A milestone in creating a UC campus configurable metasearch tool has been reached: an alpha, or very first testing stage, version of UC’s “Find It” metasearch tool was unveiled and reviewed by two groups of UC librarians on May 4 at the CDL. Since it is an alpha prototype, this version of metasearch does not yet include all the features that will eventually be in place for the campuses, and glitches are still being fixed. It is important for the metasearch team to receive input from actual users while the tool is still in its formative stages. An advisory group of campus librarians has also advised the metasearch team on the creation of this first prototype.
The first version of this tool is aimed at those seeking information in the Earth Sciences because the CDL received funding from the National Science Digital Library (NSDL). The goal was to create a tool that searches licensed databases, including journals and reference works such as online encyclopedias, as well as metadata harvested from NSDL describing useful scientific resources on the web. Other features include automatic main page updates via an RSS feed and the opportunity to browse earth sciences journals. NSDL’s funding has supported the development of this infrastructure. The alpha portal is branded with UCLA’s look and feel as an example, and to support usability testing at UCLA on May 23 and 24.
Based on the usability findings, as well as feedback from the advisory group and others, the prototype and the infrastructure upon which it is based will be further refined. The next prototype, created in partnership with UCLA, is on the subject of European Studies. The infrastructure will likely be further refined and made easier to deploy based on that experience. Plans are also underway for a version of the tool aimed at novice users beginning their research, dubbed “Smart Start.”
Based on our experience working with early adopters at selected campuses, we will plan a UC-wide deployment of these tools, including documentation and training. Campuses will be in charge of when and how to use these tools to create tailored search portals for their clientele. For more information, see the Metasearch Infrastructure web site at: http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/metasearch/
On Thursday, May 18, Dan Greenstein, Associate Vice Provost and University Librarian for the CDL, gave a presentation at the UC Board of Regents meeting about the accomplishments the UC libraries and their staffs have achieved through innovation and collaboration.
Examples of the innovative programs that have helped UC avoid costs while providing better access to growing amounts of information include: the shared digital collection, one of the largest in the world; the digital preservation repository, one of the nation’s first; and the eScholarship Repository, which has had more than 3 million downloads of reports, working papers, and articles authored by UC faculty.
The CDL’s technical requirements for database and ejournal vendors were updated in April 2006. These documents reflect new or revised sections on information security, preservation, metasearch, and authentication via Shibboleth. They are intended to be shared with database and ejournal vendors, with campus staff who work with these vendors, and with those interested in documents that address “the major technicalissues of [UC’s] decision-making process, and offer vendors insight into our preferred solutions, why they’re important to UC, and what their implications are for prospective vendors.” These documents can be shared with vendors at professional conferences this spring and summer, and beyond.
The CDL’s Resource Liaisons have contributed greatly to UC’s continued success in setting high standards for services from our database and ejournal vendors. The Resource Liaisons will continue to use these requirements when working with our vendors.
The technical requirements documents are available on CDL’s Vendor and Content provider page under Technical Guidelines: http://www.cdlib.org/vendors/
The California Digital Library is making available the first draft of its XML schema for copyright metadata, CopyrightMD. This schema grew out of work at the CDL to address the integration of rights information into the digital library workflow. During the course of this work the CDL identified a minimum set of data elements needed to support current and future assessments of the copyright status of a work. These data elements have been expressed in a simple prototype XML schema (copyrightMD.xsd), which can be found with documentation and examples at: http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/rights/schema/
Although this schema was developed for the University of California’s digital library, we recognize that it may be of use to other members of the digital library community. The CDL invites members of that community, and any other cultural heritage organizations that are working with digital resources, to comment on the schema design, the data elements, and any other aspects of this work. The web page contains an email address for those comments. We consider this to be the “proof of concept” stage and are interested in collaborating on further enhancements with other interested projects and organizations.
CopyrightMD is one outcome of the efforts of CDL’s Rights Management Group and its advisory group, the Data Elements Working Group. More information on the CDL Rights Framework project is available at: http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/rights/
NISC is discontinuing its “African Studies” database, replacing it with the more comprehensive “Africa-Wide NiPAD”, which includes all of the content of two NISC databases, “African Studies” and “South African Studies”. The new database solves the problem of fuzzy boundaries in scope between its two predecessors.
CDL access to Africa-Wide NiPAD on the NISC Biblioline platform began on May 1, 2006. NISC will no longer offer African Studies as a separate database, and although South African Studies continues to exist separately, campuses that previously subscribed to the latter will no longer need to do so, since it is now included in the merged Africa-Wide NiPAD.
The CDL consortial agreement with NISC provides for the following access types to Africa-Wide NiPAD for UC campuses:
Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara; five concurrent users each;
