Cataloging for the New Generation of Library Interfaces

1. Cataloging for the New Generation of Library Interfaces ALCTS CCS Copy Cataloging Discussion Group Anaheim Convention Center, Room 208 A Monday, June 30, 2008, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm Marshall BreedingDirector for Innovative Technologies and Research Vanderbilt University http://staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/breeding http://www.librarytechnology.org/

2. Abstract One of the major trends in the realm of library automation involves the development and adoption of a new generation of library interfaces quite unlike the typical OPAC delivered as part of an integrated library system.  These new interfaces offer relevancy ranking, faceted navigation, enriched displays, query enhancement, user tagging and reviews, and other features.  They expand the scope of search beyond the contents of the ILS, working toward a single point of entry for all content and services of the library.  In this age of mass book digitization, possibilities abound for deep search, where users search the full text of books and other materials, not just metadata describing the book.  Do these new interfaces and search technologies imply less of a need for high-quality cataloging?  Or More?  In this session Breeding will explore some of the issues, challenges, and concerns that these new interfaces raise for those involved in cataloging and metadata management.  

3. Outline • Why the shift to new catalog products? • Overview of Next-Gen Interfaces • Impact on Catalogers and Metadata Specialists

4. Troubling statistic Where do you typically begin your search for information on a particular topic? College Students Response: • 89% Search engines (Google 62%) • 2% Library Web Site (total respondents -> 1%) • 2% Online Database • 1% E-mail • 1% Online News • 1% Online bookstores • 0% Instant Messaging / Online Chat OCLC. Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources (2005) p. 1-17.

5. Usage + / - from 2005 to 2007 +5% -10% +30% +14% “The unfortunate exception is the use of library Web sites; usage has dropped from 2005 to 2007.” +19% Source: Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our Networked World. OCLC 2007

6. Crowded Landscape of Information Providers on the Web • Lots of non-library Web destinations deliver content to library patrons • Google Scholar • Amazon.com • Wikipedia • Ask.com • Do Library Web sites and catalogs meet the information needs of our users? • Do they attract their interest?

7. The Competition

8. The best Library OPAC?

9. Web OPAC

10. Better?

11. Better?

12. Demand for compelling library interfaces • Urgent need for libraries to offer interfaces their users will like to use • Move into the current millennium • Powerful search capabilities in tune with how the Web works today • Meet user expectations set by other Web destination

13. Inadequacy of ILS OPACs • Online Catalog modules provided with an ILS subject to broad criticism as failing to meet expectations of growing segments of library patrons. • Not great at delivering electronic content • Complex text-based interfaces • Relatively weak keyword search engines • Lack of good relevancy sorting • Narrow scope of content

14. Disjointed approach to information and service delivery • Books: Library OPAC (ILS module) • Articles: Aggregated content products, e-journal collections • OpenURL linking services • E-journal finding aids (Often managed by link resolver) • Local digital collections • ETDs, photos, rich media collections • Metasearch engines • All searched separately

15. Change underway • Widespread dissatisfaction with most of the current OPACs. Many efforts toward next-generation catalogs and interfaces. • Movement among libraries to break out of the current mold of library catalogs and offer new interfaces better suited to the expectations of library users. • Decoupling of the front-end interface from the back-end library automation system. • Eventual redesign of the ILS to be better suited for current library collections of digital and print content

16. Next-Generation Interfaces: Scope and Concepts

17. Working toward a new generation of library interfaces • Redefinition of the “library catalog” • Traditional notions of the library catalog questioned • Better information delivery tools • More powerful search capabilities • More elegant presentation

18. Redefining the “catalog” • More comprehensive information discovery environments • It’s no longer enough to provide a catalog limited to print resources • Digital resources cannot be an afterthought • Systems designed for e-content only are also problematic • Forcing users to use different interfaces depending on type of content becoming less tenable • Libraries working toward consolidated user environments that give equal footing to digital and print resources

19. Comprehensive Search Service • Current distributed query model of federated search model not adequate • Expanded scope of search through harvested content • Consolidated search services based on metadata and data gathered in advance (like OAI-PMH) • Problems of scale diminished • Problems of cooperation persist • Federated search currently operates as a plug-in component of next-gen interfaces.

20. Web 2.0 Flavorings • Strategic infrastructure + Web 2.0 • A more social and collaborative approach • Web Tools and technology that foster collaboration • Integrated blogs, wiki, tagging, social bookmarking, user rating, user reviews • Avoid Web 2.0 information silos

21. The Ideal Scope for Next Gen Library Interfaces • Unified user experience • A single point of entry into all the content and services offered by the library • Print + Electronic • Local + Remote • Locally created Content • User contributed content?

22. Next Generation Interfaces: Functions and Features

23. Interface Features / User Experience • Simple point of entry • Optional advanced search • Relevancy ranked results • Facets for narrowing and navigation • Query enhancement – spell check, etc • Suggested related results • Navigational bread crumbs • Enriched visual and textual content • Single Sign-on

24. Relevancy Ranking • Based on advanced search engines specifically designed for relevancy • Endeca, Lucene, etc • Web users expect relevancy ordered results • The “good stuff” should be listed first • Users tend not to delve deep into a result list • Good relevancy requires a sophisticated approach, including objective matching criteria supplemented by popularity and relatedness factors.

