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Current Cities Volume 09 Number 12
_Current Cites_
Volume 9, no. 12
December 1998
The Library
University of California, Berkeley
Edited by Teri Andrews Rinne
ISSN: 1060-2356
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/1998/cc98.9.12.html
Contributors:
Terry Huwe, Margaret Phillips, Richard Rinehart,
Roy Tennant, Jim Ronningen, Lisa Yesson
Digital Libraries
Baker, Thomas. "Languages for Dublin Core" D-Lib Magazine (December
1998) (http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december98/12baker.html). - This
article offers a different and interesting perspective on the Dublin
Core metadata element set and standardization process than those views
that have come before. By looking at the process and content through
the lens of language, Baker provides us with perhaps a better model
and justification for the often frustrating and confusing process of
defining a basic metadata standard. Baker also illustrates that the
Dublin Core is emerging as a truly global draft standard, with
implementations in dozens of countries around the world. The language
issues that arise from these implementations are also briefly covered
here as well. For DC wonks this is a must-read. For others, it may
have some interesting moments but it is not essential for a basic
understanding of the DC. - RT
Greenstein, Daniel. "The Arts and Humanities Data Service Three Years'
On D-Lib Magazine (December 1998)
(http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december98/greenstein/12greenstein.html). -
If you are unfamiliar with the collections and services of the Arts
and Humanities Data Service, this article will serve as a good
introduction to what they have to offer the academic communities in
these subject areas. If you are familiar with their work (which
includes the long-running and unique Oxford Text Archive, among other
notable collections and services), then you should concentrate on the
sections "Collections Development", "Resource Discovery" and
"Challenges to be Confronted" to discover how they do it and what
challenges remain. - RT
"Lessons Learned: National Digital Library Competition" Washington,
DC: Library of Congress/Ameritech, 1998.
(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award/lessons.html). - This Web page
provides some useful insights into the process of creating digital
library collections. The Library of Congress pulled out quotes from
some of the reports submitted by libraries participating in the
LC/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition. The purpose in
doing so is to provide to others doing or thinking about doing
something similar some anecdotal information about some of the issues
they may encounter. In reading these brief extracts from a variety of
projects, some interesting things emerge. One is the diversity of
problems encountered and solutions selected. Another is that very few
of the projects (if any) were executed exactly as initially planned.
From this evidence alone it is clear that flexibility and
problem-solving skills are two essential ingredients for any digital
library project. Links are provided to the output of the various
projects, so you can gauge for yourself how well these projects have
overcome their challenges. - RT
Nardi, Bonnie A. and Vicki L. O'Day. "Application and Implications of
Agent Technology for Libraries" The Electronic Library 16 (5):
(October 1998): 325-337. - At first glance this article may appear to
be yet another instance of the librarian profession under siege.
Happily, it turns out to be a balanced and persuasive case for the
creation of a diverse information ecology, taking the best from both
software agents and human agents. Nardi and O'Day present a set of
nine principles for designing agent technology based on their studies
of reference librarians ("exemplary human agents"). From their
observations, they recommend that agents should be "activity-aware"
and accommodate client's preferences, constraints and environment.
They are careful to avoid the overly simplistic notion that software
agents will replace librarians. Instead, the authors acknowledge the
unique (and often invisible) skills of librarians such as the subtlety
and tact of a reference interview and the mental cataloging of
extensive resources. But they also explain some of the benefits that
software agents would offer, in their conclusion that the strengths of
both human agents and software agents are critical to effectively
providing information services. For those who are still concerned
about the future of the librarian profession, the authors offer
important new librarian roles, including assisting in the design of
these intelligent systems - imagine that! - LY
Networks & Networking
Peete, Gary R. Business, Government and the Law on the Internet.
