Since he began posting in 2003, Dempsey has used his blog to explore nearly every important facet of library technology, from the emergence of Web 2.0 as a concept to open source ILS tools and the push to web-scale library management systems.
This book describes OCLC’s contributions to the transformation of the Internet from a web of documents to a Web of Data. The new Web is a growing ‘cloud’ of interconnected resources that identify the things people want to know about when they approach the Internet with an information need. The linked data architecture has achieved critical mass just as it has become clear that library standards for resource description are nearing obsolescence. Working for the world’s largest library cooperative, OCLC researchers have been active participants in the development of next generation standards for library resource description. By engaging with an international community of library and Web standards experts, they have published some of the most widely used RDF datasets representing library collections and librarianship. This book focuses on the conceptual and technical challenges involved in publishing linked data derived from traditional library metadata. This transformation is a high priority because most searches for information start not in the library, nor even in a Web-accessible library catalog, but elsewhere on the Internet. Modeling data in a form that the broader Web understands will project the value of libraries into the Digital Information Age. The exposition is aimed at librarians, archivists, computer scientists, and other professionals interested in modeling bibliographic descriptions as linked data. It aims to achieve a balanced treatment of theory, technical detail, and practical application.
In a touching reflection on love between generations, a grandfather passes down a hat that has seen a world of moments—and carries a big piece of his heart. A hat can do many things. It can keep you warm and dry. It can help you stand out in a crowd, or it can help you blend in. It can hold your dreams or your secrets, and it can hide your fears. In a debut picture book, Rachel Stubbs pairs winsomely expressive artwork with a gentle meditation on family connection and memory, as a grandfather offers his grandchild the anticipation of a life lived with wonder and openness . . . and a very special hat.
Presents a distillation of prior research work (2005-2008) by the authors and by others about -- or relevant to -- library virtual reference (VR) services. Additionally, the authors provide recommendations on how libraries may sustain and develop VR services and systems.
The genre of library services platforms helps libraries manage their collection materials and automate many aspects of their operations by addressing a wider range of resources and taking advantage of current technology architectures compared to the integrated library systems that have previously dominated. This issue of Library Technology Reports explores this new category of library software, including its functional and technical characteristics. It highlights the differences with integrated library systems, which remain viable for many libraries and continue to see development along their own trajectory. This report provides an up-to-date assessment of these products, including those that have well-established track records as well as those that remain under development. The relationship between library services platforms and discovery services is addressed. The report does not provide detailed listings of features of each product, but gives a general overview of the high-level organization of functionality, the adoption patterns relative to size, types, and numbers of libraries that have implemented them, and how these libraries perceive their performance. This seminal category of library technology products has gained momentum in recent years and is positioned to reshape how libraries acquire, manage, and provide access to their
This book, first published in 1986, focuses on valuable information to all public library professionals who have questions about their participation in bibliographic networks. Contributors provide insights into both the benefits and the costs of networking by libraries of varying sizes and geographic locations. The actual uses of networks, their costs (including initial and ongoing expenses), and staffing needs are clearly explained.