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1 – 8 of 8The purpose of this paper is to present the initial relationship between the Classification Research Group (CRG) and the Center for Documentation and Communication Research (CDCR…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the initial relationship between the Classification Research Group (CRG) and the Center for Documentation and Communication Research (CDCR) and how this relationship changed between 1952 and 1970. The theory of normative behavior and its concepts of worldviews, social norms, social types, and information behavior are used to characterize the relationship between the small worlds of the two groups with the intent of understanding the gap between early classification research and information retrieval (IR) research.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a mixed method analysis of two groups as evidenced in published artifacts by and about their work. A thorough review of historical literature about the groups as well as their own published works was employed and an author co-citation analysis was used to characterize the conceptual similarities and differences of the two groups of researchers.
Findings
The CRG focused on fundamental principles to aid classification and retrieval of information. The CDCR were more inclined to develop practical methods of retrieval without benefit of good theoretical foundations. The CRG began it work under the contention that the general classification schemes at the time were inadequate for the developing IR mechanisms. The CDCR rejected the classification schemes of the times and focused on developing punch card mechanisms and processes that were generously funded by both government and corporate funding.
Originality/value
This paper provides a unique historical analysis of two groups of influential researchers in the field of library and information science.
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Vyacheslav I. Zavalin and Shawne D. Miksa
This paper aims to discuss the challenges encountered in collecting, cleaning and analyzing the large data set of bibliographic metadata records in machine-readable cataloging…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the challenges encountered in collecting, cleaning and analyzing the large data set of bibliographic metadata records in machine-readable cataloging [MARC 21] format. Possible solutions are presented.
Design/methodology/approach
This mixed method study relied on content analysis and social network analysis. The study examined subject representation in MARC 21 metadata records created in 2020 in WorldCat – the largest international database of “big smart data.” The methodological challenges that were encountered and solutions are examined.
Findings
In this general review paper with a focus on methodological issues, the discussion of challenges is followed by a discussion of solutions developed and tested as part of this study. Data collection, processing, analysis and visualization are addressed separately. Lessons learned and conclusions related to challenges and solutions for the design of a large-scale study evaluating MARC 21 bibliographic metadata from WorldCat are given. Overall recommendations for the design and implementation of future research are suggested.
Originality/value
There are no previous publications that address the challenges and solutions of data collection and analysis of WorldCat’s “big smart data” in the form of MARC 21 data. This is the first study to use a large data set to systematically examine MARC 21 library metadata records created after the most recent addition of new fields and subfields to MARC 21 Bibliographic Format standard in 2019 based on resource description and access rules. It is also the first to focus its analyzes on the networks formed by subject terms shared by MARC 21 bibliographic records in a data set extracted from a heterogeneous centralized database WorldCat.
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In 2008, Indiana University received a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for a project entitled “Variations/FRBR: variations as a testbed…
Abstract
Purpose
In 2008, Indiana University received a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for a project entitled “Variations/FRBR: variations as a testbed for the FRBR conceptual model”. The V/FRBR initiative aims to provide a real world, production implementation in a music digital library system of the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) suite of reports from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) that are being presented as revolutionizing library discovery systems. This paper seeks to examine this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper discusses the issues encountered in creating an interoperable data model that implements FRBR concepts. It uses the work of the V/FRBR initiative to describe how FRBR can be used in both a generic and a music‐specific environment.
Findings
An abstract data model representing FRBR at three levels of specificity (two generic and one music‐specific) is defined, along with its binding in XML and plans for expanding into an RDF representation into the future.
Practical implications
The data model and its XML representation created by the V/FRBR project have the potential to be re‐used by other FRBR‐based cataloging and discovery systems in the future.
Originality/value
While much discussion of FRBR has taken place in the library community, relatively little formal testing of FRBR‐ized data has been done, with even less widespread reporting of lessons learned. The V/FRBR project is among the first to share detailed information about the practical issues faced when implementing the FRBR models.