Berkeley, California: Library Solutions Press, 1999. ISBN:
1-882208-24-2. - As with all of the Internet Workshop Series
workbooks, this guide to business, government and the law is designed
to be either a self-paced guide or a model training tool. Included in
this book is a ready reference guide with a briefly annotated list of
Internet sites. Module One focuses on the World Wide Web providing an
overview of Netscape mechanics and Web search strategies that use
business, government and law topics as examples. A special section on
evaluating Internet sites is particularly useful. Module Two discusses
other Internet series such as email, ftp telnet and even gopher. - MP
Port, Otis. "Through a Glass Quickly" Businessweek 3607 (December 7,
1998): 96-98. - Lucent Technologies has pioneered a new kind of
photonics technology that may enable fiber-optics networks to shatter
all previously forecast limits on traffic. This article showcases the
new technology, known as "Wave Length Division Multiplexing," or WDM.
WDM "compacts" the rainbow of light that conveys messages into
ever-smaller bands on a fiber line. The result is that very dense
communication, such as three-dimensional depictions of surgery, or
instantaneous warehouse-to-consumer information streams, will pose no
serious bandwith problem. Commercial products that use WDM may appear
by the turn of the century, so it's not that far away. Here's a
sampling of the good news. This technology offers a real possibility
that network communications costs (both telecom and Internetworking)
may drop to zero sooner versus later, enabling all computers and
services to maintain constant connections. The bad news: the
industries that will be most affected have not begun to speculate
seriously about how to manage e-commerce if connectivity is
essentially free, so there could be some serious catch-up work ahead.
- TH
General
Schorr, Herbert and Salvatore J. Stolfo. "A Digital Government for the
21st Century" Communications of the ACM 41(11) (Nov. 1998)
(http://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/cacm/1998-41-11/p15-schorr/
p15-schorr.pdf) - "Many government agencies procure expensive and
complex information systems without the benefit of sufficient
interaction with each other or with the R&D community." That
representative quote is from the full report
(http://www.isi.edu/nsf/final.html) of the Workshop on Research and
Development Opportunities in Federal Information Services, which the
CACM article summarizes. Examples of such opportunities are proposed
projects in crisis management systems, large-scale statistical
datasets, online public interaction with agencies, and "intelligent"
transportation. Current government services are characterized as
burdened by outmoded legacy systems which are limited to particular
tasks and vertically integrated in an impermeable stovepipe
configuration. (There's a clear tone of envy for the private sector,
flowering with systems that are increasingly flexible, responsive and
interoperable.) Admirably, thorny issues are addressed, such as the
obstacles formed by the culture clash of the academic, industrial and
public service communities. Though it's a bit buffered by the
hifalutin' language used in both article and report, a little reading
between the lines reveals a painful acknowledgement that for most
computer people, "government" means "bloated bureaucracy" and they
want nothing to do with it. But folks, remember DARPA and what it led
to? This call for help is worth considering, not just for the
immediate gratification in federal research money, but for the
opportunity to create a better future for the public good. - JR
Stoffle, Carla J. "Literacy 101 for the Digital Age" American
Libraries 29(11) (December 1998):46-48. - Stoffle's thesis is that
information literacy is essential for everyone, and academic
librarians must rethink how they help students achieve it. Among the
strategies that Stoffle suggests are: "Libraries will have to make
education a priority"; "[We must] extend our concept of librarians'
role as educators to partnering with faculty in designing individual
courses and curricula"; "partnerships with other institutional units
and professionals are equally essential"; "Librarians must also modify
their concepts of how they'll teach such skills"; "we'll also need to
identify how support staff can help"; "Librarians must learn how to be
effective teachers and designers of assignments in more systematic
ways than the hit-or-miss methods in vogue today"; and, "librarians
will need to find ways to continually develop their own technological
skills". A sidebar "Learning from the Teaching Libraries" by Kimberly
M. Donnelly highlights a few of the porgrams around the U.S. which are
attempting to implement such strategies.- RT
_________________________________________________________________
Current Cites 9(12) (December 1998) ISSN: 1060-2356
Copyright © 1998 by the Library, University of California,
Berkeley. _All rights reserved._
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/1998/cc98.9.12.html
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