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Stephen Rhind-Tutt, President, Is Reference Dead? Is Collecting Dead? November 10th, 2007

Stephen Rhind-Tutt, President, Is Reference Dead? Is Collecting Dead? November 10th, 2007. Overview. The demise of reference and collections? What lies behind this? Evaluating reference collections Next generation Summary. Collection Development. Reference Collections. RIP. RIP.

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Stephen Rhind-Tutt, President, Is Reference Dead? Is Collecting Dead? November 10th, 2007

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  1. Stephen Rhind-Tutt, President, Is Reference Dead? Is Collecting Dead? November 10th, 2007

  2. Overview • The demise of reference and collections? • What lies behind this? • Evaluating reference collections • Next generation • Summary Collection Development Reference Collections RIP RIP

  3. The Reference Collection “This collection, refined and built over the past 90+ years…represents the totality of human thought and experience” Dave Tyckoson , Facts Unfiled: Are Reference Collections Still Relevant?

  4. Facts Unfiled: Are Reference Collections Still Relevant? • Ulrich’s – ‘I just go to the journal web pages to find this information’ • Books-in-Print – ‘mostly use Amazon.com’ • American Library Directory – ‘go to the individual library web page’ • U.S. Government Manual – ‘find the agency on the web’ • Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations – ‘only after searching the web’ • Million Dollar Directory – ‘corporate web site gives you much more information’ • Encyclopedia of Associations – ‘go to the organization web page’

  5. Collections We’re doomed… • It’s all going to be available on Google, Amazon, Microsoft… • Fully searchable, lots of functionality, well mined • Information strives to be free… • The author as publisher – what need for publishers? • The universal electronic library – what need for small libraries?

  6. Reference and Collections • Never been more alive… • 61 billion searches conducted on the Web • Unique visitors in September 2007: • Google – 112m • Yahoo – 108m • MSN/Windows Live – 94m • Wikipedia – 47m • The wonder of Wikipedia • Many more collections being created in digital form • Journal Archives • Web sites

  7. What lies behind this?

  8. Paper vs. Electronic Ubiquity Free Automated Built into Workflow Analyze Explore 24 hour updates External content links Auto-generated content User generated content Answer a question Find a fact Value Answer a question Find a fact Electronic Paper

  9. What is reference in electronic form?

  10. Traditional Paper Model Reference Books CDs, LPs, Audio DVDs, VHS, Films Prints & Photographs Journals (Articles) Microfilm Collections Archives Reference Reference Reference Reference Unidirectional Reference

  11. Nature of electronic publications Photograph Image Page Gallery Article Chapter Website Book Journal • Everything interconnected • Everything refers to everything else

  12. Nature of electronic publications Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page • Pliable • Constantly evolving • Without place • Practically unlimited in size • Atomic • Interconnected • Interdependent • Connection vs. the object

  13. Blurring of boundaries • All electronic products are reference • They all answer questions • They’re packed with references • They’re all interlinked • The Web is essentially a referential medium • Distinctions like ‘reference’, ‘journal’, ‘dictionary’, ‘collection’, ‘library’, are borrowed from the paper world • The boundaries are blurred… • Is JSTOR not a reference tool? • How useful is an A&I database without full-text?

  14. Refer-ence is essential to the electronic world. • No one site will contain all information • Effective publication is a function of delivering the right content, in the right way to the right people. • To do this we will need high quality access to content across different publishers, libraries and websites. Refer-ence is critical to doing this… Google, Yahoo, etc… can help

  15. It’s about the links…the refer-ences • Links document intellectual pathways through data • Indexing links adds value substantially • Links • Prevent duplication of indexing, content and commentary • Links are expensive to create and maintain • Versioning is critical to scholarship. • Some links confer authority • ‘Links are intrinsically bidirectional’ (Ted Nelson)

  16. Blurring of ‘Collection’ • Collection = Selection of material for a particular purpose • What does it mean when • Many items are universally accessible? • Many items can only be accessed on a particular site? • When there are numerous surrogate versions? • When annotations, links and notes can be added? • Most websites are collections Need for organization, vetting, quality control, selection…etc

  17. Evaluating ‘reference’ and ‘collections’

  18. Wiki & Web vs. Traditional Reference

  19. Evaluating Reference

  20. Evaluating Reference

  21. Evaluating Reference

  22. Wikipedia as a type of reference

  23. Wikipedia as a type of reference • Personal essays, dictionary entries, critical reviews, ‘propaganda or advocacy’ and original research are excluded… • ‘No original research’ – doesn’t break new ground • Denigrates expertise – no points for being an expert on a topic • Avoids bias – aims for a neutral view • There is no ‘objective history’ • “He is a controversial figure, both praised and condemned by other commentators.” • Historical scholarship is characterized by possessive individualism – we need to know whose history it is

