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Questions the value of MARC records and considers the need for a new bibliographic standard. Topics include language and hierarchy; problems with print and electronic copies of the same work, especially in union catalogs; XML; merging records and authority control; and what to do with existing MARC records. (LRW)

Discusses interoperability as a key challenge to digital libraries and describes efforts of the Open Archives initiative (formerly Universal Preprint Service initiative) to develop an open architecture that supports simultaneous searching and retrieval of papers from disparate archives. Highlights include scientific information and journal articles, and related Web sites. (LRW)

Discusses how collections in the digital library, instead of traditional cataloging, call for metadata, structured information about information. Describes three categories of metadata information about digital resources: descriptive, structural, and administrative. Examines emerging standards for digital-library classification. (AEF)

Digital libraries of the future will be shaped by the technologies, standards, and models adopted today. This article examines interoperability of library systems, metadata standards, copyright management, fair use, preservation of digital information, problems resulting from technological advancement, costs, print versus Web resources, and interface design. Includes a bibliography of Web resources. (PEN)

In this article, the author talks about how to face the not knowing and offers a strategy to fill the gap of not knowing. In coping with constant change, he describes a strategy for library staff that might help in the absence of certainty. This includes: (a) guarding the data with one's life; (b) build not for longevity, but obsolescence; (c) learn a technology only well enough to do what is necessary; (d) choose a vendor carefully; and (e) if it does not have an application program interface (API), it is not worth having. The author also suggests becoming comfortable with the not knowing and fostering personal and professional strategies when things do not go as planned.

Google Scholar, the beta Google service for searching scholarly information, crawls scholarly, web-based content--predominantly by targeting specific publishers with which Google has contractual arrangements. Open access material is crawled as well. These full-text materials, abstracts, and citations are being indexed, and citations from these papers to other sources are also extracted and indexed. So besides returned links to full-text articles, search results can also include citations to non scholarly materials and scholarly materials that Google has not crawled. This article discusses the challenges that Google Scholar faces.

Metadata is often created in a time-consuming process by catalogers, digital library technicians, and others. It is then underused in the systems. But recent experiments by some library organizations indicate that only the surface is being scratched on what data can do. The American West Project at the California Digital Library (CDL) is aggregating metadata that describes digital objects related to the American West from a couple of dozen libraries, museums, and archives.

If someone has something to say, they have never had it so good. People can get their word out by posting to a blog, by editing a wiki or a web site, or even by using cost-effective print-on-demand book production services. In other words, collection development librarians now live in a world of hurt. All these methods, as well as a number of others, fall outside the conventional ones librarians use to select and aggregate content. If a book is not in a publisher's catalog or an approval plan, collection development librarians are likely to know nothing of it. But in a world where important content is often not part of the traditional publishing infrastructure, libraries risk becoming increasingly irrelevant unless they thoroughly reengineer their collection-building strategies. Do these new methods of creating content mean that old ones such as print publishing are going away? It means that collection development librarians not only cannot eliminate anything they already do, but they must also add an entirely new set of activities. This article describes these new activities.

In the article, the author talks about the benefits of grid networks. In speaking of grid networks the author is referring to both networks of computers and networks of humans connected together in a grid topology. Examples are provided of how grid networks are beneficial today and the ways in which they have been used.

Since Google announced its initiative to digitize all, or major portions, of the book collections in select research libraries, the author of this article has struggled to figure out what to think of it. This article briefly shares the authors' opinions and thoughts on Googles new initiative.

Librarians are in the business of serving the public. Perhaps the public happens to be those who live in a particular city or county, or study at a college or university, or work at a certain organization. No matter where librarians work, they have clientele whose needs for information and entertainment need to be met. Some would think that librarians would know what the public wants. Librarians have some ideas, mostly based on anecdotal information (for example, what someone asks for at the desk), but they do precious little with the statistical gold mine that is accumulated by many of the computer systems. Integrated library systems tend to do well reporting aggregate numbers of books circulated, but why isn't there an option to order search results based on popularity? One of the most familiar services based on popularity is Google. Google's PageRank [TM] system is basically an algorithm for determining the relative popularity of web pages. Search results are then ranked based on that computed value. This article briefly discusses popularity in library information.

This article offers five ideas librarians should review every now and then to make sure the right services are being offered in the most effective manner to the people they serve. These five exercises or ideas may not be completely easy but neither are they difficult or expensive. However, they will guarantee an increased awareness of, and sensitivity to, user needs.

