Caught In the Web

Through ETL 505 at Charles Sturt University I have been introduced to the wonders of the Trove, Pictures, Photos, Objects website. (The Mouse Brain Library was interesting too!) The idea of being able to retrieve images through such a website is very interesting to me. I am of course accustomed to searching via Google Images but didn't realise the National Library in Canberra had a meta data index and the fact that it is linked to a web service is phenomenal. I am just reflecting on the importance of the web today -I don't think it would be easy to live our lives without it. I am frequently checking books/information on the Internet at work -it's so user friendly!

Cutter

I read about Cutter last week. I thought he just spelt out the principles of a library catalogue, ie. that a catalogue's function was to 1. help the user locate a book by author, title and subject 2. show what resources the library has by a designated author and subject in a given literature 3. to help the user find a book in a designated edition (and character actually, but I am not sure what that means.) All that was fine -I understood that, but what I didn't realise (until going online today and doing'Let's Do Dewey') was that there actually are still Cutter numbers used in libraries. If I have understood it correctly Cutter numbers are used when you have more than one book by the same author, so that each book in the library has its own unique number. (Mind you, it involves letters too!) If this is the case how come I have never noticed a book in any library with Cutter numbers? Next time I go to the National Library I will go looking for Cutter numbers!

Libraries, Museums and Archives

I had never even considered the similarities between libraries, museums and archives. It had never occurred to me that people go to all three searching for information and there must be an organised system for extracting the information from each. My only experience really has been with libraries. Whenever I have been to museums it has just been a visit to enjoy exhibits, I haven't gone there specifically to research information on a specific topic. In Rayward’s article (1998, 4.4) he notes that regarding ‘the media of the past…there is little problem -- books for libraries, objects for museums and government and organizational records for archives.’ (Mind you no one would say libraries just contain books these days when so many other resources are now available in libraries eg. newspapers, magazines, DVDs, audio books, journals to name a few.) Libraries, museums and archives used to have fairly clear delineations over who held what though today the demarcation lines are more blurred. Some art museums could well house ancient manuscripts that are displayed not for the information on the manuscript but for appreciation of the artwork they exhibit. So too can research libraries, according to Rayward (1998, 4.2) be considered ‘museums of printed or written artifacts’. I am not absolutely sure as I have had no experience with government (or any other) archives, but I assume that these days records of parliamentary activities would include possibly DVDs which recorded important events in parliament for So, probably similar information is recorded, but just stored in different ways. I assume too that old paper files still exist where the retention of the physical paper is of historical interest (constituting a possible overlap with museum collections) but most files would probably be stored electronically now. In terms of how the nature of the resource changes what information we might want to organise and retrieve: As stated I know little about archives but I assume the essentials that need to be organised to identify the document for retrieval would be the date the event, the participants and location. The diversity of the resources stored in museums would make information retrieval more complex than retrieval of information from a library I would have thought. Whereas in a library or archive the information required for cataloguing is generally explicit from the written, visual or audio resources, in a museum an artifact requires evaluation from an expert in that field before any cataloguing can commence. What looks like a piece of stone to the novice could in fact be a rudimentary tool over 2 million years old originating in Africa from the Early Stone Age. Just as specialized knowledge of the artifact would be essential so too would specialized knowledge in how to catalogue artifacts be necessary. You would need to know what information people would need to know about the artifact in order to know how to catalogue it. In this case who created the tool, the date and its point of origin, its design features as well as its composition would all be essential information needed to catalogue the artifact. The aesthetic design of a curio could be the focal point of its importance. How this is then conveyed in text for cataloguing could be a challenge. To me this seems a much more complex task than cataloguing a book or DVD. The interesting point about Rayward’s article is that in 1998 he predicted advances in technology could close the gap on the differences in managing resources in libraries, museums and archives and lead to ‘functional integration between the agencies’ (Rayward, 1998, 4.7). Was he right? I can't answer that without a lot more research!

Effective Information Retrieval

Hider (and Harvey, 2008, p.21) see three issues as critical to the success of effective information retrieval: *standards for the organization of information *agreements for the exchange of data relating to information resources *belonging to 'cooperatives' to capitalise on the exchange of data relating to information resources. Regarding information retrieval Hider (and Harvey, 2008, p.23) make many valid points. I see the most important being the following: -the input of data must follow the set standards and require 'minimal effort'. (The latter is important because effective time management is crucial in the workplace.) -the input of data needs to be both accurate and consistent. This is obvious, because if it isn't it will negatively affect the accessibility and ease of access to resources. Hider (and Harvey, 2008, p.23) also focus on the fact that all aspects of data output need to be 'user friendly'. This includes such points as speed of delivery to the user, multiple simultaneous access to the data and meeting the needs of the user. So far so good! This all sounds quite logical to me. I am trying to catch up on the readings today so... now on to Rayward's reading!

Bibliographic Standards in Education

A new topic to investigate. I have put aside this weekend to get my head around what it involves but before I launch myself into that I though I would consider what I do know about Bibliographic Standards. Hmmm, actually, not much! I have a wonderful staff of four who catalogue all the books I purchase for me. I then check the records of the books -but just for details such as: *spelling *grammar *spine lab *that the book cover is included *that the notes are relevant to our students needs ...and that's about it. I do 'level' the book if it is a fiction book and make sure that the records show any links to our year group's topics. Hopefully I am going to learn a lot more about what cataloguing involves. As usual though I am trying to juggle work and study. All other teaching staff are on holidays, but our library staff get less holidays each year so I am trying to use the 'holiday' time to work on some major projects in the library to prepare for our inspection next Feb. Mind you I haven't even been able to get to those projects yet -I spent last week weeding and will finish that by Tuesday. Thereafter I will be concentrating on those projects. However, before Aug 17th I need to also squeeze in 3 weeks holiday. The old story..too much work and not enough time! Still, being mindful of the importance of a 'work/life balance' I will manage to take the holidays somehow. I think this course is going to be very intensive, but I am looking forward to the learning. Every subject I have done so far has taught me so much, so I am looking forward to the challenges it will bring.