1. SCONE: some issues in managing a collections description service A presentation to Collection Description Focus Briefing Day 2, 14 May 2002 By Gordon Dunsire and Dennis Nicholson

2. Overview SCONE project SCONE service Collection definition Measuring significance Scaling and re-use of data Maintenance SCONE recommends …

3. SCONE project Scottish Collections Network Extension– RSLP project –Cross-sectoral & a wee bit cross-domain –3500 collection level descriptions Special, named collections Administrative, organizational collections Professional user-defined collections –15 collections with Conspectus strength mappings (Research Collections Online)

4. SCONE service Regional/cultural scope (Scotland) Cross-sectoral (academic, public, special library collections) Cross-domain (libraries, museums & galleries, archives) –Overlap and interoperability with Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network (SCRAN) and Scottish Archives Network (SCAN)

5. Collection definition Collectors; owners/administrators; users –Essentially local views “Functional granularity” (Heaney) –Level of detail for resources discovery or collection management –Potential conflict between central and local views

6. Measuring significance Strength (quality, quantity) –Automated methods show promise, but only when item level metadata is complete, consistent and comparable –Self-assessment of strength with informal peer review recommended for the time being –5 unique items vs 50000 common items? Decision is user-driven; purpose is volatile; accessibility is a major factor

7. Scaling and re-use of data Collections everywhere –+ directories; reference/short loan; etc. –~ 100 000 of all types in Scotland? Sharing common data between related collections –Locations; Access conditions (opening hours, special needs, etc.); Owners and administrators; Subjects and other headings; etc.

8. Maintenance Reliance on local data maintenance not sufficient –SCONE data sources, including electronic, seriously out-of-date –Wide variation in frequency, consistency, quality and coverage of updates –Scottish library directory requires annual prompt/check/update procedure

9. SCONE recommends A set of interoperating collection description services based on regional/cultural boundaries covering the UK Centralized administration of each service to ensure best use of common data, and provision of coherent, consistent and current information for resource discovery and collaborative collection management

10. SCONE recommends Imposition of content standards, including single authority files for personal, corporate and geographical names, subjects, and other headings. Local maintenance of collection descriptions using a choice of methods, including harvesting, online updating of the central records, and offline updating via printed form. Regional forum(s) to foster a ‘think global before acting local’ professional culture.