Karen Calhoun WorldCat and Metadata Services 27 May 2009

calhounk@oclc.org

http://community.oclc.org/metalogue

Choosing What to Hold and What to Fold Database Quality Decisions in Tough Times

Choosing What to Hold and What to Fold Database Quality Decisions in Tough Times

NELINET Considering the

Catalog and its Data

With thanks to

Janet Hawk,

Joanne Cantrell,

Peggy Gallagher,

OCLC Market Research

Photo by allw3ndy http://flickr.com/photos/allw3ndy/2757149584/

Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want

End-Users expect online catalogs:

to look like popular Web sites

to have summaries, abstracts, tables of contents

to help find needed information

Librarians expect online catalogs:

to serve end users’ information needs

to help staff carry out work responsibilities

to have accurate, structured data

to exhibit classical principles of organization

http://www.oclc.org/us/en/reports/onlinecatalogs/default.htm

Where does the library profession’s definition of “catalog quality” come from? Where does the library profession’s definition of “catalog quality” come from?

Charles A. Cutter. Rules for a dictionary catalog.

Where does an end user’s definition of “quality” come from? Where does an end user’s definition of “quality” come from?

“Users bring expectations developed through Internet use into library environments.”—Alison Dellit and Tony Boston, National Library of Australia

“Due to the popularity of web search engines ... users think they can find everything on a topic with a few well-chosen words.”—Roy Tennant

“More and more, users want, expect, and pursue full text.”— Norm Medeiros

What factors influence an end user’s definition of “catalog quality” today? What factors influence an end user’s definition of “catalog quality” today?

“Dewey arranged books by subject, but Amazon tries to find every way we might want to get from the A of a book we know to the B, C, and Z of books we don’t know, including the fact that lots of other people bought Z.”

--David Weinberger, Everything is Miscellaneous, p. 62.

What is “full”?What is “full”?

+ 3 more screens

Productdescriptionand purchaseinformation;‘More like this’

Editorialreviews andauthor info

‘Inside thebook’ tags, ratings,customerreviews,lists and more

With thanks to David Lankes:http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Presentations/2007/ALCTS.pdf

Bibliographicinformation

Library holdingsDetailsSubjectsEditionsReviews

Bibliographicinformation

Australianlibrary holdings

The Task Before UsThe Task Before Us

“What is needed now is to integrate the best of both worlds in new, expanded definitions of what “quality” means in library online catalogs.”—Online Catalogs report

How can what technical services does better reflect what end users want?

Objectives of our metadata quality research Objectives of our metadata quality research

•Start over with a blank page

•Identify and compare metadata expectations• End users

• Librarians

•Compare expectations of types of librarians

•Determine end-user satisfaction with WorldCat.org

•Define a new WorldCat quality program

•Considering the perspectives of all constituencies of WorldCat

• End users (and subgroups of end users)

• Librarians (and subgroups of librarians)

Research methodologies and demographics Research methodologies and demographics

• Focus groups• Conducted by Blue Bear, LLC

• Three sessions: College students, general public, scholars

• Pop-up survey on WorldCat.org• Conducted by ForeSee Results

• 11,000+ responses: Students (28%), educators (22%), business professionals (19%), other; mix of ages; 44% from outside U.S.

• Librarian survey• Conducted by Marketing Backup

• 1,397 responses; North America (64%) and outside North America (36%); academic, public, special libraries; staff with roles in technical and public services, ILL, directors

What did we learn?

End-user focus group results What did we learn?

End-user focus group results

Key observations:

• Delivery is as important, if not more important, than discovery

• Seamless, easy flow from discovery through delivery is critical

• Summaries and tables of contents are key elements of a description

• Improved search relevance is necessary

What did we learn?

Pop-up survey suggestions What did we learn?

Pop-up survey suggestionsChanges to help identify an item?

End users (n=7535)

End-user recommendationsEnd-user recommendations

• Improve search relevance

• Add more links to online full text (and make linking easy)

• Add more summaries/abstracts: Make summaries more prominent

• Add more details in the search results (e.g., cover art and summaries)

Librarian/staff survey resultsLibrarian/staff survey results

Recommended enhancements to WorldCat Total librarian responses

Recommended enhancements to WorldCat Total end-user responses

End-User Results: Recommended Enhancements

4

Librarian/Staff Results: Highlighted Differences

9

1

What did we learn? Librarians’ Perceptions Compared to End-users

What did we learn? Librarians’ Perceptions Compared to End-users

Recommended enhancements to WorldCat

What did we learn? Librarians’ Perceptions Compared to End-users

What did we learn? Librarians’ Perceptions Compared to End-users

Recommended enhancements to WorldCat

What did we learn?