Libraries must increasingly accommodate bibliographic records encoded with a variety of standards and emerging standards, including Dublin Core, MODS, and VRA Core. The problem is that many libraries still rely solely on MARC and AACR2. The best-trained professionals to lead librarians through the metadata maze are catalogers. Catalogers understand that the basic concepts remain the same whether you have a MARC record in hand or a record encoded in simple Dublin Core. This article shares what catalogers are doing to help.

After decades of costly and time-consuming effort, nearly all libraries have completed the retrospective conversion of their card catalogs to electronic form. However, bibliographic systems still are really not much more than card catalogs on wheels. Enriched content that Amazon.com takes for granted--such as digitized tables of contents, cover art, reviews, summaries, and excerpts--are still rare in library catalogs. Commercial companies such as Baker & Taylor and Syndetic Solutions offer enriched content for recent materials, but it is usually not available for older books. Thankfully, that is about to change. This article discusses ideas to enrich availability of older books in electronic form.

We all hate jargon that we do not understand. It leaves us feeling confused, frustrated, and belittled. We simultaneously wonder why we do not know what the terms mean and why the speaker does not explain them or use more understandable language. Communication between those "in the know" and those not in the know has always been an issue and will no doubt continue to be. But there are steps both sides can take to mitigate the problem. Still, jargon is sometimes inescapable. Accuracy often dictates that an exact term be used. Or there may be no reasonable substitute. In these cases, a basic definition of the term should be offered, preferably through a link to a simple explanation (in the case of a web page), a quick description in the body of an article, or a reference to an additional resource in a bibliography. Anything worth saying is worth being understood. Another issue is attitude. Too many techies feel superior to nontechies, whether they will admit it or not. Some even riducule and poke fun at nontechies and their ignorance of technical topics. It is important for techies to realize that we are not superior because we know about technical topics--our knowledge simply lies in a specific, albeit important, area. Many of our colleagues are more knowledgeable in other, equally important areas. People to whom technical understanding comes easier, should bring their colleagues along in this ever-changing world of technological advancement. Explain technical topics in simple, direct, easily understood terms. Define jargon when speaking with people to whom it is new. Demonstrate in specific ways how technology can help all of us to advance the mission and goals of our libraries. Techies should, in other words, dump the attitude and do what they can to include nontechie colleagues and not alienate them. Nontechies have their own responsibilities. When faced with technical jargon, they should demand an understandable explanation, ask questions until they're satisfied, and learn about technical topics so as not to rely on others to bail them out of scenarios that they should be able to handle. Knowledge is power. Non Techies should know enough about technology and what it can and cannot do. This way they will be able to detect when they are being snowed. If they know for a fact that a given task is achievable, no one will be able to tell them that it is overly difficult, time-consuming, or expensive. Both sides of this issue should find ways to come together to achieve their common goals.

Small solutions solve discrete, well-bounded problems and can be pieces of larger solutions. They can move things forward by mixing and matching available components in new and previously unimagined ways. A number of innovations, which at first glance are completely unrelated, can come together and create important synergics. This article discusses such innovations as library bookmarklets and OCLC's xISBN service. A library bookmarklet is a small JavaScript program in the form of a link that the user can drag to the bookmark bar in the web browser. Clicking on that link executes the JavaScript program. OCLC's xISBN service can be combined with the bookmarklet concept to become part of a compelling library service. When given a specific ISBN, it brings back all ISBNs of all the related items in WorldCat. The article concludes that these innovations are perfect examples of small solutions that libraries can mix-and-match to make big ideas a reality. Many ideas and innovations may come to nothing in the end, but the few that make it can be worthwhile. A "Link List" of 6 URLs relating to the topics discussed in the article is included.

Describes various ways by which universities provide access to their electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), discussing UMI (University Microfilms International), XML (eXtensible Markup Language), and other formats. Discusses key leaders--national and international--in the ETD effort. Outlines the two main methods for locating ETDs. Presents a list of links to information. (AEF)

Focuses on possibilities for providing reference service to remote users of digital collections. Discusses international digital reference networks; factors that limit global electronic reference service; and drawbacks of e-mail and use of real-time interactive technologies for the reference encounter. Highlights some pioneering projects. (AEF)

Discusses access to digital library collections and considers the users' needs and expectations, search strategies, cataloging as a collection or as individual items, improving accessibility for users with disabilities, and customizing access. Also provides a list of useful Web links. (LRW)