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Jennie Mathews St. John’s University LIS 239

Can the Addition of Social Software Tools & Tags Improve the Productivity of an Academic Library OPAC?. Jennie Mathews St. John’s University LIS 239. Proposed Research Area. The effectiveness of complementary classification systems in the academic library setting.

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Jennie Mathews St. John’s University LIS 239

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  1. Can the Addition of Social Software Tools & Tags Improve the Productivity of an Academic Library OPAC? Jennie Mathews St. John’s University LIS 239

  2. Proposed Research Area • The effectiveness of complementary classification systems in the academic library setting. • Specifically, the inclusion of socially created metadata as a searching and browsing option in the academic OPAC. • Hypothesis: There will be an increase in search productivity in OPACs that allow for librarian and user created terminology.

  3. Relevant Terminology • Folksonomy – a classification system for online content, created by individual users who tag information with freely chosen keywords not part of a controlled vocabulary. • Folksonomies reflect the vocabulary of users; reflects current trends. • Flaws include: ambiguity, misspellings or variations in spelling, compound words, inconsistency, use of symbols.

  4. Terminology (cont’d) • Tag – a keyword. • Tagging – the application of these keywords, or tags, to digital objects in order to classify and organize information for later retrieval. • Tag Cloud – visual representation of tags, usually arranged alphabetically with larger, bold text used to indicate higher frequency of occurrence.

  5. Tag Cloud

  6. Social Classification Tools • Delicious – most popular social bookmarking tool. • Connotea & CiteULike – both are reference management tools designed for researchers and scientists to organize and share scholarly articles. • LibraryThing – allows users to “catalog” and organize their book collections. Uses Z39.50 protocol to import data about books.

  7. Academic Library Applications • University of Pennsylvania – has an academic tagging program called PennTags. • Allows students, faculty, and staff to bookmark and share resources. • Folksonomies and LCSH coexist in the catalog but the occurrence of folksonomies is not high. • Stanford University – has incorporated tagging as well as wikis and blogs into their Stanford Information Center site. • Montana State University – uses folksonomies and controlled vocabulary for electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) 2003 onward. • Users have the option to browse between ETDs (via relational links) that share tags.

  8. LibraryThing for Libraries • Allows for the integrationof social data into anOPAC. • Tag Cloud • Tag Browser • Similar Books • Reviews & Ratings • Alternate editions/translations

  9. Research Proposal • Evaluation of social tools, specifically those available from LibraryThing for Libraries, in an academic library OPAC. • Expectation is that the integration of these tools will improve the productivity of the OPAC and will help yield a higher number of relevant search results for students.

  10. Sample Population • Non-probability • Freshmen enrolled in a introductory or freshmen seminar course • Will have similar experience level with university’s OPAC. • Freshmen seminar courses often include library instruction as part of curriculum. • Will ensure participation. • 100 students included in each test group • Different students used for pre- and post-test group to avoid sensitization.

  11. Methodology • A pre- and post-test will be done in order to measure changes in search productivity, if any, after the implementation of the program. • Questionnaire will be used for pre- and post-tests. • Quantitative • Qualitative

  12. Definitions • Search productivity will be defined as the number of relevant resources found by students during his or her search. • The level of relevancy will be determined by the student with regards to his or her chosen research topic.

  13. Research Design • Students will be given a list of research topics to choose from. • Using pre-defined topics ensures that the library has a selection of materials available for students to find. • Students in both pre-test and post-test groups will be given instruction in the use of the OPAC and the tools available. • Increases validity by ensuring that all students are aware of tools; results will not be skewed because of ignorance of tools.

  14. Questionnaire • What is your research topic? • Did you have previous knowledge of this topic that assisted in your search? Explain. **This question has been included to ascertain whether or not a high number of search results could be due to pre-knowledge of existing materials** • Were you able to find any resources in the catalog related to your topic? If so, how many? • How many resources found ended up being relevant or useful? • Were any desired materials unavailable or checked out? If so, how many? **This question has been included to ascertain whether or not a lack of relevant or useful results could be due to unavailability of materials for evaluation**

  15. Questionnaire (cont’d) • What keywords or terms did you use during your search? • What keywords or terms yielded relevant search results? • Specifically, which tools did you use during your search (i.e. basic search, advanced search, subject headings)? **This question will be modified for the post-test to include: tag cloud, books recommendations, tag browser, etc.** • Which tools were most helpful during your search? Explain.

  16. Questionnaire (cont’d) • How long did you spend searching before you found resources relevant to your topic? • Did you have to come back to your search later in the day, week, or month before finding all of the necessary resources? **This question and question 10 have been included in order to ascertain how much time students spent conducting searches in order to rule out a high or low number of results that could be attributed to a lack of or excess of time spent** • Have you previously used the library catalog to find resources? If so, how frequently? • Did you find the catalog easy or difficult to use? Explain. • What could the library do to improve the catalog?

  17. Data Analysis • Results will be examined for statistically significant increase in search results. • If results prove significant, qualitative data will be used to determine validity. • Did students indicate LTFL tools as being helpful?

  18. Limitations of Study • Evaluative and specific to LTFL tools, cannot be generalized. • LTFL tools are limited • Tag search box is not integrated into OPAC. • Cannot combine search terms in tag browser. • Users cannot add tags locally.

  19. Projected Results • Search productivity will increase but, perhaps, not significantly due to limited nature of tools. • As available library specific tools evolve, search productivity will increase.

  20. Future Pursuit • It is important for libraries to evolve. • Incorporation of Library and Web 2.0 concepts will improve patron-librarian collaboration. • Allows users alternative ways to seek information in a highly controlled environment. • Would be foolish for librarians to ignore user behaviors and preferences.

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