Librarian survey results What did we learn?

Librarian survey results

Respondents Who Reported Roles in Cataloging:

Upgrade Brief Records Recommended enhancements to WorldCat

What did we learn?

Librarian survey results What did we learn?

Librarian survey results

Respondents Who Reported Roles as Library Directors:

More Clickable Links to Online Content Recommended enhancements to WorldCat

Recommendations from librarian survey Recommendations from librarian survey

• Merge duplicates – New Duplication Detection and Resolution software in final testing phase

• Make it easier to make corrections to records (fix typos; do upgrades); Expert Community Experiment began Feb. 15

• More emphasis on accuracy/currency of library holdings

• Enrichment—TOCs, summaries, cover art—work with content suppliers, use APIs, etc.

• More communication about what users say they want

What Does It Mean For Aligning What Technical Services Does with What Users Want?

What Does It Mean For Aligning What Technical Services Does with What Users Want?

By: David Wulff http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwulff/5357629/

Matching Up What Technical Services Does to What End Users Want Matching Up What Technical Services Does to What End Users Want

“A persistent shortcoming in the decision-making process that needs to be addressed is the lack of serious research into user needs and benefits, and the actual impact on users of database quality decisions.”—Janet Swan Hill

Hill, Janet Swan, “Is it worth it? Management decisions related to database quality,” Cataloging and Classification Quarterly 46 (1) (2008): 5–26.

Two Starting PointsTwo Starting Points

1. Paying attention to what’s important about records

2. Aligning technical services priorities with end user priorities

• E-resources, books, media, unique digital collections

• Redesigning workflows

“Evidence-Based Cataloging”“Evidence-Based Cataloging”

Assess quality on external measures rather than subjective expert opinion

Acknowledge other functions of records besides ‘find’ (FRBR tasks find, identify, select, obtain)

HIlder and Tan research: construct a measure of record quality from empirical research into catalog use

• July-October 2007

• National Library Board (Singapore) and State Library of Victoria (Australia)

Hilder, Philip and Tan, Kah-Ching. 2008. Constructing Record Quality Measures Based on Catalog Use. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 46:4.

“[Catalogers] need to practice evidence-based cataloging. They need to catalog based on the evidence that they can find for the effectiveness of particular practices, and they need to judge their output according to this evidence.”

Top Ten Elements for Identification and Selection at NLB, Compared to SLV Ratings for Those Elements

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Title

AuthorTarg

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Contents/

SummaryCove

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e

Edition

Review

Subject(s

)Unifo

rn/va

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Wei

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Natl Lib Board State Lib Victoria

Data Source: Hilder and Tan, p. 358.

Most Serious Errors by Field/Subfield (NLB)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Top

Five

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100 a 110 a 111 a 856 uz 245 a 100 others 110 others111 others 700 a 710 a 711 a 130 a 240 a 246 a247 a 730 a 740 a 245 bhnp 630 a 650 a 651 a655 a 700 bqcd 710 bgncd 711 bcdeqn

Data Source: Hilder and Tan, p. 354-5.

Buying What Users Want: Trends in Book, Media, Journal, and E-Resource Expenditures Buying What Users Want: Trends in Book, Media, Journal, and E-Resource Expenditures

Public and Academic Library Acquisitions Expenditure Trends, 2004 and 2007 Reports

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PublicLibraries

AcademicLibraries

PublicLibraries

AcademicLibraries

2004 2007

Estim

ated

% o

f Acq

. Spe

nd

BooksAV MaterialsPeriodicals/SerialsE-Reference

As reported in The Bowker Annual, 2004 and 2007 editions; based ondata taken from the American Library Directory.

ARL Library User Priorities: What Do They Want to Use, and Where?

ARL Library User Priorities: What Do They Want to Use, and Where?

Five Most Desired Items Overall

Making electronic resources accessible from my home or office

Easy-to-use access tools that allow me to find things on my own

A library Web site enabling me to locate information on my own

Making information easily accessible for independent use

Print and/or electronic journal collections I require for my work

•The ‘wild user’ wants to use the library’s collections:•At a distance from the library•Independently and self-sufficiently

•This is an international phenomenon

Martha Kyrillidou and Ann-Christin Persson. 2005. The New Library User in Sweden: a LibQUAL+™ study at Lund University. Conference presentation. Available:http://www.libqual.org/documents/admin/sweden_finalpaper3.doc

Shift effort to unique collections of value to local communities

Shift effort to unique collections of value to local communities

Posted 6/17/2008: Digital Collections Technology Librarian, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, North Carolina DIGITAL COLLECTIONS TECHNOLOGY LIBRARIAN

