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Some Considerations When Proposing a Digital Project

An Essay of the LISNews Summer Series

At the Detroit Area Library Network (DALNET), we are often asked by member libraries to help them design digital projects. Everyone may have a different idea of what a digital project is: creating new content, organizing access to existing online content, digitizing existing collections, etc. So, in addtion to consulting with our members, over the years we have created several handouts about things to consider when you are thinking about creating a digital project. Since my last blog article was about the effects of the digital world on library systems I thought in this article I would talk about some of the planning elements that we have suggested to our libraries when they are creating digital content.

1. Scope of the project

I think it is important to start with defining the scope of the project. To define the scope of a project it may be useful to answer these types of questions:

• What is the purpose of the project; why are you creating this new project?

• What material should be included in the proposed digital project? Is the project duplicative of other existing digital material?

• Is the project finite in the scope of materials to be included or will it be an ongoing effort to digitize new materials?

• Who will have access to the project/information created? Will the project only be accessible to internal constituents or will the project be open to anyone online? Check out the Open Content Alliance.

2. Project Costs

Of course you have to think about financing before you get too far involved. Think about who will incur the costs for the project or how will the project costs be paid for? How will the project be maintained or sustained financially? Make sure to consider these costs that may be associated with creating and maintaining the digital project:

• Equipment
• Personnel
• Preservation materials
• Maintenance, hosting, and access of the project
• Legal and/or registration fees

3. Copyright

Libraries know all about copyright, right? Make sure creation of your project does not violate copyright. Consider:

• Who owns copyright of the materials to be included in the digital project?

• What steps may be necessary to acquire permissions for creating digital copies of materials to be included in the digital project?

• What costs may be associated with acquiring copyright permissions?

• Check out: the U.S. Copyright Office, Is It Protected By Copyright? slide rule, and the Section 108 spinner

4. Standards and systems to employ

In libraries, any project undertaken should follow standards and defined systems; we are the organizers of information! Sometimes, however, it can be a task to select which ones to use! Try thinking about:

• What type of software/database will be used?

• What standard for a metadata scheme will be chosen if relevant? Dublin Core, MARC, Encoded Archive Description (EAD), others . . .

• Accessibility considerations: W3C/WCAG, Open Archives, etc.

• What steps will be taken to ensure that selected standards are employed once they are selected?

5. Work Responsibilities, Timelines, and Target Dates

Perhaps its a given that part of the project plan has to include who will do all the work. But make sure to consider these areas:

• Who will contribute to the content and creation of the project? In what way will each participant be involved?

• What policies should be developed to guide content contribution?

• Who will be responsible for project oversight?

• Who will be responsible for maintaining the project? Will the project need continual review or will the project have a “completion date?”

• What are the target dates for staff access and public access? Are these dates the same or different?

6. Marketing and Review

Don’t forget about marketing and review. Any business venture or new product needs marketing to be successful. Whether by word of mouth or through conventional and/or online tools think about how your project will be marketed. Make sure the marketing is part of the project plans you have created for work assignments and timelines.

Be prepared to review the success of your project. Define how the use or usefulness of the project will be reviewed before you start. Will you be able to get statistics from the system you have selected? Make sure that you will be able to review the project in a way that is important to you and your constituents.

7. Get going on your new digital projects! Have fun! Create new and unique information resources that show why you library is valued!

If you would like to get some ideas for projects, check out the DALNET Digital Projects page. What are your ideas for projects or for digital preparation of digital project plans?

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Steven K. Bowers received his Master of Library and Information Science from Wayne State University. He presently is Executive Director of the Detroit Area Library Network (DALNET).  He was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2008.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

August 7, 2009 by Internet Legal Issues Libraries

The Impact of the Digital World on Cataloging Systems

An Essay of the LISNews Summer Series

I was recently asked to speak to a class at the Wayne State University School of Library and Information Science about “The Impact of the Digital World on Cataloging Systems.”  I was excited to talk about a topic that connects all of “my library world” together so I thought I would also blog about what we covered in the class.

I work at the Detroit Area Library Network (DALNET), where our core service is running an integrated library system (ILS) for most of our member institutions.  Naturally I like to keep track of the ILS market and where library catalogs (OPACs in particular) are headed.  As we consider how the digital world has impacted (library) cataloging systems I would like to start with my perceptions of what environment we are currently in.

