Programme details

Contributors to the workshop include:

Bridget Robinson, Collection Description Focus, University of Bath

Bridget Robinson joined UKOLN in January 2000 to work on the Agora project. Agora was one of the five elib hybrid Library projects which began in January 1998. It formed part of Phase 3 of the elib programme investigating issues of digital library implementation and integration.

Collection Level Descriptions were used within the Agora interface as a way of matching users to resources. Agora used the collection schema drafted by the national working group and edited by UKOLN.Bridget has worked in both Public and HE libraries and with a range of Commercial Information Providers.

Bridget is now working as part of the Collection Description Focus

Ann Chapman, Bibliographic Management, UKOLN, University of Bath

Ann Chapman joined UKOLN in October 1989 as Research Officer for Bibliographic Management. Work in this area focuses on the quality, standards and formats of records for bibliographic materials in both current and retrospective cataloguing and on performance measurement of bibliographic databases.

In 1998-1999 she was a member of the team who produced the national strategy for retrospective conversion 'Full Disclosure' which identified the need for collection level descriptions. From 1999 she has been a member of the team working on the Reveal project to improve library and information services to visually impaired people. For this project she has recently been working on the development of the Reveal Collections Register which is based on the collection description schema.

Presentation: [Powerpoint] | [HTML]

Paul Andrews, Project Manager - Cecilia, IAML (UK & Irl)

Paul Andrews holds degrees in music, and library and information studies. Paul worked for over twenty years in public and academic music libraries, before becoming Project Manager of Cecilia in 2001. He first became aware of the difficulties in tracking down sources of music information while researching his own doctoral dissertation, and regards his present work as an attempt to spare others some of his own frustrations! Paul was editor of BRIO, journal of IAML(UK & Irl) from 1995-9.

David Owen, Director, Share the Vision

Director of Libraries, Manchester City Council, 1980-1986
Director of Libraries and Theatres, Manchester City Council, 1986-1998
Director of Share the Vision, May 1998- present

Summary of Presentation: Visually impaired people have the same reading needs as other sighted people but require alternative formats for access.We therefore need to produce a fit for purpose, state of the art national database of these materials as well as a Collections Register which assists access either directly by an individual or via an intermediary.

Presentation: [Powerpoint] | [HTML]

Sarah Stark, Regional Liaison Co-Ordinator, A2A, Public Record Office

Sarah Stark qualified as an archivist in 1992; since then she has worked in a variety of archival environments - local government, higher education and business - in London, Oxford, Reading and Winchester. She joined the Public Record Office to work on A2A in summer 2000; and is responsible for outreach to A2A website users and programme participants, training, and publicity, with some editorial input.

Summary of Presentation: User evaluation is essential to ensure that archives network strand sites are developed in accordance with user needs. A2A has approached evaluation through 2 routes: dedicated focus groups, and participation in the joint National Archives Network User Research Group (NANURG) with other network strand sites. This presentation gives details on A2A's evaluation routes and on the outcomes of user evaluation of the A2A website.

Presentation: [Powerpoint] | [HTML]

Ian Anderson, Lecturer, Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute, University of Glasgow

Ian Anderson is Lecturer in New Technologies for the Humanities in HATII. He teaches a range of honours and post-graduate options in Digitisation, Electronic Texts, Multimedia and Data Modelling. Ian's research interests include user and needs analysis, interface and multimedia design, computer based pedagogies and digitisation projects. He is currently working on a collaborative project with Professor Helen Tibbo of the School of Information and Library Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on how historians locate primary source material and how electronic finding aids are presented by archivists. He is also the local project manager for the JISC/DNER funded CHCC project. This is a collaboration between Glasgow, Essex, Manchester and Leeds universities to develop contemporary and historical census data into a major learning and teaching resource.

Summary of Presentation: This paper will present results from recent research on how UK historians locate primary source material using a variety of information retrieval methods. The paper contrasts traditional, electronic and informal retrieval methods according to rank, research rating, subject of research and type of source material. The results demonstrate historians using a wide variety of retieval methods but with some adaptation according to type of source material and subject of research. Generally historians make more use of electronic library catalogues than electronic archival finding aids. Although there is no evidence of a reluctance to use electrionic retrieval methods in general, historians have a preference for print based retrieval methods. In creating electronic finding aids it is clear that archives need to provide more detailed item level descriptions, increase the rate of retroconversion and provide more flexible tools that provide more context for archival collections.

Presentation: [Powerpoint] | [HTML]