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| LC Range: | GC 1 - GC 1582 |
| Maps to: | Sciences — Earth & Environmental Sciences — Oceanography |
Call numbers from catalog records extracted from CLIO (Columbia's
LMS) are matched against the HILCC mapping table, and a browsable subject
category tree is generated on the web to guide users through eresource
subject content. HILCC has been used now for two web-based services
at Columbia: CLIO Notify and the Browsable Ejournal Subject Listings.
The next phase of this project will entail: a) testing and evaluation;
b) revising and extending current HILCC mapping; c) developing a strategy
for including interdisciplinary resources and other areas not easily
mapped to LC Classification; d) comparison with colleague institutions'
web-based subject taxonomies.
HILCC
Project
Documentation — Browsable
Ejournal Subject Listings
NetLibrary Integration
In late March, 27,364 MARC records for netLibrary books were loaded
into the Libraries' online catalog, CLIO. Under a consortial arrangement
including Cornell, Dartmouth, and Middlebury College, the full contents
of netLibrary are available to users at all four institutions. As
soon as a book has been checked out twice by users at any of the four,
it is purchased for the consortium, with funds coming from a deposit
account. This arrangement will be reevaluated each year, as we
gain more experience with use patterns. Having the records in
CLIO showed immediate results in dramatically increased use. Records
have been loaded in two sets, with separate markers for those books
that have been purchased by the consortium and those that are only available
for purchase through use. These markers will allow us to manage
future access should the terms of the arrangement change
Name Resolver/URN Implementation
In Fall 2000 the Libraries implemented a name resolver application
which is now used for access to both licensed and free electronic resources
in our digital collections. The name resolver allows the creation
of persistent URLs (URNs) for display in the library's OPAC and in Web
presentations of electronic resources. Maintenance and updating
of actual e-resource URLs & addresses are now handled by library
systems staff in special directory tables referenced by the name resolution
scripts, rather than in the library's catalog.
As part of the name resolver's implementation, a one time global update
was done against the online catalog in order to add local 956 fields
(parallel to MARC 856 fields) containing URNs to all existing catalog
records for eresources. New and changed catalog records are now
identified on a weekly schedule and updated with 956 fields containing
URNs. The same process generates a data feed used to update
the actual name resolver tables and to flag resources that require "proxying"
and other types of authorization-related maintenance. A recent
enhancement to the system allows for real-time ad-hoc assignment of
URNs by non-library systems staff, e.g., when placing newly scanned
articles and folders on electronic reserve. Log records are created
for all name resolver transactions and will be used as a way of gathering
more complete & consistent statistics on the use of licensed commercial
web resources by the Columbia community.
Name
Resolver Documentation
XML/Application servers
Over the last year Columbia's Academic Computing group has implemented
a set of tools for the development of XML and JSP based applications.
Applications currently have direct access to DB2 databases, and
are being built as front-ends to the Master Metadata File (see
above), to "portal" frameworks, such as the JA-SIG portal,
and to instructional management platforms.
II. Projects and Programs
Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC)
Columbia Pubscape: A Core Integration System for a National Science Digital Library Publishing Center. Under the auspices of the Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC), a university-based organization involving Columbia University Press, the Libraries, and the Academic Information Systems computing center, we will create mechanisms for the development, implementation, and sustainability of innovative, cost-efficient, and high quality digital library resources designed for the enhancement of teaching and learning in science. Building on our existing infrastructure for creating award winning online publications, Columbia University will develop models for rights management sustainability along with a scalable, interoperable technology framework necessary for a Core Integration System (CIS) for the National Science Digital Library (NSDL). Expected outcomes of the project include the development of a set of organizational and operational models for the successful implementation and long-term sustainability of the NSDL.
Key features of the project are: 1) creation of an intellectual property and rights management system; 2) creation of business models, license agreements, and sustainability mechanisms and 3) development of a scalable, interoperable technology framework.
Online Publishing Use and Costs Evaluation Program
EPIC has received support for a three-year program to assess the costs and use of electronic publishing projects of the kind now being undertaken by the Center and many other universities and publishers. While the online scholarly publications developed at Columbia and elsewhere have yielded valuable information concerning the best technologies, tools and processes for creating these resources, less has been done to analyze their continuing costs and ongoing value to users. The Online Publishing Use and Costs Evaluation Programwill gather and analyze data to help answer the important questions that remain, namely: how electronic publishing projects affect the cost of scholarly communications process as a whole throughout the life cycle of the publication; how the continued use of these electronic publications affect the research and teaching patterns of scholars and students both qualitatively and quantitatively; and which financial models will allow for sustainability of these products over the long term. This program will contribute to the development of a generalized model for evaluation of online publications and propose strategies for integrating evaluation, analysis and learning as ongoing functions of the online publishing process.
EPIC Home Page — PubscapeElectronic Text Service (ETS)
As a public service unit, the Electronic Text Service has continued to focus its primary effort on developing and providing access to the libraries' digital text holdings in the humanities and history, maintaining areas of traditional strength, such as Classics, Medieval studies, English and American literature, the history of philosophy, religion, and American history, while making good progress toward bringing coverage in French, German, Italian, and Spanish up to comparable levels. The past year has also seen significant growth in our holdings of contemporary multimedia and hypertext fiction, selected in consultation with a member of the English department doing research in this field.ETS has also contributed to Columbia's digital library tools and infrastructure by such activities as: preparing TEI/XML markup specifications for our Virtual Reading Room project; helping develop local expertise in the use of XSLT; creating the capacity for OCR'ing of microform text resources; and by taking a lead role in assisting members of the Columbia community wishing to use personal bibliographic software programs such as ProCite or EndNote for Z39.50 searching & downloading of citations from digital library databases.
ETS Home PageElectronic Data Service (EDS)
EDS is the University's numerical data library and support center for social science computing. The EDS DataGate, perhaps the first Web finding tool in the field (1994), now provides direct, Web-enabled download of dataset files, along with all available documentation and programs. Under the leadership of Jane Weintrop, the new Data Resources Librarian, delivery and preparations for supporting the 2000 Census, in all its permutations, are underway. Nearly 50 gigabytes of data (compressed) is already available online for use or download, with many more gigabytes expected from the Census. The development of new service models to support the world of direct data access twenty-four hours a day will be a focus of EDS efforts in the future. In the coming year, EDS will also host an NSF-funded usability test on interfaces to government data and examine extended data delivery systems.
EDS Home Page — EDS DatagateBorrowDirect
The BorrowDirect Project—a collaborative effort by Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, and RLG—will move to a new phase in July 2001. Originally called the "CoPY Project," BorrowDirect's objective was to test whether using specified "lenders of first resort" could substantially lower the unit cost of traditional interlibrary loan while maintaining high service standards. With more than 4,000 requests filled during the first 18 months, the project demonstrated a cost-effective alternative to traditional ILL, with better service for its users. With the end of the pilot phase, the three university libraries will take over project coordination from RLG and work collaborative to extend and improve the service.BorrowDirect allows patrons to access a "virtual catalog" that combines the collections of Columbia, Penn, and Yale. Users initiate a request for a known citation that is searched across the three catalogs using Z39.50 broadcast searching. A customized software package lets user requests bypass the borrowing library's ILL office and go directly to the potential lending location. Links to each library's data files authenticate the patron, check the circulation status, and determine the availability of the requested item. Automatic e-mail to the patron confirms the request and additional e-mails are sent as the request progresses. The libraries use a commercial overnight delivery service to enable a four-working-day turnaround from the initial request to notification of pickup availability.
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Last updated: Monday August 13 2001
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