Risks and strategies: the view

from OCLC Research

Risks and strategies: the view

from OCLC Research

0John MacColl

European Director, RLG Partnership, OCLC

Research12 June 2009

ThemesThemes

• Risks• Urgency• The primary purpose of digitisation• Users as co-creators• Digitisation as default• Shared digital and shared print• Where the wild users are• Specialists step forward• Aggregate to innovate• Accentuate the positive

RisksRisks

Recent risk analysis Recent risk analysis

• In a rapidly evolving information environment, what are the greatest risks to research libraries?• Individually – as local service providers• Collectively – as a distributed enterprise

• Which of these risks is susceptible to mitigation?• Feasibility – controllable risk?• Impact – worth the investment?

• Where should local effort be directed?

• Where can collective action make a difference?

Risk ClustersRisk Clusters

Legacy Technology

Human Resources

Value Proposition

Durable Goods

Intellectual Property

… a reduced sense of library relevance from below, above, and within

… uncertainties about adequate preparation, adaptability, capacity for leadership in face of change

… changing value of library collections and space; prices go up, value goes down – accounting doesn’t acknowledge the change

… managing and maintaining legacy systems is a challenge; replacement parts are hard to find

… losing some traditional assets to commercial providers (e.g. Google Books) and failing to assume clear ownership stake in others (e.g. local scholarly outputs)

UrgencyUrgency

ConcentrationA web-scale presenceMobilise data

DiffusionDisclosure of links, data and services

Scale mattersScale matters

Image: informationarchitects.jp/web-trend-map-2008-beta/

Be where the users areBe where the users are

Discovery happens elsewhereDiscovery happens elsewhere

• People don’t discover our content by coming People don’t discover our content by coming to our lovingly crafted web sites to our lovingly crafted web sites

• We must expose our content to web search We must expose our content to web search engines and hubs like Flickrengines and hubs like Flickr

Yale University

We are now in a race to remain relevant to researchersWe are now in a race to remain relevant to researchers

• ‘Cataloguing is a function which is not working’

• Forget item level description• “Insanity is when you do things

the way you’ve always done them, but expect a different result” (Einstein and/or Emerson)

• ‘Good enough’ beats perfection• Accept ‘the demise of the

completeness syndrome’ (Ross Atkinson)

The primary purpose of

digitisation …

The primary purpose of

digitisation …

Access vs preservation …Access vs preservation …

Access wins!Access wins!

• No one has been throwing away No one has been throwing away originals … so preservation needs are originals … so preservation needs are best served by thembest served by them

• Only by surfacing presently ignored Only by surfacing presently ignored collections can we justify their collections can we justify their preservationpreservation

• Our brave new world shows we Our brave new world shows we cancan (usually) go back and do it again(usually) go back and do it again

Selection has already been doneSelection has already been done

• Don’t spend time selecting Don’t spend time selecting items to digitiseitems to digitise

• Capture materials as Capture materials as accessionedaccessioned• For important collections, For important collections,

capture it allcapture it all• For others, sample and For others, sample and

allow user interest to guide allow user interest to guide your choicesyour choices

• Capture on demandCapture on demand• Capture ‘signposts’ and Capture ‘signposts’ and

devote more attention devote more attention when/where warrantedwhen/where warranted

Woodcut from Sebastian Brant, “Stultifera…” The ship of fooles… 1570University of Edinburgh Library

Handle once (then iterate)Handle once (then iterate)

• Handle incoming items Handle incoming items once once for both for both description and digitisationdescription and digitisation

• Compromise on image resolution and Compromise on image resolution and metadata as needed to achieve throughput metadata as needed to achieve throughput requirementsrequirements

• Create a single unified processCreate a single unified process• Let usage guide further effortsLet usage guide further efforts

Have programmes not projectsHave programmes not projects

• Forget ‘special projects’ — it’s long past Forget ‘special projects’ — it’s long past time to make this a basic part of our time to make this a basic part of our everyday work!everyday work!

• Digital capture must be embedded in our Digital capture must be embedded in our basic procedures, budgeting, etc.basic procedures, budgeting, etc.

• Figure out a way to fund it yourself and Figure out a way to fund it yourself and you’ll figure out a way to do it cheaperyou’ll figure out a way to do it cheaper

Quality vs quantity: quantity wins!Quality vs quantity: quantity wins!