25. New Paradigm for search and navigation • Let users drill down through the result set incrementally narrowing the field • Faceted Browsing • Drill-down vs up-front Boolean or “Advanced Search” • gives the users clues about the number of hits in each sub topic • Ability to explore collections without a priori knowledge • Visual search tools • Navigational Bread crumbs • Select / deselect facets

26. Query / Result Enhancement • “Did you mean?” and other features to avoid “No results found” • Validated Spell check • Automatic inclusion of authorized and related terms • More like this – recommendation service • Make the query and the response to it better than the query provided

27. Appropriate organizational structures • LCSH vs FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) • Full MARC vs Dublin Core or MODS • Discipline-specific thesauri or ontologies • “tags”

28. Enriched content • Rich visual information: book jacket images, rating scores, etc. • Syndetic Solutions ICE ($$$$) • Amazon Web Service (AWS) • Recent changes in term of use seem to preclude use by libraries • Google Book Search API • Released March 13, 2008 • Liberal terms of use • No open content approach (yet)

29. Personalization / Single Sign-on • Customized content and service options based on personal preference and profile of user • Persistent sign-on – horizontal and vertical • Seamless navigation in and out of appropriate sub-systems • ILL / ILS patron requests, federated search, proxy services • Credentials follow as user navigates among Web site components • ILS / Interlibrary Loan / proxy services / shopping cart / etc • Carry sign-on into and out of institutional resources • Ability to select and save content; initiate requests; customize preferences, etc.

30. Deep search • Entering post-metadata search era • Increasing opportunities to search the full contents • Google Library Print, Google Publisher, Open Content Alliance, Microsoft Live Book Search, etc. • High-quality metadata will improve search precision • Commercial search providers already offer “search inside the book” • No comprehensive full text search for books quite yet • Not currently available through library search environments • Deep search highly improved by high-quality metadata See: Systems Librarian, May 2008 “Beyond the current generation of next-generation interfaces: deeper search”

31. Beyond Discovery • Fulfillment oriented • Search -> select -> view • Delivery/Fulfillment much harder than discovery • Back-end complexity should be as seamless as possible to the user • Offer services for digital and print content

32. Library-specific Features • Appropriate relevance factors • Objective keyword ranking + Library weightings • Circulation frequency, OCLC holdings, scholarly content • Results grouping (FRBR) • Collection focused (vs sales-driven)

33. Enterprise Integration • Ability to deliver content and services through non-library applications • Campus portal solutions • Courseware • Social networking environments • Search portals / Feed aggregators

34. Interoperability • Decoupled interface implies data synchronization • Mass export of catalog data • Hooks back into the ILS for holdings and patron services • Real-time availability

35. Architecture and Standards • Need to have an standard approach for connecting new generation interfaces with ILS and other repositories • Proprietary and ad hoc methods currently prevail • Digital Library Federation • ILS-Discovery Interface Group • Time to start thinking about a new generation of ILS better suited for current library collections and missions.

36. Smart and Sophisticated • Much more difficult than old gen OPACS • Not a dumbed-down approach • Wed library specific requirements and expectations with e-commerce technologies

37. New-Gen Library Interfaces Current Commercial and Open Source Products

38. Next Gen Interface Deployments Source: Automation System Marketplace, Library Journal April 1, 2008

39. Impact on Catalogers and Metadata Specialists

40. Cataloging in the context of a larger discovery environment • New discovery layer interfaces can aggregate a number of different repositories of content that were previously isolated • ILS data: books, DVD, microfilm, journals (title-level) • Article-level content (locally indexed or through fed search) • Local digital repositories (photos, digitized manuscripts, video, podcasts and other audio recordings)

41. Co-existence of multiple Metadata schemes • MARC • Dublin Core (diverse community-specific implementation) • Onix • Other XML schemas

42. Divergent levels of quality and detail • High-quality detailed MARC records from ILS • Brief records representing large digital collections • Less structured / Unstructured (eg: TV News) • Abstracts, minimal structured fields • Quality and depth of description often beyond local control

43. Authority Control • Applied within each aggregated content component • Much more difficult to apply across collections • How well do diverse authority structures and thesauri co-exist within a discovery environment spanning multiple collection types?

44. Organizing aggregated collections • FRBR? • De-duplication • Facet design

45. Expertise needed • The organizational skills inherent in the cataloging profession essential to the development of next-generation discovery interfaces that make the best use of underlying metadata. • How to deliver effective search services despite somewhat messy metadata issues. • Library expertise differentiates these interfaces from those offered in the open Web.

46. Resource Allocation • Given that discovery interfaces span many different collections, libraries need to choose the most effective way to deploy cataloging and metadata experts.

47. More, not less cataloging • New interfaces benefit from high-quality metadata • Often able to leverage access points not well used in traditional catalogs • Faceted navigation depends on reliable subject and name headings, dates, etc.

48. Challenging times • New generations of library interfaces presents opportunities and challenges for those involved in cataloging. • Intellectual work involved in shaping metadata collections optimized for new interfaces. • Important to be involved areas of metadata creation outside the traditional ILS.

49. Questions and Discussion