OCLC Research
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Days of Future Past
TechConnections 7
13 June 2006
Dublin, OH
Eric Childress
OCLC Research
OCLC Research
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Outline
 Big Picture
 Libraryscape
 Selected Work
 FRBR
 Loosely-coupled applications
 Ajax
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OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Big Picture
“You look around you.
Things they astound you.”
Dawn: Dawn Is A feeling – The Moody Blues
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Pattern Recognition
 Portable
 Info devices, Net everywhere
 Personalized
 My way, Right now
 Public
 Sharing & Surfacing
 Property
 Permission-needed vs. Permission-granted
 Pluggable
 Think small, Play nice
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Data Rules

Deep indexing:
 Amazon’s “Search Inside” and “Statistically Improbable
Phrases”
 Google, Yahoo, Microsoft underwriting library digitization work
 Library space: NetLibrary & many others indexing content
 Custom search feeds: Google Alerts, News topic RSS, etc.

Recommendation systems:
 Amazon, Apple iTunes, other retailers – “people like you
chose…”
 Novel concepts: Pandora – suggests music based on intrinsic
patterns of music you like (the “music genome”)
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Techscape

Web 2.0:
 The Network spans all attached devices (e.g., iPods, phones,
etc.)
 Software resides on the Net, not the workstation
 “Participative Net” – social environment, shared content
reused

System refactoring
 Modularity (micro-services, remixing, multiple sources)
 Layering (loosely-coupled systems)
 Interoperability (low-friction, high reuse)
 Lightweight protocols gaining favor (e.g., SRW/SRU, microformats)
 Machine-oriented services (web services)
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Libraryscape
“Yesterday's dreams,
Are tomorrow's sighs.”
The Morning: Another Morning – The Moody Blues
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Libraries - next phase

Surfacing seamlessly

Point-of-need delivery (e.g., library content in non-library apps such as
the Web, course management systems, etc.)



Open WorldCat, RedLightGreen, OAIster, etc.
Open standards, easy integration of data from many sources
Re-thinking, re-engineering


Library 2.0 changes systems & services

Moving towards “Lego”-like modularity in systems & data

User-tasks-oriented designs (e.g., NCSU catalog)

Adding means for users to contribute, shape their own experiences
Supporting Library 2.0 will mean changing organizations & operations

More building space for people-to-people interaction, less for books

Process & operational changes

Example: Choose-acquire-catalog vs. Acquire-choose-catalog
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Library Systems
Workplace applications - points of need
Mobilize
Specialize
• Local service
• Local added value
• Local context
• Local knowledge
Synthesize
Atomic Library Services
Atomic ‘non-Library’ Services
Robin Murray [ppt]
Mobilize - to put into action
Specialize - involve specific
knowledge in order to serve a
particular purpose; to apply or
direct to specific end or use.
Synthesize - to combine often
diverse conceptions into a
coherent whole.
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Visioning activities anew
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Selected Work
“Dawn is a feeling.”
Dawn: Dawn Is A feeling – The Moody Blues
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Technology to watch
 Model:
 FRBR (Functional Requirements of Bibliographic
Records)
 Approach:
 Loosely-coupled applications
 AJAX
OCLC Research
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
“The FRBR model is revolutionary. The
(computer) catalogue is not seen as a
sequence of bibliographic records and a
replica of the traditional card catalogue,
but rather as a network of connected
data, enabling the user to perform
seamlessly all the necessary functions.”
-Dr. Maja Žumer. National and University Library,
Ljubljana, Slovenia
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OCLC Online Computer Library Center
FRBR basics
 FRBR = Functional Requirements for Bibliographic
Records
 Developed by cataloging experts working under the
auspices of IFLA (International Federation of Library
Associations and Institutions)
 FRBR is from a document issued by IFLA:
 Functional Requirements For Bibliographic Records:
Final Report (1998)
 FRBR is a conceptual model (not a standard!)
 FRBR systematically models the bibliographic universe
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FRBR Group 1 Entities
Work
Is realized
through
Expression
A distinct intellectual or
artistic creation
The intellectual or
artistic realization
of a work
Is embodied in
Manifestation
Is
exemplified by
Item
The physical
embodiment of an
expression
A single
exemplar of a
manifestation
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OCLC FRBR work set algorithm-based
cluster of related WorldCat records
Original
English
Translation
e¹
Illustrated
edition
e²
Abridged
edition
e³
Adaptation
e¹
Expressions
Work¹
Work²
Works in
Works with
between 2 and 5 manifestations:
12%
Works with > 5 manifestations:
1%
WorldCat
Manifestations
By Holdings
Works with > 5 manifestations:
17% of total holdings
Works with 1 manifestation:
87%
Works with
between 2 and 5
manifestations:
40% of total holdings
Works with 1 manifestation:
43% of total holdings
OCLC Research
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Sample FRBR implementations
OCLC Research
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
xISBN
OCLC Research prototype
Reveals all ISBNs
associated with individual
works in WorldCat
Web service:
 URL syntax query (submit
an ISBN)
 Simple XML response (all
ISBNs in workset)
 Ex: Dune
http://labs.oclc.org/xisbn/0
441172717
Users:
 Various, loosely-coupled
look-it-up applications
 Copyright Clearance
Center
OCLC Research team:
 Thom Hickey (lead)
 Jenny Toves
 Jeff Young
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OCLC Online Computer Library Center
FictionFinder
OCLC Research prototype
Supports searching &
browsing of fiction materials
cataloged in WorldCat
OCLC Research team:

