| Evaluating Web Resources
Karen J. Dunn The World Wide Web promotes a remarkable democratization of information; anyone can publish, on-line, manifestos on all things real and imagined. In this burgeoning medium, how do researchers winnow the kernels of truth from the chaff in cyberspace? Information professionals grapple with a definition of quality web resources. While no one but the researcher will ultimately determine the quality of a web resource for his/her purpose, the following guidelines may help. According to librarians and subject specialists from the Internet Scout Project team at UW Madison, the selection of web resources requires a consideration of the web-sites' content, authority, maintenance, design, availability, and cost to the user. Ideally, in order to serve our intellectual endeavors, a web-site should be content-rich, created by a reliable source for that information, easily and clearly navigable, frequently updated, and available at little or no cost to the user. In a medium that supports and often encourages ephemeral information, the usefulness of the World Wide Web for research requires a healthy skepticism. By utilizing a short list of selection criteria, you and your students can more confidently infuse research with high quality electronic resources. For additional information, please consult the following list of web documents. Original source for the web documents listed below: The Internet Scout Project, Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin. http://www.scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/ Criteria for Evaluation of Internet Information Resources, by Alistair Smith, Department of Library and Information Studies, Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/index.htm Information Quality-Catalogue of Potent Truisms, Edited by Dr. T. Matthew Ciolek http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/QltyPages/QltyTruisms.html Evaluating Web Resources, by Jan Alexander and Marsha Tate, Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University (Chester, Pennsylvania). http://www.science.widener.edu/~withers/webeval.htm Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources, by Esther Grassian, UCLA College Library http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/instruct/web/critical.htm 21st Century Library System UW System has completed negotiations with Endeavor Information Systems on a final contract to provide a new library and information access system for all UW libraries. The Endeavor system, called Voyager, was selected after a two-year process coordinated by a System-wide Library Automation Task Force. I served as a member of the task force. In addition, Barbara Fahey and Pat Wilkinson from Polk Library served on special teams evaluating the vendors who bid on an RFP. When fully implemented, Voyager will bring significantly expanded access and resource sharing capabilities to UW faculty, staff, and students. Users will be able to search the combined holdings of all the UW libraries in a single search and to request that available materials be sent to them. Voyager incorporates leading technology based on multi-tier client/server architecture utilizing the Oracle relational database management system. Access will be via the World Wide Web. Voyager is used by many, major academic libraries and recently has been selected by the University of Georgia System and the Library of Congress. A tentative implementation schedule for the UW libraries has been identified. Polk Library will begin the migration from KeyNOTIS (the library's current on-line catalog) to Voyager in Summer 1999, with full implementation of the new system in January 2000. As Polk Library approaches implementation, a training schedule for faculty and students will be developed and publicized. Future articles in Polk Library News will describe further developments as the library implements this improvement in library service. Library Lab Will Support PeopleSoft Training UW Oshkosh will go live with the new Student Information System from PeopleSoft in June 1999. During the six months prior to the cutover, extensive training of staff campus-wide must occur. This training will include sessions on creating the course timetable in PeopleSoft, letter generation, using Crystal to produce customized reports, departmental look-up, and Web registration. Marilyn Anderson, coordinator of training & user support, has developed an extensive training schedule. Many of these PeopleSoft training sessions will be held in the Library Hands-on Lab. The Hands-on Lab has the hardware and seating capacity to support this PeopleSoft training. While PeopleSoft training will be the Lab's highest priority, every effort will be made to make the Lab available for library instruction when not scheduled for PeopleSoft. Thus, it may be more difficult next semester to schedule a "hands-on" library instruction for your classes. Information Technology staff are working to implement a "dual" configuration that would allow the Lab to switch back and forth from PeopleSoft to library sessions without extensive technical help. Dissertations: The Old Way or the Fast Way You find a dissertation that you need to see and Polk Library does not have it in its collection. Now, you have several, new options for obtaining it. Traditional Interlibrary Loan can still be used to request dissertations. Some dissertations are not available for loan, but many are. They may be received in hard copy or in microform. They may come free of charge, or you may be asked to pay a loan fee of anywhere from $10 to $25. Dissertations usually arrive within 2 weeks, but could take longer. The loan period is set by the lending library, and is usually 2-4 weeks. Frequently, borrowed dissertations may not be renewed. If speed is important, dissertations are also available for purchase. First, the Interlibrary Loan staff can place an order for you and get an unbound, shrink-wrapped dissertation for $24.50 within 2-4 days of ordering. Second, faculty, staff and students can also order and purchase dissertations directly using a credit card. After searching Dissertation Abstracts and finding the UMI Publication number, simply go to the UMI web site at: http://www.umi.com/hp/Support/DServices/order/ for academic prices and ordering information. The least expensive hard copy is currently $29.50. Dissertations can be ordered on-line, or by using a toll-free telephone number. Delivery should be within 4 days for an unbound copy. Third, another option available for some dissertations is to order and download a digital copy. There are currently about 85,000 documents, published in 1997 and 1998, available in electronic format. Go to the web page: http://www.lib.umi.com/cresearch/main and pursue the Digital Dissertations link for searching and ordering information. Available dissertations can be purchased and downloaded immediately. Cost for a digital dissertation is currently $19.50. If all this information about dissertations intrigues (or confuses) you, please call Erin Czech in the Interlibrary Loan office (424-3348) for more details. Circulation FAQ's Q. Where are the two