Clarifying Search: A User-Interface Framework for Text Searches

Current user interfaces for textual database searching leave much to be desired: individually, they are often confusing, and as a group, they are seriously inconsistent. We propose a four- phase framework for user-interface design: the framework provides common structure and terminology for searching while preserving the distinct features of individual collections and search mechanisms. Users will benefit from faster learning, increased comprehension, and better control, leading to more effective searches and higher satisfaction.

Byrd, Don, W. Bruce Croft and Ben Schneiderman. D-Lib Magazine (1997). Design>Information Design>User Interface>Search

D-Lib Magazine

D-Lib Magazine is a solely electronic publication with a primary focus on digital library research and development, including but not limited to new technologies, applications, and contextual social and economic issues. The magazine is published eleven times a year and is released monthly, except for the July and August issues which are combined and released in July. The full contents of the magazine, including all back issues, are available free of charge at the D-Lib web site (http://www.dlib.org) as well as multiple mirror sites around the world. The primary goal of the magazine is timely and efficient information exchange for the digital library community. To meet this goal, both the articles and the shorter pieces are solicited or selected from among unsolicited submissions.

D-Lib Magazine. Journals>Publishing>Online

The Design and Evaluation of Interactivities in a Digital Library

The US National Science Foundation has established a program to create a National Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology Education Digital Library (NSDL). One of the subsidiary NSDL libraries under development is the National Civil Engineering Educational Resources Library (NCERL). The first phase of NCERL is the creation and collection of digital resources in three areas of civil engineering—geotechnical (soil), rock, and water engineering (GROW). The concept of interactivities guides the design, development, and evaluation efforts of the GROW digital collection. This article describes the salient features of GROW, defines and discusses interactivities as an emerging, integral part of teaching and learning in civil engineering education. Interactivities take place at three distinct levels: the information resource, the collection, and the context. Very simply, the concept of interactivities can be defined as the emphasis on structured representations of interactive multimedia resources. Additionally, resources are designed with rich learning tasks and organized in pedagogical collections supplemented with contextual information. Preliminary evaluation of GROW-NCERL using interactivities is briefly described.

Budhu, Muniram and Anita Coleman. D-Lib Magazine (2002). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Multimedia

Digital Reference: An Overview    

Digital reference refers to a network of expertise, human intermediation and resources placed at the disposal of users in an online environment. It employs automated tools wherever possible, allowing human experts to concentrate on 'hard questions'. But human expertise is expensive and hard to find. Automated tools are less expensive to incorporate into online services and sites, allowing digital libraries to use tools that were, until recently, the province of a small cadre of people.

Silverstein, Joanne. D-Lib Magazine (2003). Articles>TC>Online

Evaluation of Chat Reference Service Quality

This article reports on a pilot study. The pilot will inform the methods for a larger, evaluative study of the quality of chat reference service. The evaluative study will use obtrusive observation techniques to look at several aspects of chat-based reference service from the information seeker's perspective including: the overall session, the chat or negotiation process, and the provision of answers, including the sources used. The evaluative study will specifically address the quality of output by assessing the accuracy and completeness of answers provided to chat reference service clients.

White, Marilyn Domas, Eileen G. Abels and Neal Kaske. D-Lib Magazine (2003). Articles>Rhetoric>Online

Institutional Repositories: Partnering with Faculty to Enhance Scholarly Communication

Institutional repositories build on a growing grassroots faculty practice of posting research online, most often on personal web sites, but also on departmental sites or in disciplinary repositories. This demonstrates a desire for expanded exposure of, and access to, their work. In addition, digital publishing technologies, ever-expanding global networking, and enabling interoperability protocols and metadata standards are coalescing to provide practical technical solutions that can be implemented now. The convergence of these interrelated strands indicates that institutional repositories merit serious and immediate consideration from academic institutions and their constituent faculty, librarians, and administrators.

Johnson, Richard K. D-Lib Magazine (2002). Articles>Publishing>Online

A Metadata Framework Developed at the Tsinghua University Library to Aid in the Preservation of Digital Resources

This article provides an overview of work completed at Tsinghua University Library in which a metadata framework was developed to aid in the preservation of digital resources. The metadata framework is used for the creation of metadata to describe resources, and includes an encoding standard used to store metadata and resource structures in information systems. The author points out that the Tsinghua University Library metadata framework provides a successful digital preservation solution that may be an appropriate solution for other organizations as well.

Niu, Jinfang. D-Lib Magazine (2002). Articles>Information Design>Web Design>Metadata

Question Negotiation and the Technological Environment    

The information world is a very different place in 2003 than it was a few years ago. It is possible, for example, to find information more quickly and easily than ever before, using new tools, and drawing on sources of information unavailable or even nonexistent not so very long ago. People seeking answers or providing them now have many more options for 'question negotiation', in the broadest Tayloresque sense. Consulting an information professional continues to be one of those options. In fact, such professionals can now be much more accessible via these new tools and technologies.

Janes, Joseph and Joanne Silverstein. D-Lib Magazine (2003). Articles>Interviewing>TC

Software for Building a Full-Featured Discipline-Based Web Portal

The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Internet Scout Project [1] received funding in the fall of 2000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation [2] to build an open source software package that would allow collection developers to share their collection's metadata via the web. The resulting software, the Scout Portal Toolkit (SPT), is virtually turnkey, very inexpensive to maintain and operate, and easy for non-technical staff to download, set up and populate with metadata. Conforming to international standards for metadata, data harvesting, and Web technology makes SPT useful for and usable by a wide variety of projects and organizations, allowing and encouraging collaboration and record sharing among projects. Over the SPT project's two-year period, beta testers and in-house quality assurance testing provided valuable feedback, helping to ensure that the software was robust, easy to use, and well-suited to the needs of the intended audience.

Almasy, Edward, David Sleasman and Rachael Bower. D-Lib Magazine (2002). Articles>Web Design

The Technological Challenges of Digital Reference    

Much has been written about the various tools for digital reference, technical issues associated with their implementation, and the potential for these tools to reach new patrons. In this article, the author focuses on the need to understand the technical environment within which digital reference occurs, from issues of patron definition and access, to the role of cooperative relationships and networks in meeting the shared needs of librarians and patrons. The author provides an overview of today's reference environment along with data and practical examples from services like QuestionPoint™, the Library of Congress, and Ask Joan of Art® to demonstrate the importance and effect understanding audiences, appropriately using technology, and working cooperatively can have for libraries in digital reference.

Penka, Jeffrey T. D-Lib Magazine (2003). Articles>TC>Online