The Digital Collections Technology Librarian will investigate and develop solutionsto provide access to and long-term management of heterogeneous collectionsincluding text, images, video, and data…

“The availability of primary sources has been crucial for the success of my teaching in history. Students have remarked what a difference it has made, and I have noticed a big difference between this course with the availability of online primary resources to those I have taught before that were based on printed resources.” –History instructor, University of California [2]

Usage of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections 2001-2008 [1]

R2 = 0.9701

0

1000000

2000000

3000000

4000000

5000000

6000000

7000000

8000000

9000000

10000000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Mill

ions

of S

essi

ons/

Use

s

“The function of searching across collections is a dream frequently discussed but seldom realized at a robust level. This paper … discusses how we might move from isolated digital collections to interoperable digital libraries.”

—Howard Besser [3]

Digital visibility creates use: uncover those hidden resources! [4]

Digital Collections Slide - CitationsDigital Collections Slide - Citations

[1] Data source for chart and photo: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center. Summary Statistics. http://uwdcc.library.wisc.edu/usageStats/publicView.shtml

[2] Quote from survey respondent as reported in Harley, Diane. 2007. Use and users of digital resources. Educause Quarterly 4, p. 12-20. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0742.pdf

[3] Besser, Howard. 2002. The next stage: moving from digital collections to interoperable digital libraries. First Monday 7:6. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/articl e/view/958/879

[4] For much more on the topic of digital collections’ visibility, see Research Information Network. 2007. Uncovering hidden collections. http://www.rin.ac.uk/files/hidden-resources-final-report.pdf

From: Andreadis, Debra K., et al. 2007. Cooperative Workflow Redesign in Library Technical Services at Denison University and Kenyon College. In: Library Workflow Redesign: Six Case Studies, ed. Marilyn Mitchell. Washington DC: CLIR. http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub139/pub139.pdf

80% to FastCat

20% to Cataloging

Workflows

A New Context for Technical Services

Bibliographic Control

Desktop (TS Workstation)

Data Management

The Web

New sources/types of records; outsourcing

Network, hardware and software administration

Relational Data Management

Authoring

New workflows Integrated library systems

SQL: queries and reports

Publishing

New metadata standards

Macros; impt. of ergonomics

More data manipulation, less

data entry

Web site organization and

management E-resources and digital collections

Growing number of applications

Global change Digital library management

systems

Adapted from Calhoun, Karen. Technology, productivity, and changein library technical services. Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services Volume 27, Issue 3, Autumn 2003, Pages 281-289

Examples of What Other Technical Services Leaders and Librarians Have Done (1)

• Adopt evidence-based cataloging

• Don’t sweat the small stuff (and figure out what the “small stuff” is)

• Let go of the perfect on behalf of the good

• Accept that fast and convenient availability are essential aspects of quality

• Redeploy, re-skill, and refocus human efforts on (1) organizing the materials your end user communities use or want the most AND (2) what cannot be automated

• E-resources

• Media

• Digital collections

Examples of What Other Technical Services Leaders and Librarians Have Done (2) – Workflow Redesign for Print

•Study your processes with workflow maps starting with selection and ending with access (for e-) or on the shelf

•Outsource or automate the ordinary (e.g., obtain MARC record sets for e- journals)

•Maximize use of approval plans and/or vendor or OCLC record supply services (e.g., WorldCat Cataloging Partners)

•Receive as much as possible shelf-ready (and spot check only)

•Do as much processing (FastCat) as possible in acquisitions; save copy and original catalogers for the work only they can do

•Stop editing CIP copy; examine and adopt automated tools (e.g.,, OCLC Bibliographic Notification) to capture upgrades

•Stop special cuttering practices; close the shelflist card catalog

•Consolidate multiple tech services departments (where it makes sense to do so)

•Reduce the number of times materials are handled, moved, searched

•Seek out and eliminate as many workflow “exceptions” as possible

•Seek out and eliminate routines or subprocesses that take time but don’t add value

•Get rid of multiple processes that accomplish the same thing

•What else?

Examples of What Other Technical Services Leaders and Librarians Have Done (3) – Not Going It Alone

Examples of What Other Technical Services Leaders and Librarians Have Done (3) – Not Going It Alone

• Commit to and invest in collective action with

• --other libraries and consortia --other OCLC members --like organizations (local museums, archives, historical societies, cultural organizations) --vendors --other metadata communities --end users (your local communities)

Start Small, But Start

We are staffed and trained for a print world—this MUST change!

Realign our efforts to match

• How collections are changing

• How users are changing

• How the Web is changing

Highway

By: SFAntti http://flickr.com/photos/sfantti/274905309/