Building Digital Libraries from Simple Building Blocks

Metadata harvesting has been established by the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) as a viable mechanism for connecting a provider of data to a purveyor of services. The Open Digital Library (ODL) model is an emerging framework which attempts to break up the services into appropriate components based also on the basic philosophy of the OAI model. This framework has been applied to various projects and evaluated for its simplicity, extensibility and reusability to support the hypothesis that digital libraries (DLs) should be built from simple Web Service-like components instead of as monolithic software applications

The MetaCombine Project

This poster presentation discusses the MetaCombine project, a Mellon-funded effort based at Emory University, with the goal of discovering and developing systems and methods to more meaningfully combine digital libraries, digital library resources, and digital library services

The fog of copyleft

In this paper we question the notion of using copyleft, in its current form, as the principle contractual framework of free culture. We argue that there are many flaws in the copyleft concept and its execution which are beginning to immerse free culture activity in a “fog” of risk and uncertainty. The main feature of copyleft which is causing problems is its “license lock” aspect, while the main problem with the execution of copyleft is the exercise of too much control by license authors. We give examples from our own experiences with PlanetMath, as well as the free culture community in general, to illustrate. Finally, we provide a wide array of solutions to the problem, ranging from immediately usable legalistic ones to long–term societal transformations

code4lib Conference 2006, February 17, 2006 : morning presentations

These presentations were given on the third day of the code4lib Conference held Feb. 15-17, 2006, at LaSells Stewart Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.Quality metrics : This talk discusses the core development activities of the Quality Metrics project at Emory's Woodruff Library. This project is being conducted under an IMLS grant to research requirements for and build a working prototype digital library search system. What this project is doing that is new is truly generalizing and integrating explicit and latent quality indicators which allow users to ascertain the fitness of digital library resources. Most search engine components have only one indicator: content-query similarity (relevance). Google only has two, adding PageRank to the latter. Our system, QM-search, will have an unlimited number of these, which will be customizable by the digital librarian for the target community and collections, and even customizeable from user to user or search to search. Some basic examples of quality indicators that digital libraries might be able to exploit would be activations (views online or check-outs in circulation), selection (compilation in bookmark lists online or additions to course reserves lists), extent of review (from a peer-reviewed journal, conference, or not?), or citation-based metrics. The ouput of QM-search will be in a completely generalized XML format, with the search results represented as a structure based on the structure specified in the input organization spec. This XML output can be transformed into presentation HTML resembling anything from a linear Google-like search results list to an A9-like column display to more exotic groupings and breakdowns. Requirements for QM-search are being gleaned from focus groups being conducted at Emory (preliminary results will be shared), and development is being conducted as a high-level layer atop the excellent Lucene open source search engine project. -- Practical aspects of implementing Open Source in Armenia : A look at Open Source from outside of North America. What is the situation on Open Source in Armenia? What actions will be implemented at Yerevan State University library concerning Open Source? What are problems facing Armenian libraries, as well as those in Georgia and Azerbaijan, in creating digital repositories

Disciplining Search/Searching Disciplines: Perspectives from Academic Communities on Metasearch Quality Indicators

“Quality Metrics” is an IMLS–funded research project which aims to address longstanding deficits in the formal conceptual support for and development of scholarly digital libraries. Central to attaining these goals is collecting and analyzing feedback from stakeholders in the scholarly community about the efficacy and value of key aspects of search technologies; including search interfaces, modalities, and results displays. A team at Emory University conducted this foundational research by utilizing the qualitative methodology of focus groups. In addition to an initial set of exploratory focus groups, the team conducted a second round of focus group sessions with a protoype search system specially designed for scholarly digital libraries. This paper describes the concept, objectives, methodology, and findings of the focus groups component of the Quality Metrics Project