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This page consists of several parts. We consider first a range of issues
surrounding Internet and therefore Web cataloging. These include libraries
and diverse user populations, technical
issues, equity issues, social issues,
and legal issues.
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Consider the social and information roles of libraries.
Has or will access to the Internet help redefine that role? |
Designing Web collections or Web catalogs, librarians and other information
access providers must continue to follow collection development guidelines.
These guidelines may be even more broadly applied in the Web environment
than in the traditional one. Consider the following: User populations,
quality maintenance, and value added through content.
What is the social role of the library? By definition, a library is an information depository. What kind of information is deposited by whom for how long are philosophical, political, economic, and policy decisions for us all and for libraries individually.
In the United States we have multiple library philosophies. We tend to confuse libraries in general as public libraries. But we are all aware that there are many other kinds of libraries that provide many different kinds of services for different populations. These include academic libraries, special libraries, archives, records management, K-12 school media centers, and so on. Each has its own constituency and its own collection and information dissemination and service requirements. Even in a culture, like the United States where we uphold the tradition of public libraries, the public library is only one among many.
Is a public library "public"? The answer to that depends in part by what you mean by "public"? Most public libraries are funded by public funds, that is, money from government. But few public libraries are funded wholly by public funds. Almost all seek philanthropic donations (private money) ranging from time and services from friends of the library organizations to bequests.
Who may have access to all public library services? First, most public libraries receive the bulk of their public funds from local governments -- cities or counties. Likewise, most public libraries limit the full access to their services to residents of those cities or counties.
What is the point. Just because a library is on the Web or of the Web, is it required to serve everyone with access to the Web? Just as no library serves everyone, there is no compelling requirement that Web libraries do so either. Web libraries should define their user groups and catalog and index accordingly. I have already asked you to read Colomb's paper on the need for multiple indexes for the Web. I would suggest that the Colomb argument is specific enough to mean that libraries should provide sufficient diversity of cataloging and indexing to meet the needs of their target audiences.
There are also a number of access issues that relate to libraries and
their intended user populations. These fall into four general classes:
technical, social, equity, and legal.
Technical issues include but are not limited to the development
of Web sites (or parallel Web sites} that do not require high end hardware
and software or high end computer skills to use. Many of us lack
the computing or Internet access to effectively use high bandwidth applications.
Many of us are also still struggling with how to open much less respond
to email. If our user populations includes people with low end capabilities,
we must build to it. There are a number of standards that have been suggested.
Perhaps one of the more ubiquitous is that no single Web page should download
any slower than 12 seconds with a 28.8 connection. Is 28.8 too low end,
not low end enough for some users? What about twelve seconds? Consider
the user implications of frames, multimedia, flash, Java, and so on.
How many amber monitors are still is use? By your user population?
Keep in mind as you consider these issues that the some of of the social (and included in these, political and economic) impacts are non-zero sum. But some are not -- some are zero sum. In a zero-sum situation, when one person gains the other loses and in an equal amount (I gain 1 you lose 1, the sum of the transaction is +1 -1 or zero). In a non-zero sum situation, all sides to a transaction may gain, lose, or gain and lose but in disproportionate amounts.
The Web will probably change the way we do many things. You are taking this course on-line in a format that was impossible not long ago. Remember however, that this is not a new concept. It is a variation on education by correspondence, a time tested and true delivery method.
One of the great criticisms of the Web is that it is a conduit for pornography. The walls of Pompeii are covered with images with strong sexual content. Two things to remember. First pornography has been with us ever since someone pulled a piece of charcoal from the fire and began scribbling on the walls of the cave. And second, what is salacious to one person is boring to another. A corollary to that: styles change. At the turn of the last century (when 1899 became 1900) men found the sight of a well turned ankle to be stimulating. Today, it takes a bit more than that foot. In any event, in overturning the Communications Decency Act, the US Supreme Court argued inter alia in Reno v. ACLU (1997) that "The Web is thus comparable, from the readers' viewpoint, to both a vast library including millions of readily available and indexed publications and a sprawling mall offering goods and services." Web content is protected content.
Other cultures have different ideas of what is acceptable content and
what is not. The Thais are a very tolerant people when it comes to most
things cultural. Recently the film remake Anna and the King was
banned in Bangkok just as was its predecessor Anna and the King of Siam.
These films were banned not because they are replete with sexual content,
not a big concern in Thailand. They were banned because they are seen to
malign the Royal Family.
These issues are related to but not the same as the copyright issues that result from the Web. One seeks to ensure access while the other addresses protection of intellectual property rights. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (PL105-304) is one effort to resolve those questions, but some would argue that it raises more questions than it answers. A copy of the DMCA is available at http://www.dfc.org/assets/images/2281enrolled.pdf. A summary prepared by the US Copyright Office can be found at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf
The DMCA of 1998 has real effect if only because there is so much uncertainty about it. Some of the content of this course, for example, is effected by intellectual property provisions. I have sought and received permission to include certain graphics and logos. I have not included other things. What does this mean for the on-line cataloger. Do you have the legal right to describe someone else's intellectual property? Do you have a legal right to provide a hypertext link to that property. Perhaps there is no question about description. The answer is not quite so certain for linking. Precedent seems to indicate that at least for educational purposes it is legitimate to provide a hypertext link to the work of others so long as the provenance of the work remains distinct. That is to say, so long as the work linked to is identified as the intellectual property of another and is properly acknowledged, this is the "footnote" function of hypertext. If the use of the intellectual property of others is made to appear to be an integral part of another work or owned by others, this use is not acceptable.
All that said, the issue is not fully resolved and may not be for some
time. In the meantime, take care and acknowledge the work of others. For
a related paper, see Laura N. Gasaway, "Distance Learning and Copyright:
Is a Solution in Sight?" CAUSE/EFFECT journal, 22 3 1999,
available: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/html/cem9932.html