Introduction to LIS508 Thomas Krichel

Structure of talk Admin matters First talk about me Then talk about you. Then talk about the course

Admin matters I am not on strike. Difficult personal circumstances. The fact that we start late comes from prior engagements. Two ways to recover time –Add 30 minutes to each lecture –Make a special week end double class Saturday until Sunday after that date

Organization Normal lecture Quiz at the beginning of every lecture Topics to be fixed by next week Essay 50% on an approved topic Since the course is NOT a hands-on introduction, I will add a hands-on tail after each lecture No text purchase required

Course homepage 3ahttp://wotan.liu.edu/home/krichel/lis508w0 3a Not final, comments welcome. I do not hold a copy of the textbook right now but will add information regarding the book to the course page.

About me Born 1965, in Völklingen (Germany) Studied economics and social sciences at the Universities of Toulouse, Paris, Exeter and Leiceister. PhD in theoretical macroeconomics Lecturer in Economics at the University of Surrey 1993 and 2001 Since 2001 assistant professor at the Palmer School

Why? During research assistantship period, (1990 to 1993) I was constantly frustrated with difficult access to scientific literature. At the same time, I discovered easy access to freely downloadable software over the Internet. I decided to work towards downloadable scientific documents. This lead to my library career (eventually).

Steps taken I 1993 founded the NetEc project at later available at as well as at These are networking projects targeted to the economics community. The bulk is –Information about working papers –Downloadable working papers –Journal articles were added later

Steps taken II Set up RePEc, a digital library for economics research. Catalogs –Research documents –Collections of research documents –Researchers themselves –Organizations that are important to the research process Decentralized collection, model for the open archives initiative

Steps taken III Co-founder of Open Archives Initiative Work on the Academic Metadata Format Co-founded rclis, a RePEc clone for (Research in Computing, Library and Information Science)

What is IT Computer hardware Some devices attached to computers, such as printers, screens etc Computer networks Computer and network software

Why study IT Mastery of a tool Understanding information in a precise way Interact with service providers in a competent way Play an active role in transformation of library and information services Saving the planet

Study IT to master a tool A computer is not like a car A network more than a wire Arguably one of the most complex thing create by (wo)man, subject to its own scientific discipline Since much time is spent on computers optimizing interaction is productive. But there is a danger to study proprietary technology.

Study IT to understand Information To make information computer processable, it needs to be digitized and there have to be precise instructions for the computer to deal with the information in every situation that can possibly arise Learning how to do that is a considerable help to understanding information itself

Study IT to interact with others In many libraries, there is insufficient computer support. “The answer is no, what is the question?” Without knowledge, you are completely at the mercy of your surroundings for help.

Study IT to transform services Walk-in physical libraries will decline over time, and this decline will take place over your professional work time Those who have good IT skills with thrive, and those who don’t will perish Networked information and archiving will become more important

Study IT to save the planet There is a divide between have and have- nots in information. More free information will make the world a better place –Move away from commercial information –Organize freely available information –Promote access to information

What do you want to learn Information Computers Networks

Thank you for your attention!