USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources1 Access to Reference Resources In a Digital Environment Michael Buckland University of California, Berkeley Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative School of Information SLIS, University of South Florida Tampa, February 3, 2009

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources2 Some ideas about learning Understanding requires knowing the context. “Knowledge is power” (Sir Francis Bacon) implies understanding relationships. 2. So libraries should support finding the context of anything! What? Where? When? Who? Whatever! 3. Best place to read is in a library among reference works. 4. The reference library has been largely forgotten in the move of library services into an online environment. 5. Using reference resources online should be as easy as Google and the Wikipedia to use and but also as reliable as a library reference collection.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources3 Text with a interesting details. Who was she? Where is that? What is this? What else was happening? Reader Library resources Encyclopedias Atlases, place name Biographical dictionaries Bibliographies Library catalog Statistical series etc., etc..... In a paper environment, reading inside a library is the best place to learn. It is well designed to explain the context! How do we move this situation into an internet environment?

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources4 Present situation – 1 -- Definition: “For the purpose of the research agenda, digital reference is defined... as the use of human intermediaries to answer questions in a digital environment.” Empowerment of librarians is good, but library science is really about designing services that empower library users, an even higher goal. Library reference service in a digital environment, Library and Information Science Research 30, no 2 (2008):

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources5 Martin Schrettinger Forget the mind of God! (or “Nature”). Use an arbitrary systematic arrangement. New name: “Library science” years ago.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources6 Present situation – 2: Stage of technology change. Adoption of new technology typically in two stages: First – Stage 1 - use new technology to do the same thing better. Second - Stage 2 - exploit the full capability of the new technology to do different better things. The Internet Public Library reference department is a good example of Stage 1, Time now for Stage 2! What would it look like?

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources7 Emanuel Goldberg, b. Moscow, 1881; son of Grigorii Goldberg; Univ. of Moscow, ; Ph.D w. Robert Luther, Leipzig Univ., 1906; Assistant, Adolf Miethe, TU Charlottenburg, ; Prof, Akad. f. graphische Künste, Leipzig, ; ICA, Zeiss Ikon, Dresden, ; Kinamo cine camera, 1921; microdots, 1925; search engine, 1927; Contax 35 mm camera 1932; kidnapped by Nazi SA; refugee in Paris, ; Laboratory, Palestine, Israel, 1937; d WHO? Click a name to search for an internet resource.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources8 Emanuel Goldberg, b. Moscow, 1881; son of Grigorii Goldberg; Univ. of Moscow, ; Ph.D w. Robert Luther, Leipzig Univ., 1906; Assistant, Adolf Miethe, TU Charlottenburg, ; Prof, Akad. f. graphische Künste, Leipzig, ; ICA, Zeiss Ikon, Dresden, ; Kinamo cine camera, 1921; microdots, 1925; search engine, 1927; Contax 35 mm camera 1932; kidnapped by Nazi SA; refugee in Paris, ; Laboratory, Palestine, Israel, 1937; d WHERE?

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources9 Emanuel Goldberg, b. Moscow, 1881; son of Grigorii Goldberg; Univ. of Moscow, ; Ph.D w. Robert Luther, Leipzig Univ., 1906; Assistant, Adolf Miethe, TU Charlottenburg, ; Prof, Akad. f. graphische Künste, Leipzig, ; ICA, Zeiss Ikon, Dresden, ; Kinamo cine camera, 1921; microdots, 1925; search engine, 1927; Contax 35 mm camera 1932; kidnapped by Nazi SA; refugee in Paris, ; Laboratory, Palestine, Israel, 1937; d WHAT?

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources10 Any word, name, document, or event Any resource: Audio, Images, Texts, Numeric data, Objects, Virtual reality, Webpages Any catalog: Archives, Libraries, Museums, TV, Publishers Connect it with its context – and other resources. Facet Vocabulary Displays WHAT Thesaurus Cross- e.g. LCSH references WHERE Gazetteer Map WHEN Period directory Timeline WHO Biograph. dict. Personal e.g. Who’s Who relations Context and relationships: Ireland and Irish Studies – Project diagram.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources11 The reference library is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The “9 to 5” problem Students are writing papers at home on laptops from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. What is wrong with this situation? What can librarians do about it?

