Comments on: Getting local data to the world, and still being funded http://librariansmatter.com/blog/2009/06/26/getting-local-data-to-the-world-and-still-being-funded/ It is and we do. Musing, enthusing, libraries, emerging technologies, balancing, being mum. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:33:37 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Walter McGinnis http://librariansmatter.com/blog/2009/06/26/getting-local-data-to-the-world-and-still-being-funded/comment-page-1/#comment-56172 Walter McGinnis Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:54:22 +0000 http://librariansmatter.com/blog/?p=1026#comment-56172 When we conceived of the Kete open source software we had some of these questions in mind. To me, communities shouldn't have to forfeit discoverability to maintain stewardship of their data. In the initial version we built things to be allow the data to easily be reused for this reason. I was going to reply with a grocery list of Kete features that can serve the goal of data reuse, but rather than be an advertisement for the open source software I work on I'll mention a few nuances to the issues at hand. First, I suspect a lot of content providers are using Flickr Commons, et. al, are actually putting up content in these aggregated discovery areas (a little libraries in concept) in addition to the data having a presence on their organizations own sites. It can be thought of as a tool to drive traffic of people interested in deeper research back to their own collections online. I also think it is interesting that we are seeing services like Twitter step into to fill some of the discoverability holes by enabling every user to become a curator of online information to direct other users to areas of shared interest. In all cases, I think it is important for libraries (and others) to take credit for their work. If the library is opting for allowing reuse of their data, they should try to get a link back to their material on an record by record basis. This isn't just important for the library health, but for aiding those that would use the library records if they only new about it. When we conceived of the Kete open source software we had some of these questions in mind. To me, communities shouldn’t have to forfeit discoverability to maintain stewardship of their data. In the initial version we built things to be allow the data to easily be reused for this reason.

I was going to reply with a grocery list of Kete features that can serve the goal of data reuse, but rather than be an advertisement for the open source software I work on I’ll mention a few nuances to the issues at hand.

First, I suspect a lot of content providers are using Flickr Commons, et. al, are actually putting up content in these aggregated discovery areas (a little libraries in concept) in addition to the data having a presence on their organizations own sites. It can be thought of as a tool to drive traffic of people interested in deeper research back to their own collections online.

I also think it is interesting that we are seeing services like Twitter step into to fill some of the discoverability holes by enabling every user to become a curator of online information to direct other users to areas of shared interest.

In all cases, I think it is important for libraries (and others) to take credit for their work. If the library is opting for allowing reuse of their data, they should try to get a link back to their material on an record by record basis. This isn’t just important for the library health, but for aiding those that would use the library records if they only new about it.

]]> By: Kathryn Greenhill http://librariansmatter.com/blog/2009/06/26/getting-local-data-to-the-world-and-still-being-funded/comment-page-1/#comment-56024 Kathryn Greenhill Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:17:10 +0000 http://librariansmatter.com/blog/?p=1026#comment-56024 I guess it depends whether you decide that your target audience is "people who use the library now" or "people in the group entitled to use the library". I think that there is a huge number of ratepayers funding our libraries who never enter our buildings , but are also entitled to access our clean, authoritative data in a way that suits them best. I disagree about the first place people look being the local paper rather than online - but I don't know your target audience. Without knowing the newspaper and website usage of your community I can't comment on which would be greater ..but one thing that I do know is that as a trend newspaper circulation is falling and website use is growing According to the New York Times on 29 April 2009: " The rate of decline in print circulation at the nation’s newspapers has accelerated since last fall, as industry figures released Monday show a more than 7 percent drop compared with the previous year, while another recent analysis showed that newspaper Web site audiences had increased 10.5 percent in the first quarter. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/business/media/28paper.html" rel="nofollow">Fall in Newspaper Sales Accelerates to pass 7% </a>. Given the 10.5% growth in use of newspaper websites, I think that there is probably a group of people who we don't see in our libraries and who we can - and should - now try to reach. Whether we conceptualise this as experimental or not it does not matter, but the popularity of services like the Flickr Commons and Picture Australia, where libraries and museums are using Flickr rather than their own websites for public access to their images, prove that there is a demand for our data to be put online now. I guess it depends whether you decide that your target audience is “people who use the library now” or “people in the group entitled to use the library”. I think that there is a huge number of ratepayers funding our libraries who never enter our buildings , but are also entitled to access our clean, authoritative data in a way that suits them best.

I disagree about the first place people look being the local paper rather than online – but I don’t know your target audience. Without knowing the newspaper and website usage of your community I can’t comment on which would be greater ..but one thing that I do know is that as a trend newspaper circulation is falling and website use is growing

According to the New York Times on 29 April 2009: ” The rate of decline in print circulation at the nation’s newspapers has accelerated since last fall, as industry figures released Monday show a more than 7 percent drop compared with the previous year, while another recent analysis showed that newspaper Web site audiences had increased 10.5 percent in the first quarter. Fall in Newspaper Sales Accelerates to pass 7% .

Given the 10.5% growth in use of newspaper websites, I think that there is probably a group of people who we don’t see in our libraries and who we can – and should – now try to reach.

Whether we conceptualise this as experimental or not it does not matter, but the popularity of services like the Flickr Commons and Picture Australia, where libraries and museums are using Flickr rather than their own websites for public access to their images, prove that there is a demand for our data to be put online now.

]]> By: Helen K http://librariansmatter.com/blog/2009/06/26/getting-local-data-to-the-world-and-still-being-funded/comment-page-1/#comment-56016 Helen K Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:06:12 +0000 http://librariansmatter.com/blog/?p=1026#comment-56016 The bigger question is how many people actually use the information in those on-line guides... and does this relate to the libraries target audience..? Currently the majority of rate payers would probably check out the hard copy information in the local paper or ring to find out about event (or check the local website if desperate). You put more effort into direct and local advertising where your audience is and only experiment with the on-line. If the the event is plastered everywhere doesn't mean people will come regardless of the functionality of an "events" website. The bigger question is how many people actually use the information in those on-line guides… and does this relate to the libraries target audience..? Currently the majority of rate payers would probably check out the hard copy information in the local paper or ring to find out about event (or check the local website if desperate). You put more effort into direct and local advertising where your audience is and only experiment with the on-line. If the the event is plastered everywhere doesn’t mean people will come regardless of the functionality of an “events” website.

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