Panlibus has moved
Panlibus continues at http://blogs.talis.com/panlibus/
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Welcome to the panlibus blog, where some Talis staff will muse, reflect, declare and who knows what about the library and information business and other loosely connected things. We’ll do this from a personal viewpoint, not representing Talis in any way.
So what's with the gravity then?
The Mobile Search discussion is based around the prediction that we will soon be carrying around the equivalent of a Web Server, full of contacts, info, photos, music, video, calendar, etc. in our pockets. With always on networks, it could behave like one.
To link everyone's pockets together [those that want to be anyway] is a classic folksonomy situation, with a dose of IM presence added in.
So how do I get to that info, or more importantly know it is there, or get alerted to change.
RSS, OpenSearch, and whatever they give birth to, that's how.
That vision needs some routing through central resources like A9 or Flickr or bloglines or a corporate MS Exchange server or del.icio.us or whatever. Those services will know about the stuff and where it is but not necessarily need to store it.
This is where AJAX comes in, by using this type of technology your user interface could be serenely displaying simple information to you on your pocket screen, or PC whilst behind the scenes it would be paddling like crazy aggregating access to what you are interested in.
What are the benefits of that then? You'll soon have as much computing power in your pocket as NASA would have been prowd of a few years back, so it will be possible to carry out the processing required close to where it is needed. The data [your data] will be kept together where it is most relevant, with you. Your local device will only go and get something when it needs it, not having to download the whole planet to search for it.
Far fetched? Only time, but not that much of it, will tell!
To be honest, I wasn’t even planning to enable RSS subscription to InfoWorld search. It just came for free. When that happens, it’s a sign that things are deeply right.Jon Udell on InfoWorld has a play with A9's OpenSearch.
When I heard about OpenSearch, I wondered how hard it would be to integrate my new view of InfoWorld search as a “column” in A9. As I soon learned, it’s almost trivial.I know I've been banging on about OpenSearch a bit since it was announced, but in the same way that it's parent RSS has rapidly changed the way we find out about things happening, I get the feeling that A9 are going to get the credit for instigating a rapid change the way searching hangs together.
Not rocket science as you can see. So it won't be long before A9 is not the only OpenSearch client on the block
If you have been clicking on these links in your browser you will only be seeing XML. Try pasting the links in to your favorite RSS reader to see the effect.
Better still try it from A9 [You will have to register & login, but its worth it] Enter the description url [http://demo.talis.com:6080/TalisPrism/OpenSearch.xml] in to their Create New column page and press load.
You will then see the description in a more readable form, and more importantly a preview of what the results will look like in A9 is loaded at the right of the page.
The exciting bit, from the potential user's point of view, is that by clicking on the title of a result you are taken to the detail for the result, displayed in the Prism interface. If you were in a real library you could then go on and place a reservation request for the item, or discover which branches the item was held at, etc. As an aside this functionality is provided by yet another technology that is spreading its wings beyond its original concept, OpenUrl. But that's another story.
So where next?
... we need metadata to aid not just searching but also clustering, linking to relevant external resources, etc. - all the things we can do in the new environment to enhance search results and other forms of access. The XML tools for using web services etc. are great and will get better much faster than anything MARC-based.Here, though, we move into the territory of application profiles and content rules. As several other writers in the thread point out, an area of activity that could be leading the way to a full replacement of MARC is that based on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR). In the publishing world, it provided the conceptual model for the bibliographic elements of the Indecs framework, which led to the development of the ONIX format. Now, its principles are being built into the next edition of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, AACR3. Although AACR3 will be capable of expression in MARC 21, it will push MARC's capabilities closer to the limits. MARC records have been 'FRBRised' in a number of different initiatives with some success, but the work has clearly discovered shortcomings in the MARC format.
Some may think that MARC is robust since so many ILS systems use it, but ILS systems themselves are endangered, not able to respond with agility to changing technologies. For libraries to flourish, bibliographic data needs to be flexibly deployable in broader environments lest we will gradually lose relevance.
We regard a situation in which core performance indicators, and gross throughput, are falling—but overall costs are rising—as a signal of a service in distress.
Our key recommendations are designed to focus attention on libraries' fundamental role in promoting reading and we seek to distinguish clearly between core functions and desirable add-ons (prioritising resources in favour of the former). There need to be far stronger links between national library standards (which themselves need improving) and effective mechanisms to encourage and enable library services to meet, if not surpass, them.
