Nicole Hennig, Web Manager and Usability Specialist at the MIT Libraries

"Embedding library services in the trusted networks of MIT students"

Abstract: In early 2006 the MIT Libraries conducted a "Photo/Diary" study of the information seeking patterns of MIT students. The study involved asking volunteer students to take photos or screen shots along with a written diary of their information seeking behavior over the course of a week, followed by an in-depth interview with library staff. During the study we saw students relying on a trusted network of both people and resources, such as friends, family, professors, and favorite web sites, such as Amazon, Google, and Wikipedia. Librarians were not part of this network. Sometimes a favorite library resource (such as Web of Science) would be part of this network, usually when recommended by a friend or professor. We saw students easily and using the basic services we offer (such as a quick lookup of a book or e-journal), but often missing many of our more specialized research databases that could have been very useful to their work. One of our challenges is finding ways to insert ourselves into their networks (both virtually and physically) so that more students will easily find and take advantage of the resources we make available to them. This talk will cover existing and future ideas we have for enabling the discovery of our resources and for integrating existing relationships of trust into our services.

Networking Break

Annette Bailey & Godmar Back, Creators of LibX Firefox toolbar extension

"LibX: Motivation, Development, and Implementation"

Abstract: Today's users of information are used to the immediacy and convenience of modern search engines such as Google. We believe that access to library resources should be as quick and easy. To address this issue we developed LibX. LibX is a Firefox extension that supports direct access to electronic and print library resources, including access to the OPAC, OpenURL resolver, off-campus proxy and databases. LibX is a "swiss-army-knife" infrastructure for providing effortless access to electronic library resources from anywhere on the web. LibX integrates the ability to search a library's OPAC directly into the user's browser. The LibX toolbar allows users to search their library's OPAC without requiring the user to navigate to the library's OPAC interface. A right-click menu allows users to search the OPAC using selected text. The context menu changes automatically depending on what is selected. For instance, if an ISBN is selected, the context menu will offer the option to search directly using that specific identifier. LibX provides quick and direct access to articles and other electronic resources through an institution's OpenURL resolver. With LibX, users can select article references found on any web page and with a few mouse clicks retrieve an accessible copy of the article being cited.

LibX customizes the web for the user by embedding "cues" into web pages the user visits. These cues alert the user to library resources that are related to the content of the page. For instance, a cue on a book review page can link directly to the library catalog entry for the book being discussed. LibX also integrates emergent technologies such as COinS (ContextObject in Span) that embed citation metadata in HTML. LibX is available for use by other libraries outside of Virginia Tech under an open source license. Customizing LibX can be as simple as modifying a configuration file and adding a library's logo. This presentation will give an overview of LibX, briefly demonstrate LibX's features and explain the underlying technology used. We will also show an example of how to customize LibX. Finally, we will present future plans for LibX.

Tim Spalding, Founder, LibraryThing

"LibraryThing: Social Cataloging and “Biblio-Social” Networking"

Abstract: LibraryThing began as a simple way for people to catalog their personal libraries. Because LibraryThing is a website, not a desktop application, it has grown into a whole new thing entirely, connecting thousands of readers to each other and to other books they might be interested in. At LibraryThing "everyone is a librarian," at least in a sense. Sometimes dismissed as "MySpace for nerds," there's a number of intellectually interesting things going on with this ecosystem of books and readers. In my talk I will examine the concepts of tagging, social cataloging and social networking through books. I will show how LibraryThing might be deployed within an OPAC, to increase findability, user interaction and simple interest through tags, user reviews and algorithmic ranking and suggestions. And I will speculate on what LibraryThing can mean for the future of libraries and reading in general.