The Natural Resources Digital Library Needs, Partners, and Challenges

1
The Natural Resources Digital Library Needs,
Partners, and Challenges

• Bonnie Avery, Janine Salwasser, Janet Webster
• Oregon State University

2
OSU Libraries Land grant roles and goals

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

3
OSU Libraries Shifting information environments

• Digital
• Provide internet access to information
• Provide a quality filter
• Provide metadata and implement standards
• Facilitate web use and resource discovery
• Assess user needs and incorporate user input

• Classic/Traditional
• Build on collection strengths
• Validate information
• Catalog and organize information
• Share Resources
• Help current users
• Plan with the user in mind

4
Natural Resources Digital Library

• 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

5
Needs Assessment

• Goal Create the OSU Natural Resources Digital
  Library vision 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

6
Needs Assessment How, Who?

• 37 meetings with key contacts
• 35 face-to-face interviews with users of natural
  resources information
• Academia (10)
• Business (1)
• Conservation/Environmental Groups (5)
• Extension Services (6)
• Government (10)
• Watershed Councils (3)
• 1 workshop with 20 participants (mix of users
  and key contacts)

7
Needs Assessment2001 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 forestry,
  watersheds, land and water use
• Place matters Access to multiple spatial scales
  wanted and needed (watershed, county, state,
  region)

8
Moving Forward with a Natural Resources Digital
Library

• Users were not aware of any accessible system or
  digital library that enables
• Spatial and non-spatial information discovery
• Information integration and synthesis
• Evaluation of information quality and
• People networking.

9
Digital LibraryConceptual Framework
Users
Web Portal
Data/Content
Tools
People
10
Partnerships provide the expertise

• Infrastructure Development
• Content
• Funding
• Usability

11
Natural Resources Digital Library Case Studies

• OSU Projects
• Tsunami Digital Library
• Willamette Basin Stream Survey Photographs
• Willamette River Basin Natural Resources Digital
  Library
• Highlights
• Digital Library Features
• Partnerships

12
Tsunami Digital Library
Digital Library features access to articles and
data compilations is enhanced by user questions
and ratings. Partnership expertise computer
science, library science, international tsunami
research
13
Willamette Basin Stream Survey Photographs
Digital Library features searchable photo
archive. Partnership expertise library science,
forest and fisheries science
14
Willamette River Basin Natural Resources Digital
Library
Digital Library features web-enabled
GIS. Partnership expertise library science,
computer science, local restoration/conservation
groups
15
Technology Features

• Tsunami Digital Library
• Collaborative filtering
• Willamette Basin Stream Survey Photos
• Photo archiving a geographic search interface
• Willamette River Basin Natural Resources Digital
  Library
• Web enabled GIS services

16
Digital LibraryConceptual Framework
Users
Web Portal
Data/Content
Tools
People
17
Emerging Social Challenges

• Identifying the key user communities
• Identifying partners with the right expertise
• Showing the benefits to all the constituents
• Communicating across the different expertise
  groups and user communities
• Developing a process for reaching agreement on
  how to move forward
• Managing expectations of users and partners

18
Emerging Functional Challenges

• Searching across collections
• Providing centralized access to distributed data
  and content
• Creating an effective user experience
• Balancing strategic goals with opportunistic
  possibilities

19
Concluding Remarks

• Our needs assessment proved an important process
  for identifying content and technology parameters
  important to users
• Partnerships in development, content, funding,
  and usability are an effective means to address
  the full spectrum of expertise needed to create a
  useful digital library
• Social, technical, and economic challenges exist,
  but can be worked through when you can clearly
  and frequently communicate the collective vision,
  needs, benefits and costs

20
Contacts and Bibliography

• Contact Information
• bonnie.avery_at_oregonstate.edu
• janine.salwasser_at_oregonstate.edu
• janet.webster_at_oregonstate.edu
• Bibliography
• http//osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/staff/averyb/NAP
  .htm

21
Discussion Topics Functional
social challenges

• Searching across collections
• Providing centralized and secure web services
  from distributed data/content holdings
• Creating an effective user experience
• Balancing strategic and opportunistic approaches

• Identifying key users
• Identifying partners
• Showing the benefits to all the constituents
• Communicating across the different expertise
  groups and user communities
• Developing a process for reaching agreement on
  how to move forward
• Managing expectations of users and partners