Library Data
FEATURE
able to provide a far richer picture of the way people use resources. They not only have information about the books people borrow, but for how long books are borrowed. They also have more information about the people who are borrowing the resources.
much richer picture of the impact of research and emerging areas of scientific interest. Most importantly, the release of library data
offers the opportunity for it to be used in ways unthought-of by the library and information community – both data from a single library
Not only do libraries have established communities of users, but their data has recognisable value that is likely to appeal to developers It is important that the necessary steps are
taken to make sure that a user’s anonymity is maintained, but the potential value of making use of such data is increasingly recognised. The JISC MOSAIC project in the UK has highlighted the potential of such data in the scholarly arena (
ie-repository.jisc.ac.uk/466), noting that the University of Huddersfield had, during a general period of downturn in book borrowing, actually increased both the number of titles borrowed per student, and the number of unique titles borrowed. The value of usage data for identifying resources is not limited to the physical items within a catalogue, but also the electronic resources that are available. It is also important to recognise that the
value of library data is not limited to the direct provision of the library services, but can contribute to the overall information and research systems. There is increased interest in the potential of bibliometrics and webometrics to provide objective indicators of researchers’ outputs and identify emerging areas of research interest. The European Commission has funded research investigating the potential of webometric indicators to provide indicators of less formal collaborations and research that may not result in traditional publications. Releasing the data stored within library systems offers the opportunity to provide a
www.researchinformation.info
a data source by simply constructing a query in the address bar of their web browser. In comparison, few users would know where to start with constructing a query that could be automatically sent to most library catalogues. Increasingly, barriers to entry provided
and from multiple libraries combined together. For this to happen, however, libraries need the data to be accessible to as wide a range of potential developers as possible, something that the library community is not necessarily good at.
Beyond the library community The community of library and information professionals has a well-established tradition of sharing information and resources, with widely-adopted standards (such as MARC) and protocols (such as Z39.50) predating the web. However the standards and protocols that they use have not necessarily extended beyond the library community – and, if the data that they make available is to reach its potential value, it is important that it is available in as accessible a manner as possible. Accessibility may be seen as one of the
main drivers behind the adoption of RESTful APIs, which allow queries to be structured as URIs and sent over the web’s HTTP protocol, outside the library community. RESTful APIs lower the barrier to user interaction with an organisation’s data to the point that the data can be queried through embedding requests within a URI that may be sent via an HTTP request. In reality this means that users can often investigate the potential of
by the use of library specific protocols and standards are being recognised within the library community, and an increasing number of institutions are providing simple APIs (e.g., Cambridge University Library – www.
lib.cam.ac.uk/api and North Carolina State University –
www.lib.ncsu.edu/dli/projects/ catalogws). However, catalogues are only the beginning of the kind of data that can be made available, and the number of institutions that are even making this limited portion of data easily accessible is still very limited.
Cultural and technical challenges Like many other industries, the widespread adoption of the web has brought about many changes in the library and information profession, and organisational change is rarely enthusiastically adopted. However, the most successful organisations are rarely those that try to cling on to their traditional role, but rather those that embrace the new opportunities that are offered. The role of the library as the sole provider of entry points in to their collections has served libraries well for many years, but if libraries are to provide library services fit for the twenty-first century they need to embrace the opportunities offered by releasing their data and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the wisdom of the crowd.
David Stuart is a research associate at the Centre for e-Research, King’s College London, as well as an honorary research fellow in the Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, University of Wolverhampton
APR/MAY 2011 Research Information 17
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