Changing the Service Paradigm: the HEP-SPIRES Evolution

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Changing the Service Paradigm the HEP-SPIRES
Evolution

• Patricia A. Kreitz
• and
• Abraham Wheeler
• Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Library
• June 25, 2006
• ALA OLOS The Technology of Outreach

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Thirty Years Ago

• Particle physicists published primarily in peer
  reviewed journals (2-3 yr delays)
• Circulated advanced versions of papers to
  colleagues called pre-prints
• Created disparate access to scholarship
• Wealthier institutions could afford to mail more
  papers
• Famous scholars were sent more pre-prints
• Created a self-perpetuating system

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SLAC Library Challenged by Director

• First got pre-prints mailed to library
• Created a weekly list of pre-prints received
• Subscription covered weekly postage
• Included author contact informationanyone could
  write to get a copy of the latest preprint
• Automated 30 years ago
• Converted to a database and users at other
  institutions would Telnet into in SLAC to search
• Developed email query process (innovative then!)
• World Wide Webwe became Tim Berners-Lees
  killer app
• Linked about 15 years ago to Ginspargs
  electronic preprint archive of author-submitted
  papers

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Snapshot of Databases Today

• Suite of databases
• Literature of field e-prints, articles, theses,
  technical reports, conference talks, books,
  proceedings, etc.
• Experiments (particle physics and astro-particle
  physics)
• Conferences past and future
• Online directory of scientists
• Institutions directory
• Job listings
• Videos and Streaming Media talks
• Links (avg. 3 per record) to full text of
  itemelectronic virtual library
• Eight mirror sites worldwide
• 1 million searches a month

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SPIRES HEP Database
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Research
Library Menlo Park, California, USA
Worldwide Collaborators
Mirror Sites
Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron Hamburg,
Germany
Indonesian Inst. of Sciences Jakarta, Indonesia
Fermi National Accelerator Lab Batavia, Illinois
USA
Institute of High Energy Physics Protvino, Russia
Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan
Pending Korea
KEK High Energy Accelerator Tsukuba, Japan
37 Collaborators 9 Institutions
Pending Mexico
Durham University Durham, United Kingdom
Particle Data Group Berkeley, California USA
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Still Serving Disadvantaged Virtual Library

• Third world colleges and universities
• Access to the literature and reference tools of
  the field for free
• Links to Paul Ginspargs e-print archives
  provides full electronic text of pre-prints
• First and Second world colleges and
  universities (e.g. with out big endowments)
• Less money to subscribe to journals (NIM
  12,950/yr)
• Smaller physics departments
• Less travel money
• Fewer physicistsmore isolated
• Gives them a virtual community

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Some observations from our experience

• Underserved are more nuanced than we often think
• Getting the right information to the right user
  at the right time in the right way is the goal
• Once you have your goal, the how matters more
  than the what

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Principles of creating service

• Partner from the start with your users
• Co-developers
• Environmental/technology scanners
• Colleague-teachers
• Work collaboratively with other institutions
• Share the work/share the glory
• Have faith in your professional expertise
• Even the smartest users dont know it all
• Collect and share stories
• Motivation
• Continuous learning
• Fiscal and Institutional support

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