I'm sure this will provoke considerable debate!
Report from the Conference on 'The Public Library Service in 2015'.
This conference was set up by the Laser Foundation to discuss the thought-provoking 'Futures Group Report'. I attended with high hopes of some visionary debate. The audience was made up of many of the people who run the nations public library services.
John McTernan (an adviser to the Prime Minister) started with some challenging thinking on what the Government expects from Public Libraries - it should be no surprise that they're looking for change. His hypotheses for the future were:
A number of clear steers on short-term challenges to libraries emerged:
Read what you like into this - to me it sounds like a soundbite for fewer local authorities (there is already talk about reorganising local government into regional/sub-regional/cities).
He finished with the challenge that librarians have to want to change. The evidence I heard was of delegates showing willing to change but not knowing what to?
Lord McIntosh from DCMS talked about new regional structures (there's a message here from the two government speakers - this is going to happen). His other message was about cutting back office costs to release resources to the front line (efficiency savings again), and encouraging library authorities to work together on service provision (so regionalise yourselves before we do it to you?).
This was not a vision of a future public library service - more a view of future local government reorganisation - and this from the Minister for Libraries!
Chris Smith, MP and former Minister for Libraries said more of the same - questioning whether libraries should be part of local authorities structure.
So 3 people from Government talked about re-organisation - stemming from the need to cut costs in local government, but nothing about the role for or value they see in public libraries. Is this a reflection of the apparent confusion in the role of public libraries in the face of declining issues - there is no other service that libraries can claim to do well?
More news is due soon from government with the imminent publication of the Select Committee Report on Public Libraries. We also await the results of the MLAC-sponsored report on book procurement in public libraries.
Chris Trinick, Chief Executive from Lancashire County Council provided a positive view of the future - it's encouraging to find the man in charge of one of the countrys largest local authorities as a proponent of libraries. He still challenged whether libraries would be part of local authorities and - providing some alternative suggestions based on charitable status. Significantly, he laid down the challenge to libraries to take decisions on future services based on evidence of benefit (back to my recent post on value).
Charlie Leadbetter, consultant and one of the leading thinkers behind Framework For the Future came closest to setting out a vision for future services. His vision is of a 3-fold service:
This picks up and expands on an area that many delegates were sensitive to in the Futures report - that of offering a 2 tier service. He also challenged whether some library activities could be outsourced.
Charlie challenged the audience to form a library network to work together - the value and power of the network far exceeds that of individual nodes. This is beginning to be evidenced in networks such as SeamlessUK. So many libraries argue for 'representation', yet look to other bodies such as MLAC to do something for them - this is a rallying call.
I had hoped that this would be a pivotal day for public libraries, where a vision of the future would emerge and concensus to act on it, but they failed to seize the day - concluding that MLAC (a government quango) would provide the vision and steer they crave so badly (not recognising the conflict of interest!). This represents a failure to take individual or collective responsibility for their future.
There was lots of emotive talk about services and value on the day. Libraries need to acknowledge the impact of changes in society and technology and produce a response to these. They also need to understand the value of their services in economic terms and to use this to focus and justify activities and to make the case for future investment.
Congratulations to the Laser Foundation and the Futures Group for provoking the debate, but we're still no clearer on the future role of the public library.
"Valuable does not necessarily correspond with the library staffs ideas of importance."
just by scanning the barcode of the book with a reader.
Armed with this information East Renfrewshire could make sound decisions on what was worth selling through Marketplace, and what they could dispense with more effectively elsewhere ie. via booksales etc. It also allowed them to "play the market". Their sales strategy was to undercut other vendors on the site, in order to get the books out of the door as quickly as possible.
The project raised many interesting points, which are worthy of further consideration:
Venice has come at a really interesting time for libraries. Politically, we have the Department for Culture, Media and Sport questioning the efficiency of the supply chain and whether libraries are getting enough "books for the buck". By focussing on the creation of a resale opportunity for libraries' stock, we are demonstrating a fantastic opportunity for libraries to derive additional revenue from stock which can be ploughed back into new items.
Anyway, long blog, but lots to say. We are currently genericising the app that East Renfrewshire used and will be shortly be making it available via the Talis Developer Network.