outside book returns and when are they open? A. Look for red "book return" signs, one on the mall side of the entrance and one on the Elmwood side of the building in the courtyard area. Both book returns are open 24 hours a day, every day. Q. Are library materials ever due during holiday and spring breaks? A. Due dates fall on days the library is open. A library book would not be due on Thanksgiving because the library is closed on Thanksgiving. It could be due on the day after Thanksgiving, though, because the library is open the day after Thanksgiving. Schedules are posted in six outside glass cases, on the Library web page, on the Library voicemail phone number 424-3320, and can be picked up all service desks in the Library. Q. Where is the fine schedule posted? A. Fines schedules are posted right on the checkout terminals, on the Library web page, and in the User Privileges and Responsibilities brochure. Fines have not changed since a comparative university study was done by a committee in 1993. In Fall 1995, a Fines and Fees Appeals Committee of university representatives from the three governance groups, Faculty, Staff and Students, started meeting to read/hear individual appeals. Appeal forms are at the Circulation service desk and on the Library web page. Q. How can anyone make a suggestion to the Library administration? A. One way is to use the suggestion box located in the first floor main lobby. Next to it is a display case where suggestions and library responses are posted. Polk Library Brings "Documents to the People" On the third floor of Polk Library, there is a special collection of materials commonly referred to as "Government Documents." Although many people are unaware of this area, it is open to all and contains a wealth of valuable information. Students, faculty, staff and community users are often pleasantly surprised when they find the key information for their research in this area of the library. Faculty send their students to this area to complete special assignments related to the census, law, health, political issues and numerous other topics of study. Much of the information in this area consists of research and reports compiled by government researchers and academic experts. The Government Documents Division specializes in collecting information from the Federal government through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and also from the State of Wisconsin through the Wisconsin Depository Program. The library also collects materials from the United Nations and other international organizations. Much of the material located in this area is accessible through the library's on-line catalog. Material not available through the library's catalog or located on web sites can be accessed with the assistance of staff in the Government Documents Division. The largest collection of materials in government documents is the federal documents collection. The motto of the federal depository program is "Documents to the people" which means free and unfettered access to all government information that is not classified for security reasons. The backbone of a free and democratic society is its members' ability to access information about and by the government -- to get information into the free market place of ideas. The United States Government is the largest publisher in the world. Much of that published information is available at Polk library. As a selective depository, Polk Library does not receive everything distributed by the Government Printing Office (GPO). The staff in government documents selects those series of government publications that are most useful for the UW Oshkosh community. Materials are received in many different formats including maps, charts, microfiche, posters, pamphlets, books, CD-ROMS, videos and DVD-ROM. During the past decade, government agencies and the GPO have moved toward providing more electronic access to government information. Many documents are now available on CD-ROM and are also accessible from the World Wide Web. The web site for Polk Library's Government Documents Division is accessible from the library's home page or can be accessed directly at: http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/llr/depts/docs/gov.html Government Documents is staffed by the Acting Head of Government Documents- Mike Watkins, Library Services Assistant-Dru Kraft and student assistants. Other public service librarians such as Joshua Ranger, Jeanne Foley, and Pat Wilkinson assist the full-time staff in providing evening and weekend reference help in the area. The normal hours for the area when classes are in session are: Monday - Thursday 7:45 am - 10 pm; Friday 7:45 am - 4:30 pm; Saturdays 1 pm - 5 pm; Sundays 1:30 pm - 10 pm. The area has shorter hours during interims and holiday periods. The phone number for the area is 424-3347. People Karen Dunn began her duties as reference librarian on September 21. Karen recently received a M.L.S. from UW Madison's School of Library and Information Studies. While in Madison, she worked as a reference assistant in the Primate Center Library at the Regional Primate Research Center. Paulette Feld, technical services technician and reference assistant, will be serving as President of the American Library Association Support Staff Interests Roundtable through June 1999. The primary project of the group this year is to investigate and develop a plan to address issues of concern among library assistants and technicians throughout the United States. Sara Stichert, media services assistant, is Secretary/Treasurer of the group for the next two years. Sarah Neises, reference librarian, gave a workshop in October on It's Elementary! How the Internet Can Help Early Childhood Educators at UW Oshkosh's 29th Annual Early Childhood Conference. Sarah also created a web page for Wisconsin's Legislative Council Special Committee on School Discipline and Safety. Roberta Stuemke, periodicals/stacks manager, gave a presentation on stacks management at UW Madison's School of Library and Information Studies' continuing education seminar on Back in Circulation Again: The Biennial Conference for Circulation Supervisors and Staff held November 12 & 13. Her presentation was based on a well-received article that recently appeared in an electronic journal for library support staff. In October, Patrick Wilkinson, assistant library director for public services, spoke at the Annual Conference of the Wisconsin Library Association in Lake Geneva. Who Pays at Polk Library, described how and why the library provides convenient, high quality printing for library electronic resources to UW Oshkosh community. Susan Wood, reference assistant, has been working the evening shift at the reference desk for the past year. Susan brings exceptional qualifications and background to her duties. She has a law degree from the University of Minnesota and a library degree from C.W. Post, Long Island University. Susan has 30 years of interesting and varied library experience ranging from cataloger at the University of Libya to senior librarian at the Marcy Correctional Facility in New York State. Patrick
Wilkinson, Editor |