS and its users
• Various important elements of a Scottish Portal

44
A Scottish Portal?

• Easy user access to all Scottish networked
  information, learning and research services
• Ability to see and cross-search selective views
  of these e.g. just those catalogues strong in
  history, in Ayrshire, covering electronic
  services, FE, HE, public libraries, for secondary
  school pupils, etc

45
A Scottish Portal?

• A terminologies mapping service to facilitate
  cross searching by subject where different
  schemes are in use
• Different interface views for different user,
  educational levels
• Staff control of these information landscapes
  via a staff portal to the collection description
  database

46
Further information

• CAIRNS gateway http//cairns.lib.strath.ac.uk/
• CDLR http//cdlr.strath.ac.uk/
• SCONE http//scone.strath.ac.uk/
• SEED http//seed.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/
• Jake.Wallis_at_strath.ac.uk