If you have followed any of the links I have provided above you will see that I have used Wikipedia.org as my resource.  I have obviously already been impacted by the Internet even though I work for libraries.  A few years ago most libraries and other academic institutions saw Wikipedia.org as an unsubstantiated information resource.  Many still do, but informally, it is a major source of information for the digital world’s inhabitants.  So, as I look to define the world we are in today, I think it is fitting to cite from Wikipedia.org:

The Information Age (in which our digital world exists) provides “ . . . the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge . . . ”

If only it were so easy!  Some of us well know that not all information is transferred freely, or freely accessible.  And contrary to popular belief, not all information can be found in digital form on the Internet (just a lot of it!).  Regardless of what “information professionals” may know, however, we are dealing with the above quoted perception (ideal?) that many library users (and non-users) may have.  This perception of information access is the environment that libraries are now operating in.

For the most part libraries currently do not have the large “Web Scale” presence that Internet search engines do, although worldcat.org is attempting to meet this challenge.  Post Z39.50 single search interfaces are starting to be replaced by catalogs that include indexing for multiple targets, including library catalog information, serial indexing and abstracting, and access to digital collections and content.   Importantly, library systems still provide organized access to information, unlike the often much more limited and/or non-existent taxonomies of Web search mechanism.  But library catalogs are still not as easy to use as they could be.  Do digital users care about taxonomy?  Even if I believe that they should we need to learn to meet the searchers where they are, in the world of “instant access.”

Another notable change we are seeing is the inclusion of social networking (Web 2.0) elements in our online catalogs.  The mobile (smart-phone) revolution is no longer the future (it is already upon us).  Mobility provides individual access to personal devices and applications.  This mobility has only increased the new interactive nature of information access, and has created a new form of information creation.  Library catalogs are transforming (slowly) to become a “place” for social interaction and a means for users to participate in information creation and organization, through reviews, tagging, and social bookmarking.  These tools can then be used for “discovery” of “relevant” information.  These interactive features are now integral part of the Internet and expected by many users as common place.

A couple of years ago open-source library systems were thought to be the future of the ILS.  Some projects have made notable progress, such as open-ils.org (Evergreen), and koha.org.  Many individuals in the library science profession may still have their hopes set high.  Whether or not open-source systems are the future of library systems, their exploration has perhaps more importantly caused ILS vendors to consider more “open systems,” which may have the biggest impact on cataloging systems.  Open-source software allows anyone to have access to the source code of a software program whereas “open systems” may still have proprietary code but they are designed to be more interoperable with other systems.  The OLE Project recently finished a draft report on open-source and open systems for libraries.  Both open-source and open systems have allowed some cataloging systems to become more customizable.

These are some of the impacts that the digital world is having on library systems.  I am looking forward to the library systems of the future: interactive, mobile, and easy to use.  I am intrigued by the possibility of a new information profession that invites the user to participate in information creation, organization, and discovery.  If this is not where we are headed then we may be left behind.

Some Sites to Check Out

Topic: Developing “Web Scale” discovery tools for a large online presence.  The OPAC (online catalog) is as important as the underlying database.

Check out: worldcat.org, www.oclc.org/ca/en/productworks/webscale.htm, scholar.google.com

Topic: Library Catalogs and Web 2.0

Check out: librarything.com, www.chilifresh.com, www.addthis.com, www.frbr.org

Topic: Mobile Devices, Apps (Applications), Mashups (web app hybrids), and APIs (Application Program Interfaces), Widgets (mini apps), Amazon Web Services

Check out: www.google.com/mobile/, www.google.com/search?q=library+mashups, techessence.info/apis/, www.widgetbox.com/tag/library, aws.amazon.com/

Topic: Open Source and Open Systems, OAI (Open Archives Initiative), The OLE Project

Check out: koha.org, liblime.com, open-ils.org (Evergreen), www.esilibrary.com/esi/ (Equinox), www.openarchives.org/, oleproject.org/

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Steven K. Bowers received his Master of Library and Information Science from Wayne State University. He presently is Executive Director of the Detroit Area Library Network (DALNET).  He was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2008.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

August 3, 2009 by Google Internet Libraries School Libraries

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