Resource Discovery tools for VLEs
1
Presenter: Eddie Clarke, Learning Development, Staffordshire University
DICE project http://www.staffs.ac.uk/COSE/DICE
e.a.clarke@staffs.ac.uk
Presentation attempts to address the following questions:
1. What are resource discovery tools and why are they useful?
2. What kind of resources are available / can be discovered?
3. What resource discovery tools? (Google Scholar, Other commercial and Open
. Source solutions and services)?
4. How is this relevant for Moodle (or any VLE) users / practitioners?
5. Are such tools useful beyond simple resource discovery (e.g. in saving and
. searching of results)?
6. Why am I telling you all this? (bigger picture / evaluation)
April 2005
Resource Discovery tools for VLEs
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1. What are resource discovery tools and why are they useful?
‘What are ..’ - electronic, often web based, means to identify (poss. acquire)
. resources relevant to learning. maybe best illustrated / answered by next .
. question
Any project / study requires some appreciation of the existing knowledge base
There are advantages and disadvantages in using the web compared with
. traditional means
(pressures on libraries / budgets with expansion of
. knowledge base)
. And how are the tools different (from each other)
They might be different in lots of ways, but one consideration relates to open .
source or freely available services v commercial systems ( and e.g. how OS . .
tools can be adapted to provide bespoke features)
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Resource Discovery tools for VLEs
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2. What kind of resources are available / can be discovered?
Tools can be configured to search different targets or multiple targets or even
the whole web. Note: not all resources (‘results’) can be accessed via the web
**
- Physical resources (Books, CDs, Journal )
Title / Author / Journal (and other limited metadata / descriptors. Shelf
Nnumber? Depending on system and protocol used in sending search query)
.
Abstracts // Full Text // E-resources // multimedia
But with standard protocols ( e.g. z39.50) searches can be conducted across a
wide range of targets c.f. OPAC
Most tools are easy to use, or at least have a simple interface
** But useful to know they exist nevertheless, even if one doesn’t order via inter-library loan
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Resource Discovery tools for VLEs
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3. What resource discovery tools? (Google Scholar, Other commercial and open
. source solutions)?
Commercial solutions (may include link resolvers) are expensive (Staffs Uni are
investing in a solution from Metalib / SFX ).
You can test / access (affordable solutions) e.g. d plus demonstrator
(Devil project) at http://tweed.lib.ed.ac.uk:8080/webct/search.jsp
Or through our uPortal installation
http://193.60.1.153:8080/uPortal/
or separately via
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/COSE/DICE
http://scholar.google.com/
and
http://www.edina.ac.uk/getref
if you are really keen. you need an Athens account to use the GetRef service.
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Resource Discovery tools for VLEs
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4. How is this relevant for Moodle (or any VLE) users / practitioners?
Adds value to the system. Discovery tools can be embedded as other tools or
accessed simply via a hyperlink ..
but be conscious of what embedded might mean ( ? the saving and searching
of results)
Work on embedding resource discovery tools in Moodle (or other VLEs)
Staffs Moodle installation w edinburgh demo ( http://193.60.1.95/moodle/ )
Credit: Phil Barker, Santiago Chumbe @ ICBL, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
See link http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/~santiago/elf.html
Bolton’s WebCT http://elearning.bolton.ac.uk (my account)
and Boon Low’s discovery + http://devil.lib.ed.ac.uk:8080/dplus/
includes ref to webCT widget
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Resource Discovery tools for VLEs
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5. Are such tools useful beyond simple resource discovery (e.g. in saving and
. searching of results)?
Results can be saved in different formats. Sent by email or saved to local drive.
Standards may apply to these formats. Results may be in XML (for data
independence, first step toward interoperability*)
Metadata is a big turn off for most people – need to shield users from
complexity by using simple free text search, but also to educate users in
appropriate use of metadata – because it is the only (systematic) means to
differentiate quality of information (results)
Searching for results saved to a system is a big job (!) – we are looking into
using Google mini search engine
* Metadata standards may apply and there are new specifications for Reading Lists. Also relevant here
is work from another recent JISC project we have been engaged in SURF X4L, looking at content
exchange and how content interoperability may be achieved or not !
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Resource Discovery tools for VLEs
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6. Why am I telling you all this? (bigger picture / evaluation)
Web Services - Resource discovery tools are just one of a host of web services*
which could be plugged into your VLE (or other VLEs **)
Service oriented architectures – the next generation Web (Berners-Lee)
** available soon
** we have a particuilar interest in plugging into COSE VLE, another aspect of DICE project
Evaluation of D+ toolkit – why we are interested in views from the FE sector
(Our experience working with Shrewsbury College and Stoke College within
SURF. Universities likely to opt for more sophistcated commercial solutions
Funding available: £3000 ~ £50 per tutor / learning technologist
~ 2 hours work.
For students ~ £30.
April 2005
Resource Discovery tools for VLEs
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Presenter: Eddie Clarke, Learning Development, Staffordshire University
DICE project http://www.staffs.ac.uk/COSE/DICE
e.a.clarke@staffs.ac.uk
Specific evaluation questions / use cases identified (PB @ HW)
Please focus replies on the d plus toolkit and scholar but look at the getref
service if only for 20 – 30 minutes (say so if you cannot access).
1. are resource discovery tools useful esp. embedded in VLE ?
2. are such tools useful in saving / searching for saved results ?
3. what are the best / worst features of those you have seen / have
. experience of ?
4. issues relating to metadata / descriptors can mostly be made transparent
. to the user. would this be nevertheless be a problem for you ?
April 2005
Resource Discovery tools for VLEs
8
Presenter: Eddie Clarke, Learning Development, Staffordshire University
DICE project http://www.staffs.ac.uk/COSE/DICE
e.a.clarke@staffs.ac.uk
We addressed the following questions:
1. What are resource discovery tools and why are they useful?
2. What kind of resources are available / can be discovered?
RATIONALE
3. What resource discovery tools? (Google Scholar, Other commercial and open
. source solutions)?
DEMOS
4. How is this relevant for Moodle (or any VLE) users / practitioners? EXEMPLAR
5. Are such tools useful beyond simple resource discovery (e.g. in saving and
. searching of results)?
TOOLS PLUS
6. Why am I telling you all this? (bigger picture / evaluation)
HOW YOU CAN HELP / FOLLOW UP
April 2005