  24. Lincoln Example • Not just factual accuracy but also a command of the scholarly literature, persuasive analysis and interpretations, and clear and engaging prose. • Roy Rosenzweig, “Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past” • “Lincoln’s death made the President a martyr to many. Today he is perhaps America’s second most famous and beloved President after George Washington. Repeated polls of historians have ranked Lincoln as among the greatest presidents in U.S. history.” • Wikipedia Entry • “The republic endured and slavery perished. That is Lincoln’s legacy.” • Jim McPherson, Oxford University Press, ANB Entry • Wikipedia is more anecdotal, colorful, more popular, more factual – (e.g. 10 pages on Lincoln’s sexuality)

  25. Reference Evaluation

  26. Organizing Duke Ellington • How many capsule biographies do we need? • Over 6,300 books contain biographical entries about Ellington • 460,000 web pages in response to “Duke Ellington” +biography • Wikipedia doesn’t point to ‘for fee’ items • “Duke Ellington was attracted to girls and they were attracted to piano players”

  27. Organizing Duke Ellington Contemporaries Works About Discography Life How does a monograph fit? Long Medium Short

  28. Encyclopedia of Homelessness • Subject Coverage: • Abeyance theory, Child care, Gentrification, HIV and AIDS, Images of homelessness in contemporary documentary film, Low-income housing, Marginality, Panhandling, Safe havens, and Salvation Army. • Bibliography of autobiographical and fictional accounts • Filmography • Directory of street newspapers, • 23 documents related to the history of homelessness • Extensive cross-referencing Selection, Organization, Authority, Completeness of Purpose

  29. Electronic value added • A collection or task focus is critical • The right information always trumps more information • What ‘the right information’ is depends on the task at hand

  30. The ‘right’ information Long term factors influencing combustion and burn rates in North American forests. David Jones, Journal of Forest Husbandry, Sept 1999. OSH-ROM(Occupational Health and Safety) CAB – (Husbandry) Biosis (Species) Agricola (Agriculture)

  31. Utility of information

  32. Semantic Indexing… Document Battle IDAuthor IDEvent IDSource IDDateAge writing Source Event Author Battle SourceEditorPublisherPlaceEtc… DayEventEtc… Birth ? Death ?Where ?When ?Occupation Etc… Where ? When ?Who ?DeathsLeaders Etc…

  33. Reference/Collection

  34. Civil War Research Database

  35. Civil War Research Database Extract from ‘A fortnight with the Sanitary’ Atlantic Monthly, Feb 1865 Whom did he serve with? Where did they fight? What happened to him?

  36. The American Civil War Online Websites Newspapers Letters & Diaries Photographs Music

  37. Workflow • Integrated Periodic Table • Unit Converter • Slide Show Viewer • Browsable Tables of Contents • Interactive Tables • Graph Digitizer • Equation Plotter • Diagram Viewer

  38. Publisher and Librarian Tasks Integrate Train Promote Fund Select Compare Evaluate License Commission Develop

  39. Where we’re headed Why? Therefore Who, What, When, Where? After Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom,Gene Bellinger, Durval Castro, Anthony Mills. http://www.systems-thinking.org/

  40. Workflow and the automation of reference • SDI and RSS Alerts • Link resolvers • XML Gateways • eScience • Nanohub • Data mining tools • Expert Systems

  41. Summary

  42. Summary • Everything electronic is reference • Most electronic destinations are collections of sorts • High volume, first step reference works such as Google and Wikipedia can be turned to our advantage • We can’t beat them on • Price, size, usage, general comprehensiveness • Hard to beat them on • Currency, factual accuracy • Easy to beat them on selection, authority, specificity of purpose • Requires humans to create, judge, evaluate, train, promote, cite…

  43. Friends and allies…

  44. Is print reference dead? Fred Jones’ Somewhat Complete Guide to Common Topics Everyone needs to know (1998 Hardcover) RIP

  45. Not really…

  46. Sources • Facts Unfiled: Are Reference Collections Still Relevant? by Dave Tyckoson (originally published as Facts Go Online: Are Print Reference Collections Still Relevant? in Against the Grain 16(4), September 2004. • Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past by Roy Rosenzweig, in Journal of American History, June 2006. • Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom,Gene Bellinger, Durval Castro, Anthony Mills. http://www.systems-thinking.org/

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