DEVELOPMENTS IN ACCESS TO ART INFORMATION

ARLIS Conference April 2002

Rose HolleyDigital Projects LibrarianUniversity of Auckland

Overview

How can we improve access and delivery of art resources?

Current delivery at University of Auckland

Future developments in resource delivery, searching and navigation.

Core Digital Resources In 2001 we spent $4.5 million on

digital resources = 36.5% of budget Used by 34,000 students and staff Accessed 24 hours day x 7 days

week Relied on by academic staff to

support teaching Student expectations for delivery

and content are high

The Digital Pie

Digital ImageCollections Websites

Databases

E-Journals

Library Catalogues

Increased usage of LEARN website

0

5

10

15

20

25

Millions of hits

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

How LEARN works Library Homepage = LEARN Gateway to accessing all library

resources Directory listing of resources Consists of 5000 static webpages Resources arranged by subject and

A-Z listing

Cont. ‘Resources by Subject’ maintained

by subject librarians LEARN maintained by Digital

Services Department Interface recently re-designed IP authentication – proxy +

Netaccount

We now want Smarter way to access and

manage these resources We strive to maintain a high

quality service and constantly look for ways to improve

At present users have to search multiple times, know multiple interfaces and know how resources fit together

Current Searching

Image

Collections

Websites

(millions)

Databases

(300)

E-Journals

(10,000)

Library

Catalogues

Future search

Search and Navigation Interface

Image

Collections

Websites Databases

E-Journals

Library

Catalogues

The solution and next step ….A portal type model:single point of access for consolidating

information from disparate sourcesIt would enable:single search interface across multiple

data types and databasesAnd:better management of resources

New concepts for

Navigation Searching

Managing

Digital Resources

Benefits - Users Don’t need knowledge of resources first Find resources they didn’t know existed Single search interface to access all

resources, and single results screen with records de-duped (‘Google style’)

Flexibility to personalise the search interface to suit subject needs

Option to go direct to specific resource and search in native interface instead for experienced users

Benefits - staff Efficient management of resources Dynamic delivery Reduction in webpage

maintenance Single description creation Rights management Authentication

Challenges Authentication Rights Management Implementation and maintenance Training issues:

New search concept New method of navigation Customisation ‘my library’

And…… Finding software that will do this!!

We use Endeavor Information Systems software - Voyager Catalogue

Take a closer look at their new product ‘ENCompass for Resource Access’

Still under development but promising future …

Other Customers National Library Cornell University Getty Research Institute Kansas State University

Our requirements Unified interface and native

interfaces Simple and advanced search Customisable search and results

interfaces Personalisation for users View merged results or by source

Search for ‘wildflowers’

How it works behind the scenes XSL for customisation of interfaces Multi-protocol searching (Z39.50, http,

XML gateways) Hierarchy structure –

objectscontainer collectionrepository

Oracle database stores repository metadata and digital objects using XML

Multiple metadata schemas supported (DC, EAD, TEI) ability to crosswalk

Our role as Info Professionals Improve access and management to our

digital resources Current awareness – remaining up-to

date with latest software developments Innovation – search for new ideas of

delivery and access Co-operation – work with each other to

achieve interopability of systems by using standards

The future Creating digital content was the

first step Organising our collections and

providing easy access to digital resources is the next step

Future developments in ‘portal type’ software models could radically improve access to art information

Contacts and URL’sRose Holley r.holley@auckland.ac.nz Ph 09 373 7599 x3984LEARN: www.auckland.ac.nz/lbr

ENCompass demo site: http://207.56.64.66:20005

Getty demo site: http://archives.getty.edu:20008