cataloging and emails

So today I’m back to cataloging and sending emails.  Cliff really wants a lot of feedback from the experts before we proceed in changing the cataloging structure.  It seems the more emails I send out, the more people I am told to ask.  Its nice to know people are trying to help by giving me more names.  So I do feel like that piece has been successful.  Unfortunately, I have not received much concrete feedback, but instead a lot of possibilities.  I’ll take these back to Cliff and Brent, they are the ones that will ultimately make the decision I’m sure. 

Also, everyday there are more site to catalog into the current system, so that’s always part of what I need to be doing.  Its been busy as the site are always building.  I’m looking forward however to moving forward with the actual cataloging in whichever new system is chosen.

emails emails

So today I sent out a bunch of emails asking for advice and expertise.  I’m hoping to get some good feedback so that we can start working on recatalofing everything as soon as possible.  I’m just really hoping to gain some good experience and to do some good work.  I don’t want to let myself or anyone down.  It was kind of a bummer today to see that I could have possibly been reinventing the wheel.  Perhaps I’m being too hard on myself, which is usually the case, but I hate wasting time.

cataloging

I learned today how to catalog using the current system.  I’m am using the remainder of the day to update what needs to be cataloged.  Its a pretty easy system to use and everyone here is great if I have any questions.  I now need to try to get a decision made on which cataloging system we will be using.  Cliff would like to get some of the faculty and staff together to help make that decision.

I have also contacted Sarah to see where she left off on the project. Unfortunately it seems like I may have been reinventing the wheel unknowingly with some of the research I have been doing.  This is a little frustrating, more because I feel like I’ve wasted a little time (luckily only a little).  But its all a learning experience. Nevertheless, I am excited to see what comes next.

completely off subject….;-) Latino Heritage Month Activities

check out the north entrance of the library and see the latino heritage display I helped with. Some of the librarians let me be on the committee, it was a lot of fun!

This weekend, I’ll be in Des Moines volunteering at the Iowa Latino Heritage festival also:-)

checking whats already out there

today, i’m seeing whats already cataloged in dmoz or Ill.  I’ve found myself a little frusterated with ILL becauses its REALLY slow. 

I also started gathering all the internal documents that already exist regarding the existing catalog, I’m doing this while waiting patiently for ILL, so its good multitasking..;-)

confluence page, project layout

This morning I finished updating my Confluence page, which I had started this weekend.  Here is the outline of the project as shown on the Confluence page.

Project layout:

A. Strategy (Speaking with Other Librarians for input and ideas)

1.         Assemble or layout the problem, given where we want to go

2.         Assemble a group of people to get together and make a recommendation about how to proceed in a way that best solve problem, could be local, higher profile, Worldcat, library, get a good list of digital library people, computer science, and facilitate the discussion.

 

B. How to organize the catalog (Gathering Information)

1.         DMOZ: for the internet, terms used for everyday people

2.         Library of Congress: time honored, complete, well funded, tends to be more archaic, if added something that does not exist

3.         Classification Systems: Dewey, etc…

4.         Universal UDC: international, not innumerate it’s faceted, more ability to tailor.

5.         The Current

6.         Folksonomies: tagging

7.         MeSH

 

C. Optimization

1.         System at WiderNet, eGranary, optimized for speed

2.         When pull data into eGranary, need to be made available, needs to be faster,

 

D. Design of interface

 

Other Concerns:

Theoretically we need to be able to update

Design has to consider the update process

When changes are made to category system how is this going to reflect what is there

 

Beginning Inquiries (Rachel is helping me to find 30 best URLs to work with:

Preliminary checking:

Pick 30 common resource points or a cross section of resource points, see what you find in DMOZ, etc… Try to query URL

 

Volunteers

 

 

 

cataloging project overview

last week I had several meetings with various staff at WiderNet. One of these meetings was with Brent, who took a lot of time to sit down with me to give me a “big picture” idea of what it is we are needing to do.  To put it into simple terms, the catalog needs to be updated so that it can be easier to update in the future. 

I have laid out my preliminary project layout in a projects page on the Confluence system at WiderNet, and I will publish this shortly.  I have also been asking other librarians and information science staff about their opinion on this project.  I have also been gathering information on the different cataloging techniques (which is something I am doing continually). 

My next post will show the project layout.

meetings last week…my project

I now have a good idea of what I will doing.  Last week I had one meeting with Cliff and Brent, and another meeting with Mark.  I will be taking over what Mark was working on last year.  So what I will be doing is trying to help make the catalog more dynamic by changing the current dsp and mssql pages into php and mysql.  We are also talking about ways to change the catalog, in how items will be classified.  This has not been decided yet.  For now, I am focusing on learning php and mysql, which is going pretty well.

training stuff

So yesterday I learned a lot.  I spent most of the day on the Sharepoint website, going through the training materials.  Some of the material was learning specific about how the office worked; items like, who to go to for what, and where to find items on the website, etc.  Another part of the training, was really learning about the eGranary and how it functioned, who is using it, and what types of materials are need for it. 

The other part of the day I used to learn more about sql and java.  Like I’ve said in earlier postings, I’m trying to teach myself these.  So far, at least sql seems fairly intuitive.  I’m looking forward to really getting into my project, hopefully I get started on it soon.

regular schedule

So today has been my first actual scheduled day at Widernet.  I’m working Monday-Wednesday afternoons to make my 20 hours.  I think I will be spending most of today on the Sharepoint website and trying to get an idea of the day to day functions here.  I’ve also been vigorously trying to learn sql because I think it will be beneficial in the long run.  I’ve taken to reading some books and going through some online tutorials. 

Will hopefully have more to post soon.