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From Silos to the Semantic Web :. Megan Coder, Catalog Librarian Madeline Veitch , Metadata Cataloger Sojourner Truth Library SUNY New Paltz. as Library Catalogs Open, What Do Students Hope to Find?. Catalogs in Transition. Library Catalogs and Semantic Futures .
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From Silos to the Semantic Web: Megan Coder, Catalog Librarian Madeline Veitch, Metadata Cataloger Sojourner Truth Library SUNY New Paltz as Library Catalogs Open, What Do Students Hope to Find?
Library Catalogs and Semantic Futures • The semantic web or linked data model will make library catalog data more accessible to web crawlers - creating discoverable library records on the open web, as well as library records that link out to content elsewhere on the web. • In linking data environments to create records that are less silo-ed and more interconnected, many libraries are having conversations about including commercial data in their OPAC records (Goodreads, IMDb, etc.) • RDA, RDF, and the promise of BibFrame are essential to this transition to this “linked” iteration of the catalog. • EDS, Summon, and other Discovery tools are bringing in new data, and raising questions about quality control and user preferences in linked data environments to come.
Library Catalogs and Semantic Futures • Library records that look more like the open library, where each record contains multiple links to other databases containing the content itself, or supplemental information about the resource.
Research Questions • What are students’ search habits like for books and films? What is their “go to” strategy? • Which parts of a book or movie record do students find most helpful or important to their evaluation of a resource? • Do students have a sense of who is responsible for inputting data into library and commercial databases? Do they find some databases to be more credible than others? • What changes to library records would make them more useful, or more likely to be a “first stop” in the research process?
Study Design • 35-question Qualtrics survey • Pizza and raffle incentive were offered; survey was taken in a Library classroom during two evening drop-in sessions.
Study Design • We asked students to reflect on their search habits (where they go to find books or movies, how often they search, and for what reasons)
RESULTS • When you want to find out more about a book where do you go first?
RESULTS • When you want to find out more about a movie where do you go first?
RESULTS • In the last six months have you checked out a book from the SUNY New Paltz Library? Purchased one from Amazon or another online bookstore?
Study Design • We also asked students to rank open commercial and non-commercial databases against corresponding records in the SUNY New Paltz EbscoDiscovery Service (EDS). • Students were asked to evaluate two books and one movie across three interfaces each • EDS catalog view (launched Spring 2014) • Amazon • IMDb (Independent Movie Database) • Library Thing (a non-profit site with user-generated book metadata, reviews, and recommendations)
Which record gave you the best sense of the book’s overall quality?
Who do you think adds content to a SUNY New Paltz library catalog record? (please check all that apply)
We've asked you to evaluate records from several different providers. Please rank them according to how credible or trustworthy you find their information to be:
If the SUNY New Paltz Library Catalog records for books and movies came up in a Google search results list, would you look at them more often than you do now? Do you think the SUNY New Paltz Library Catalog should include information from Amazon.com, IMDb, or Library Thing?
“As shallow as this may be, star ratings are widely used and give people an immediate sense for the content. It may not always be truthful but if generated by the users than the reviews will most always be written by only those who are passionate about the content and ignored by those who don’t care much for it and don't have an opinion they deem worth voicing.” “I think it would be a wasteful use of space, effort, and money. Why spend time and money imitating information that can be found elsewhere?” “Compile as much information as possibly available.” “I think that the more information, the better. BUT ABOVE ALL MAKE THE PAGES LOOK BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!” “I'm not sure if user-generated content and opinions should appear in a scholarly website. Perhaps, students leaving reviews would be useful. But, I feel that content from the other sources would flood the page with false and useless information.”
What additional features (if any) would you like to find on SUNY New Paltz Library Catalog records?
Summing Up • Though more students used Amazon regularly to find books and movies, AND they found Amazon records twice as useful as library records, they also trusted library catalog data more than Amazon’s - again at a twofold proportion. • Students really preferred to do a Google search for a book / movie and select a page from the results list; majority (84%) said they would be more likely to use Library data if it appeared in these searches. • User reviews, sample chapters, and trailers emerged as features students would most like to see more of; these are all elements best achieved with a linked data model. • Certain cataloging practices affirmed. Students were more likely to check out books for a research paper from the library than say a textbook or leisure read. When we build high quality records for more obscure titles that might aid in research, we provide data that Amazon might not. • Takeaway: to think about how we might make records that would appear high on a Google results list.
Questions for Today, and Tomorrow • Questions about credibilityof data being pulled into Library records (e.g. Goodreads, Google books) • Do students understand how metadata gets into a Library record as opposed to a commercial space? Does it matter? • How can the catalog adapt to user expectations and remain relevant in a linked data environment? • Our EDS was implemented only a few short months before the study; for some students, the study may have been their introduction to that interface. How would our results have been different if we had used the classic OPAC? • Part of our reason for choosing Library Thing over Goodreadswas a hope that we might be able to customize our EDS to pull in what we had felt was better data from Library Thing. However, a discrete evaluation of the source we already had in our EDS might have been useful.
Selected Sources • Calhoun, K. (2006), The Changing Nature of the Catalog and its Integration with Other Discovery Tools, final report, Library of Congress, available at:www.loc.gov/catdir/calhoun-report-final.pdf • Campbell, D. Grant, and Fast, K. V. "Academic Libraries And The Semantic Web: What The Future May Hold For Research-Supporting Library Catalogues." Journal Of Academic Librarianship 30.5 (2004): 382-390. • Greenberg, J., & Méndez, E. (Eds.) (2007). Knitting the Semantic Web. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Information Press. • Mercun, T., & Zumer, M. (2008). New Generation of Catalogues for the New Generation of Users: A Comparison of Six Library Catalogues. Program: Electronic Library And Information Systems, 42(3), 243-261. • Novotny, E. (2004). I Don't Think I Click: A Protocol Analysis Study of Use of a Library Online Catalog in the Internet Age. College & Research Libraries, 65(6), 525-537. • Rolla, P. J. "User Tags Versus Subject Headings: Can User-Supplied Data Improve Subject Access To Library Collections?." Library Resources & Technical Services 53.3 (2009): 174-184. • Szeto, K. (2013). Positioning Library Data For The Semantic Web: Recent Developments In Resource Description. Journal Of Web Librarianship 7(3), 305-321.
