COMPETENCY #9: Internet

I used Google and searched "electronic resource management". The first hit took me to the Electronic Resource Management Initiative", which is a project of the Digital Library Federation. After reviewing the Digital Library Federation web site, I decided to include it here since its sole purpose is the creation, maintenance, and advancement of electronic resources for libraries. Their web address is:

http://www.diglib.org/dlfhomepage.htm

The Digital Library Federation provides grant funding, metadata tools, news and updates for members, and is supported by several large universities across the country including MIT, Harvard, Cornell, University of Michigan, and UCLA among many others.

COMPETENCY #8: Research Visual/Multimedia

I found a wonderful online tutorial at the University of Texas regarding copyrights, which is an important element of electronic resource management. The presentation, which is simply a web page with page link tags discusses copyrights relating to images, video, songs, illustrations, etc., can be viewed at:

http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/cprtindx.htm

The purpose of the tutorial is to help faculty learn copyrights for online learning environments. The information provided can be useful for anyone with an online environment presenting electronic resources.

COMPETENCY #7: Image

I have always found Google Images to have what I need when searching for images for the course material I present to students, so I opted to use Google Images for this assignment too. All of my database searching from competency #6 showed me that the correct phrase for my area of interest with this blog is "electronic resource management". I search Google Images for "electronic resource management" and found several applicable images, but opted for the following because of its flowchart analysis of ERM acqusition and management:

I found this image at http://www.diglib.org/pubs/dlf102/images/dlfermi0408appb01.gif.

COMPETENCY #6--LEXIS NEXIS: Building Block Search

I decided to use LexisNexis for a building block search of "(electronic resource management) and (public libraries)". I opted to search legal publications. I felt that since I had found many resources using other search techniques at other databases that I needed to add a new scope to my research topic. The legal implication of electronic resource management is a valuable, useful topic for any librarian, so I chose to find legal information relating to ebooks and public libraries. Unfortunately, only one document was located and it was a transcript from "Ethics and Professionalism in the Digital Age: Ninth Annual Georgia Symposium on Ethics and Professionalism: A Symposium of the Mercer Law Review". A quick review of the document told me it contained no information that was useful to me.

Using the same search phrase, I searched U.S. and world publications and received 232 hits. A review of random documents showed that the hits found contained the words I indicated in the search but not necessarily together in the document so that the document related to the subject I was researching.

I decided I wasn't searching the database correctly. I realized that I was doing an "Easy search" and decided I needed to click on the "Power search" link and try my luck again. After reading through the Boolean operators used at LexisNexis, I modified my search and used "(electronic w/3 resource w/3 management) and (public w/3 libraries)" with the w/3 requesting that the words appear together within 3 words of each other, in other words as phrases. This change was much more successful. I received 8 hits. I reviewed the first hit in the list, which was an article from April 2009 entitled, "Innovative's Electronic Resource Management solution utilises NISO SUSHI 1.6". When I looked at the location of the phrases in my search string, the words were shown together as requested and the article was right on point to my topic.

At first, I thought the building block search would be the easiest to do. I found the opposite to be true and it felt more like a hit-or-miss approach to searching. I had to work more to find what I needed. The biggest problem was getting the search string correct in order for the database to return applicable results. Once I figured out what LexisNexis needed in the form of Boolean operators, I was successful in my search results.

I'm glad I saved this search test for last. After seeing how successful the other search techniques were, i.e., citation pearl growing, browsing, and specific facets first, I probably will never use building block search techniques again unless I determine that it will work best for a particular database. Databases are highly complex today allowing searchers greater search capabilities for improved results. The other techniques feed into that complexity while building block searching feels like it works against it.

COMPETENCY #6--LIBLIT: Citation Pearl Growing Search

I was concerned at the start of this search technique in finding the initial article that I could build my search upon. The search terms I entered were "electronic resources" and "public libraries". The combined terms generated 655 hits. The very first hit was right on point: "Making Unmediated Access to E-Resources a Reality: Creating a Usable ERM Interface".

Within these search results, I narrowed the search topic to, "electronic resource management". The hits were reduced to 63. The first ten displayed were 100% match to the phrase I was searching. On the left side of the screen was the option to narrow the search results even further. I opted to narrow the search by year of publication. The topic was already on point, but I felt it was necessary to find the most current information. The results were even more successful and reduced the hits to 10, which is a manageable number of resources to read.

Again, I was pleasantly surprised with the search results. Knowing how to find the initial article helped tremendously in narrowing the results to find exactly what I wanted. The database is built to narrow the results with predefined critera. So it was up to me to get on the right track with the initial search and then take advantage of the database capabilities.

COMPETENCY #6--PROJECT MUSE: Browsing Search

I selected this database to search because I was curious as to its content. After discovering that its content related to humanities and fine art, I knew I couldn't find any resources relating to e-books. So I chose a topic that was similar--computer-generated art.

I had a lot of browse choices at Project Muse. I chose to browse journals based on subject headings for articles. I typed "computer generated art" in the search box and had success with the first subject heading listed. Fifty subject headings were retrieved. The first heading was entitled "Computer Graphics". It contained nine articles. After reviewing the articles, there were a wide variety of fields represented. There were articles about computer-generated body imaging for medical purposes and even an article about creating two-dimensional computer images based on polyinominal equations in Algebra. I found two articles that were very interesting and tied into my search subject, "Caricature Generator: The Dynamic Exaggeration of Faces by Computer" and "Psychological Implications of the History of Realistic Depiction: Ancient Greece, Renaissance Italy and CGI".