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources12 And other problems with the paper reference collection Designed for community, not for an individual. -- Designed for many queries, not the current one. -- Not volatile. -- Guides but no index. One doesn’t really know where to look. Little green lights on shelves indicating which volumes mention this topic would be nice. -- Multimedia in theory; bound volumes in practice. -- Disconnect with work practices: Much error-prone note- talking and transcription.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources13 Building the functionality of a reference collection. 1. Context finder: Search support from text to reference works. 2. Context builder: Make, retain notes and links to reference works. 3. Context provider: Make reference works better by adding two-way links, e.g. text has links to place name list AND place name list has links to texts. Demos at

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources14 Initial sketch for “Context Finding / Building” interface. Save search path Save link & notes as “stand-off” markup. Save link & notes as embedded mark-up. Insert / block text Define facet Ranked lists of suggested resources for each facet chosen Display of search result

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources15 CORPUS FRAGMENT CONTEXT Context Finder: Ad hoc searches. Looking outwards, not inwards! Reference works

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources16 Scanned textNamed Entities

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources17 Cursor over a name highlights every mention of that name in the text.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources18 Named entities are linked to specific resources or dynamic searches over relevant databases.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources19 Building the functionality of a reference collection. 1. Context finder: Search support from text to reference works. 2. Context builder: Make, retain notes and links to reference works. 3. Context provider: Make reference works better by adding two-way links, e.g. text has links to place name list AND place name list has links to texts.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources20 CORPUS FRAGMENT CONTEXT Context Builder: Query, source, result saved as markup in text; and in notes. Reference work

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources21 Named entities not detected automatically can be added manually.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources22 Initially, named entities are linked to keyword searches at the appropriate name authorities and metadata services. Here we see a number of possible candidates for “Henry V”.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources23 -- Disconnect with work practices: Much error-prone note- talking and transcription. The case of editing of historical papers...

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources24 Building the functionality of a reference collection. 1. Context finder: Search support from text to reference works. 2. Context builder: Making, retaining notes / links to reference works. 3. Context provider: Enriching reference works by adding reverse links, e.g. place name gazetteer mentions where a place is mentioned in texts.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources25 CORPUS FRAGMENT CONTEXT Context Provider: Also reverse links from resource back to text. Now two-way! Reference work

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources26 Facet Vocabulary Displays Reference Genre WHAT Topics Cross-references Encyclopedia WHERE PlacesMaps Atlas, place list WHEN PeriodsTimeline Chronology WHO PersonsRelationships Biogr.dictionary Reference Genre VocabularyDisplays Facet Encyclopedia TopicsCross-references WHAT Atlas, place list PlacesMaps WHERE Chronology Time Timelines WHEN Biogr. Dictionary Persons Relationships WHO Paper-based reference collection: Codex determines structure and use. Reversed in a digital environment: Metadata forms infrastructure. Build a union index, so you know where too look! Little green lights! Search interest

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources27 Importance of inverting the relationship between the part and the whole: -- Indexes are created by inversion -- Union indexes: Tell you which reference work mentions your query, like the Science Citation Index... as in Google. Use dynamic links to for real time searches the latest version of the best resources; and, for vocabulary: Search term recommender systems.

USF, Feb 3, 2009Reference resources28 A report on work by several people: Aitao Chen, Fredric Gey, Ray Larson, Dan Melia, Barry Pateman, Vivien Petras, Ryan Shaw, and others. Work supported by two U.S. federal government agencies: The Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Three projects: - Support for the learner ( ) ecai.org/imls Biographical texts ( ) ecai.org/imls Irish Studies ( ) ecai.org/neh2007 Demos at