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Ahmet Meti Tmava and Sara Ryza
The number of open access repositories (OARs) has been growing globally, but faculty members have been reluctant to embrace OAR and submit their work. While there are studies that…
Abstract
Purpose
The number of open access repositories (OARs) has been growing globally, but faculty members have been reluctant to embrace OAR and submit their work. While there are studies that looked at sociotechnical factors that affect faculty participation in OARs, this study aims to explore how the individual characteristics of faculty might impact faculty willingness to deposit their work in an OAR.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey was distributed to all faculty at a large public university in the USA who were identified as having their primary job responsibilities in teaching and research. This study used a correlational analysis between faculty individual characteristics (i.e. age, rank, status and academic discipline) and their willingness to deposit their work.
Findings
The findings show that there is a difference in faculty familiarity with open access (OA) principles and faculty awareness of OA policy based on individual characteristics. Furthermore, these individual characteristics have a significant impact on faculty willingness to participate in OARs. While this study reveals a significant correlation between the faculty intent to deposit and the respondent’s academic discipline, rank and status, there are other factors that affect faculty intent to participate in OAR, such as familiarity with OA principles and awareness of institution’s OA Policy.
Research limitations/implications
There were no significant responses from the Colleges of Science or Health and Public Service and, therefore, did not yield any statistically significant results. Measuring the university’s promotion system was outside the scope of this research.
Practical implications
Results of this research can provide insight on how individual characteristics of faculty might impact their willingness to embrace OA publishing in general and OARs in particular.
Social implications
The findings from this research will be a valuable source of information for librarians and OA staff in developing more effective outreach programs to increase faculty participation in OA and OARs.
Originality/value
This study reveals that individual faculty traits do have an impact on faculty willingness to participate in OARs. The academic discipline was found to make the most significant difference in faculty intent to deposit their work in an OAR. However, due to the ever-changing landscape of OA publishing and the ongoing outreach efforts by librarians, the faculty members’ perception and participation in OARs is likely to evolve.
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This is an attempt to introduce proactive changes when creating and providing intellectual access in order to convince catalogers to become more social catalogers then they have…
Abstract
Purpose
This is an attempt to introduce proactive changes when creating and providing intellectual access in order to convince catalogers to become more social catalogers then they have ever been in the past.
Approach
Through a brief review and analysis of relevant literature a definition of social cataloging and social cataloger is given.
Findings
User contributed content to library catalogs affords informational professionals the opportunity to see directly the users’ perceptions of the usefulness and about-ness of information resources. This is a form of social cataloging especially from the perspective of the information professional seeking to organize information to support knowledge discovery and access.
Implications
The user and the cataloger exercise their voice as to what the information resources are about, which in essence is interpreting the intentions of the creator of the resources, how the resource is related to other resources, and perhaps even how the resources can be, or have been, used. Depending on the type of library and information environment, the weight of the work may or may not fall equally on both user and cataloger.
Originality/value
New definitions of social cataloging and social cataloguing are offered and are linked back to Jesse Shera’s idea of social epistemology.
The purpose of the study is to look at memory making and the documenting of memories, as a part of the document and information experience of women belonging to the Indian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to look at memory making and the documenting of memories, as a part of the document and information experience of women belonging to the Indian diaspora in a leisure context.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research approach was inspired by institutional ethnography, and data are collected through semi-structured interviews and by collecting comments posted on five fan fiction blogs.
Findings
Early observations show that memory making and documenting of those memories is a part of the document experience of the research participants. It also points to the role of social interactions in that experience as well as the recording of one's document experience in the making or deriving of document meaning.
Originality/value
This study aims to contribute toward conceptual growth in the area of information and document experience. It also aims to address a gap in the literature that looks at cultural memory evocation and how it is documented, as well as looking at the interplay between affordances of new media, memory making and documentary practices especially with respect to virtual communities. And when looked at through the prism of migration and leisure, it can be even more interesting.
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