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Current Cities Volume 09 Number 09
_Current Cites_
Volume 9, no. 9
September 1998
The Library
University of California, Berkeley
Edited by Teri Andrews Rinne
ISSN: 1060-2356
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/1998/cc98.9.9.html
Contributors:
Kirk Hastings, Terry Huwe,
Margaret Phillips, Richard Rinehart, Roy Tennant
Jim Ronningen, Lisa Yesson
DIGITAL LIBRARIES
Kirschenbaum, Matthew. "Documenting Digital Images: Textual Meta-Data
at the Blake Archive" The Electronic Library 16 (4) (August 1998):
239-241. - For digital library developers who are frustrated by how
contextual information is lost when viewing image files, the
experience of the William Blake Archive offers hope. Based at the
Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the
University of Virginia, the goal of the William Blake Archive is to
create a sustainable electronic environment for the scholarly study of
Blake. Facing the challenge of how best to digitize the illuminated
books which are the basis for Blake's literary reputation, the staff
has pursued two complementary strategies. These strategies include (1)
working exclusively with non-proprietary data standards (e.g., SGML,
JPEG, TIFF) and (2) extensive use of Java programming. The staff
creates an Image Documentation (ID) record to track the origin and
processing of each image. They then insert the ID record into the
portion of the JPEG file reserved for textual data. Through this
approach the user can view the meta-data in a separate window by
selecting the Info button within the archive or with some common
software programs such as X-View (for Windows) or JPEGView (for
Macintosh). - LY
Oder, Norman. "Cataloging the Net: Can We Do It?" Library Journal
123(16) (October 1, 1998):47-51. - The topic of "cataloging the net"
has long been discussed by librarians, but when it comes to actual
projects we have had only mixed results. This overview article takes a
look at a number of the most significant projects, and delves into the
issues of creating and maintaining indexes to Internet resources. Oder
interviewed dozens of project managers, and their often differing
opinions on what to do and how to go about it are reflected in the
piece. Sidebars focusing on the Librarians' Index to the Internet
(http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/) and the major commercial
efforts accompany the piece. [Note: In the interest of full
disclosure, I am an LJ columnist.] - RT
ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
Weibel, S., J. Kunze, C. Lagoze, and M. Wolf. "Dublin Core Metadata
for Resource Discovery" Request for Comments: 2413 Network Working
Group, Internet Engineering Task Force, September 1998
(ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2413.txt). - Readers of Current Cites
were first introduced to the Dublin Core in the June 1996 issue. Now
the online publication of this Request for Comments (RFC) is the first
solid step toward the status of a draft standard. Although this RFC is
informational only, and "does not specify an Internet standard of any
kind", it nonetheless begins to codify for the network community the
metadata consensus that has grown out of the DC Workshop Series. In
this brief overview document, the authors outline the fifteen basic
elements for recording such information about a resource as creator,
title, description, subject, etc. Although this RFC will serve as a
decent introduction to the DC, it only addresses DC semantics at the
highest level. The all-too-sticky syntax is left for future documents
to describe. Once, that is, it is settled. Anyone interested in making
a mark in how things turn out is more than welcome to join in. See the
Dublin Core Web site (http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core) for more
information. - RT
NETWORKS & NETWORKING
Cohen, Laura B. "Searching for Quality on the Internet: Tools and
Strategies" Choice 35(Supplement) (August 1998):11-33. - Cohen's
article appears as part of a special supplement to Choice devoted to
reviews of Web resources appropriate to academic libraries. The piece
cites and briefly describes major subject indexes and search tools for
Internet resources. Cohen also provides searching information and tips
at a level that anyone can understand. Various tables for summarizing
key information about the cited resources accompany the article. - RT
Coyle, Karen. "A Short History of Internet Privacy" Educational
Program Handout Materials, American Association of Law Libraries 91st
Annual Meeting, July 11-16, 1998. Also available at authors's Web
site: http://www.dla.ucop.edu/~kec/privacyprimer.html. - Coyle, of the
California Digital Library (www.cdlib.org), spoke to law librarians in
her capacity as a concerned volunteer with Computer Professionals for
Social Responsibility (www.cpsr.org). This "primer" was the
accompanying handout, and is recommended as a concise explanation of
ways that Internet use can currently compromise a user's privacy. Many
of you may already understand transaction logging, clickstream
tracking and cookies, but I'll wager that few have prepared a
statement as clear and authoritative as this one. Folks who are afraid
that Big Brother is looking over their shoulders as they netsurf can
be referred here for the facts about what's likely to be recorded and
why. The intention is certainly not to increase paranoia, but to
inform so that privacy can be more effectively protected. - JR
D'Angelo, John and Sherry K. Little. "Successful Web Pages: What Are
They and Do They Exist?" Information Technology and Libraries 17(2)
(June 1998):71-81. - A research study undertaken by the authors
attempted to answer the questions: "What published guidelines for Web
page design currently exist?" and "Do existing Web pages adhere to the
published guidelines?" The methodology used to answer the second
question renders any conclusion to that question highly suspect, but
if one focuses on the first question, the article serves as a useful
literature review. The 200 references at the end of the article are a
bit shocking until you realize that items are listed not once, but
every time they are cited. This also makes it difficult to sift
through what could have been a very useful bibliography in its own
right. But, in the end, if you are wanting to discover what guidelines
exist for Web page design, both in print and online, sifting through
this piece is what you should do. - RT
Schwartz, Candy. "Web Search Engines" Journal of the American Society
for Information Science 49(11) (1998):973-982. - Schwartz provides a
thorough overview of the literature on Web search engines. Starting
with a brief but surprisingly thorough and accurate historical
overview, the article continues with a look at the present in terms of
the literature on Web search engines, the types of search services
available, the content they offer, their features, how results are
presented, and their performance. The piece ends with a look to the
future, focusing on personalization, results summarization, query
expansion, coverage, and metadata. Overall, this is one of the best
articles on search engines available. - RT
"Special Section: Coalition for Networked Information" Information
Technology and Libraries 17(2) (June 1998): 82-108. - The Coalition
for Networked Information is one of only a few organizations that
bridge the gap between librarians, computer scientists, and other
information professionals. CNI has been active in a number of areas
that are of common interest to these groups, and the fact that ITAL
has devoted most of this issue to it is a testimony to its impact. In
this issue there are articles on building collaboration between
librarians and information technologists and a variety of specific
programs. - RT
GENERAL
Ray, Joyce M. "Search for Tomorrow: The Electronic Records Research
Program of the U.S. National Historical Publications and Records
Commission" Journal of Government Information 25(4) (July/Aug 1998):
367-373. - Grants! Now that I have your full attention... it may still
be news for some that there is an affiliate of the National Archives
and Records Administration (www.nara.gov) that awards grants for
projects promoting the preservation and dissemination of documentary
source materials. Since 1991, the focus has been on sources in
electronic form. The grant recipients have been universities, state
and local government agencies and historical societies. Grants have
been awarded in such categories as electronic records research,
finding aids and documentary editing efforts. The author examines a
list of ten questions (published in the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission Research Issues in Electronic
Records) which many grantees have addressed, in full or in part. Two
of the questions have inspired most of the funded electronic records
research, so pay attention, potential applicants. The commission's Web
site (www.nara.gov/nara/nhprc) describes the application process and
provides links to successful projects, but it's worthwhile to track
down this article for Ray's overview and insights. - JR
_________________________________________________________________
Current Cites 9(9) (September 1998) ISSN: 1060-2356 Copyright
1998 by the Library, University of California, Berkeley. _All rights
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