My thoughts going into this search was that it would be the equivalent of surfing the web, in other words, wandering aimlessly hoping to find something of interest; however, I found browsing to be quite effective. The key difference was having the topic preselected so that I could narrow the scope of browsing.

COMPETENCY #6--DIALOGWEB: Specific Facet First Search

I enjoyed this search strategy and found it very effective. The key was creating effective facets before entering the database.

Because I am interested in building e-book resources for our local public library, my first facets were ebooks, multimedia, and electronic resources entered into the ERIC database as: ss ebook or multimedia or electronic resource? I then added the facets of databases or web sites. Finally, I added free or no charge. My results showed:

I was happy that my end result was 49 hits. After reviewing the hits, I found the following two sources, which were applicable in finding e-book resources: "Visualizing Subject Access for 21st Century Information Resources. Papers Presented at the Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing (34th, Urbana, Illinois, March 2-4, 1997)" and "FloriNet Handbook for Participating Libraries" (Information Networks, Internet, Library Guides, Library Planning, etc.).

Since I had everything planned up front, it only took me a couple of minutes in DIALOG to conduct my search. The cost was less than $2.00.

COMPETENCY #5: Tagging

Here are the tags I located at LibraryThing: Anglo-American cataloging rules(1) Anglo-American cataloguing rules(1) anobii(1) Archives(1) Audio-Visual Collections(1) audiovisual(2) audiovisual materials(1) books about books(1) cataloging(9) cataloging guide(1) Cataloging of audio-visual materials(1) Cataloging of electronic information resources(1) Digital(1) electronic resource(6) gslis(1) librarians(1) libraries(2) library(3) Library science(6) location-moved(1) mlis(1) non-fiction(1) non-print materials(1) own(1) PROF COLLECTION CATALOGING Cataloging of audio-visual materials -- Cataloging of electronic information resources(1) textbook(3) to MG 9/29/07(1) training book

I clicked on "electronic resource" and chose "Selecting and Managing Electronic Resources: A How-to-do-it Manual for Librarians". This book was specifically related to my area of interest and will act as a guide for cataloging electronic resources.

COMPETENCY #4: RSS feed

I added the RSS from the Michigan Library Consortium. I live in Michigan and wanted to link to library news in my area.

COMPETENCY #3: Podcasts

I used the Podcast Directory (http://www.podcastdirectory.com/) to find a podcast relating to libraries. I knew my topic for this blog would be too specific to find a podcast related to it, so I searched for podcasts using the search term "Library". I selected the podcasts from SirsiDynix Institute (http://sirsidynixinstitute.com/podcast.xml). The purpose of the institute and their podcasts is to promote technology development in the library community. They bring in guest speakers and cover a wide variety of topics of interest to library professionals.

I didn't have a lot to choose from when searching for library podcasts, but SirsiDynix Institute podcasts seemed to be the most broad-based podcasts covering library technology. Their podcasts are also available from iTunes. One reviewer gave SirsiDynix Institute podcasts a five-star rating indicating that they were very professional and PowerPoints from the web site were available to compliment the podcasts.

Overall, I think SirsiDynix Institute was the best choice.

COMPETENCY #2: Related Blog

My topic is kind of specific, so I chose Google to help me find library blogs. I found a good site that provides a list of library blogs. I chose the subheading of "Public Libraries" and began my search there. One blog in particular that I found that relates to my area of interest comes from a library in Pennsylvania: http://librariesbookstechnology.blogspot.com/search/label/E-books. Here's an excerpt from the blog discussing Kindle:

Kindle has been getting pretty good reviews in the news media and by technology buffs alike. And, I have to say that I've been tempted to try it out.

Now, I may be even more tempted. I've long been a fan of audio books, always having one from the library in my car's cassette or CD player.

Here's another site from the Faquier Public Library. It's their e-resource news site. While it isn't specific to obtaining digital media, it does cover the topic along with every other electronic resource subject: http://fcpleresources.blogspot.com/. Here's an excerpt from the site:

Looking for a good book? Whether you're looking for something to while away your time at the beach or familiarize yourself with the latest literary prize-winner, What Do I Read Next? has you covered. This resource includes over 134,300 recommended titles, more than 74,500 plot summaries, and awards information from 568 awards, all to help users uncover new reading adventures, find long-remembered favorites, and discover award-winning titles.

Finally, I found a technology blog at the ALA, http://www.alatechsource.org/blog?page=1. Here's an excerpt from the site:

A TechSource Blogger Forum: E-Readers and Libraries
Submitted by Daniel A. Freeman on April 21, 2009 - 10:42am
The release of the Kindle 2 has set of a firestorm of speculation about how e-readers are going to transform (destroy?) the publishing industry. Anything with the potential to transform reading has the potential to transform librarianship. If widely adopted, these e-readers have the potential to allow libraries new ways to house and circulate material. But could there be downsides as well? Jason, Tom and Cindi weigh in with their predictions on how e-readers are going to change librarianship in coming years.

I'll continue to update this post as I find more blogs.

COMPETENCY #1: Blog - Head first into the blogosphere

Here I am with my first blog. This blog is an assignment requirement. I don't anticipate using this blog beyond the scope of the assignment nor do I expect to desire another, more-personal blog where I can discuss the musings of my day. I don't view a blog as a necessary component of my life, just a necessary component of my class.

My area of interest for assignments will relate to increasing multimedia/digital media content for public libraries. The library I work with is trying to build ebook library resources with as little funds as possible.