• The perfect has been the enemy of the The perfect has been the enemy of the possiblepossible

• Achieving excellence can have a substantial Achieving excellence can have a substantial costcost

• Any access is better than none at allAny access is better than none at all• Instead of measuring cataloguer/archivist Instead of measuring cataloguer/archivist

output we should be measuring impact on output we should be measuring impact on usersusers

Users as co-creators

Users as co-creators

Engage your communityEngage your community

• Do not describe everything in painstaking Do not describe everything in painstaking detaildetail

• Start with basic description, then…Start with basic description, then…• ……allow serious researchers to contact you allow serious researchers to contact you

for more detail, and…for more detail, and…• ……engage your user community with adding engage your user community with adding

to the descriptionsto the descriptions• Encourage them to submit their content tooEncourage them to submit their content too

January 16th 2008: LC photographs on FlickrJanuary 16th 2008: LC photographs on Flickr

24 hours later24 hours later

Exposure

Impact: exposureImpact: exposure

Flickr: Top 50LC: Top 6000

Contributio

ns

How to lose control

Go with itGo with it

Feeding back into our workFeeding back into our work

89 records updated

Digitisation as default

Digitisation as default

Change in Photoduplication PolicyAs of March 17, 2008, the Ransom Center's policy regarding research copies of items from its collections will change. We will no longer furnish photocopies. For all requests received on or after March 17, our default procedure will be to make digital scans of the originals and furnish PDF files (72 dpi) either by email or on CD-ROM. For patrons who are unable to make use of PDFs, printouts will be available in lieu of digital files.

For publication purposes, high-resolution images will still be furnished on the same terms as before.

Harry Ransom Center, UT Austin

Example: Scan on demandExample: Scan on demand

Combine approaches

Shared digital & shared print

Shared digital & shared print

Library storage facilitiesLibrary storage facilities

• Recommendations for current storage institutions• Aggressively archive print journals• Implement last copies policies• Disclose holdings• Explore subscription models

• Recommendations for the academic library community• Define mechanisms for disclosure

and associated services• Consider a formal print repository

network• Develop sustainable business

models

The mechanics of shared printThe mechanics of shared print

Registry

Transfers

Borrowing System

SharedCollections

Withdrawals

Retrievals Commitments

Holdings

Loans

Disclose

Aggregate holdings and joint commitments constitute a

shared assetenabling collaborative

management strategies

ProceduresPolicies

InfrastructureAssets

Local Collections

Off-Site Collections

ReCAP

DigitizedLibrary Collections

The ‘Cloud Library’

Where the wild users are

Where the wild users are

Rick Luce: ARL/CNI presentation on the future support of eResearch, October 2008

User complexity (the circle game …)User complexity (the circle game …)

User

Domain

Institution

Data Environment

Assessment Regime

Users

Users

Users

Users

Users

Users

accessingassessingchaining

disseminatingnetworking

Interdisciplinaryprobing

translating

Humanities Sciences direct searching scanningco-authoring coordinating monitoring data-sharing

browsing collecting

re-reading assembling

consulting note-taking

Adapted from C. Palmer, L. Teffau, C. Pirmann (2009)

Specialists step forward

Specialists step forward

Mobilising Unique MaterialsMobilising Unique Materials

• Treasures on trucks• Rescuing orphans• What a picture!• Uncloaking archives

Unifying fragmented memoriesUnifying fragmented memories

Organisational and service relationships in multi-type institutionsIntention: bring about greater collaboration among libraries, archives and museums by surfacing models for sharing data, services and expertise

Smithsonian Institution

Yale UniversityEdinburgh University

V&A Museum

Princeton University

Where to invest time and money

‘Ofness’ vs ‘Aboutness’

Aggregate to innovate …

Aggregate to innovate …

The power of datamining

(2005)

Rareness is common …

Knowledge Structure: structure for controlled data: metadata workflows

Knowledge Structure: structure for controlled data: metadata workflows

Increase the gravitational power of namesIncrease the gravitational power of names

Accentuate the positive

Accentuate the positive

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

——Charles Charles Darwin

Image: Auckland Museum

LAM risks and strategiesLAM risks and strategiesIm

pac

t

These risks will remain high but can be managed.

Effective network disclosure

Move new services ‘into the flow’

Articulate compelling new vision to attract a new generation of LAM professionals

Thank YouThank YouJohn MacCollmaccollj@oclc.orgOCLC Research