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Content Development of Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

Content Development of Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues. Presented to NSDL October 2003 Elizabeth Blackmer Frank Settle Tom Whaley. Alsos. Provides a multidisciplinary, balanced range of vetted annotated references Includes about 1,000 books, articles, films, CD ROMS and websites

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Content Development of Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

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  1. Content Development ofAlsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues Presented to NSDL October 2003 Elizabeth Blackmer Frank Settle Tom Whaley

  2. Alsos • Provides a multidisciplinary, balanced range of vetted annotated references • Includes about 1,000 books, articles, films, CD ROMS and websites • Allows searching and browsing • Targets and reaches a global audience, from high school students through specialists • Uses a vetting process with the help of its prestigious National Advisory Board

  3. The New Face of Alsos 2003

  4. Content Development Goals • Clearly define the core and boundaries of the collection • Classify using terminology appropriate to the multidisciplinary subject matter • Involve Washington and Lee students • Achieve professional quality

  5. Deciding on Collection Scope • Core: The Manhattan Project • Boundaries Include • Relevant science before the Project • Project consequences: scientific, historical, social, political, military, cultural … • Current topics: proliferation, nuclear power, etc. • Include Controversies and Conflicting Views • Maintain a balanced, neutral perspective

  6. Exclusion Criteria • Poor quality material • Material advised against by National Advisory Board members • Outdated material except that of historical interest • Articles not of lasting or seminal influence • Ephemeral material on the WWW

  7. Terminology Decisions • Terminology set is unique to Alsos because no system covered this multidisciplinary topic in enough detail • Classification by an expert • Dual search system – hierarchical browse and full text search – avoids constraints of fixed terminology choices

  8. Student Involvement • Student annotators and computer science students work 8 weeks in the summer • They have valuable experience as a team and develop useful professional skills • The students are trained and supervised

  9. Achieving Professional Quality • Model the vetting process of a journal • Recruit and use a National Advisory Board for vetting and advice • Professionally edit the student-created annotations • Establish a tracking process for items • Establish a culling process

  10. Language and Quality • Establish a style guide for consistency • Use the vocabulary of items’ authors to facilitate searches • Use international English • Ensure that high school students comprehend while experts find their material • Remember technical writing principles: clarity, brevity, precision

  11. Moving to Mentoring Planners • Dr. Settle on the phone – advice, advice, advice • Giving the Texas Workshop, Summer 2003 for Associated Colleges of the South at Southwestern University • The “speed bump” – plan the functionality before moving to decisions on the technology!

  12. Planning Digital Collections • Our website, Planning Digital Collections: http://home.wlu.edu/~blackmere/NSDL/Planning_Digital_Collections.htm • Includes • Annotated list of sample digital collections and libraries, with table of contents • Annotated list of resources, organized by topic • List of questions for planners, with prompts

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