Diane Vizine-Goetz (lead)

Roger Thompson

Fiction records — 2.8 million

Carol Hickey

Unique works — 1.4 million

J.D. Shipengrover

Total holdings — 130 million
Employs FRBR to:

Build a “work” view & cluster
related records

Support the creation of
special indexes
New version:

Available later in 2006

Improved navigation & workbased displays
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Sample loosely-coupled application
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Terminology Services Project
OCLC Research prototype
Explores Semantic Web value
of vocabularies

Enriched versions of
controlled vocabularies &
classification schemes

Multiple formats (MARCXML,
SKOS, Zthes)

Machine-friendly (e.g., web
services)
Nascent work on vocabulary
identifier issues
Product version out mid2006
OCLC Research team:
 Diane Vizine-Goetz (lead)
 Carol Hickey
 Andrew Houghton
 Tram Nguyen-Pham
 Roger Thompson
Storage Technology Layer
Full Text
SQL
Terminology
Services
Architecture
XML
3
SRW/U
REST
SOAP
Microsoft Office Research Pane
Application Protocol Layer
Web
Service
Proxy
2
•Registration
•Query handling
•Markup translation
•Authorization/Authentication
1
Browser
Sidebar
Metadata Editing Application
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Sample AJAX implementation
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OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Ajax
Stands in for “Asynchronous
JavaScript+CSS+DOM+XMLHtt
pRequest”
Eliminates the start-stopstart-stop nature of interaction
on the Web by introducing an
intermediary — an Ajax engine
— between the user and the
server
Being used extensively by
Google, adopted by others
Technolgies used together:
standards-based presentation
using XHTML and CSS
dynamic display and
interaction using the Document
Object Model
data interchange and
manipulation using XML and
XSLT
asynchronous data retrieval
using XMLHttpRequest
and JavaScript binding
everything together.
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Ajax
“Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications” / Jesse James Garrett
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Live Search
OCLC Research prototype
Features:



Quick searches target with
each additional keystroke of
search term/phrase
Retrieves ordered, FRBRinspired results (combined
with holdings-based ranking)
Narrow-by Dewey attributes
(expressed as captions)
OCLC Research Team:
 Thom Hickey (lead)
 Jenny Toves
 Ralph LeVan
Files being prototyped:
 Phoenix Public+DDC
 LCSH
Narrow by natural facets (“categories”) of any given result set
item data drawn from Phoenix Public’s OPAC
OCLC Research
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Further reading
 OCLC Reports
 http://www.oclc.org/reports
 OCLC Research
 http://www.oclc.org/research
 OCLC-related blogs:
 Lorcan Dempsey http://orweblog.oclc.org
 Thom Hickey http://outgoing.typepad.com/outgoing
 Stu Weibel http://weibel-lines.typepad.com
 It’s All Good http://scanblog.blogspot.com