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Hesburgh Library > DAIAD > Annual Report 2002-2003

DAIAD Annual Report 2002-2003

This text first summarizes the activities of the Digital Access and Information Architecture Department (DAIAD) from July 2002 to July 2003.

Activities

  • Created and demonstrated a recent acquisitions service- Based on the results of the focus group interviews the Department began implementing a "virtual new book shelf" allowing people to browse recently acquired items as well as to create targeted searches against lists of new items. Future directions will include expanding the service to bring in other content via the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting.
  • Created BIC concordances- After the BIC transcribed a number of focus group interviews with their faculty, the Department created concordances of these transcriptions and mounted them on the Web.
  • Explored approval forms- Many of the Libraries' departments use approval plans for the purchasing of books. This process was closely examined by the Department to determine how it may be more automated. A well-defined plan could not be agreed upon and a new books services was explored instead.
  • Explored content management- In conjunction with the University's Web Development Office, the Department as well as a number of people throughout the Libraries investigated the usefulness of a content management system. In the end, the system seemed to create more problems than it solved. In a subsequent investigation, another program, Macromedia's Contribute seemed like a much better solution.
  • Finished Focus Group Report- After extensively sharing the results of the Department's Focus Group Study verbally, the written report was finalized and made available on the Web.
  • Helped create instruction module- In conjunction with the Reference Department, Elaine Savely helped implement a Web-based multimedia application intended to help instruct students how to use and evaluate information resources.
  • Helped Screen Design do a number of usability tests- The process of usability testing was embraced by a number of departments and groups across the Libraries, and the Department assisted these people when they wanted to do usability tests. Overall, the participants thought the tests were well worth their time.
  • Hired Senior Programmer Analyst- The Department hired Rob Fox to help with the Department's programming and systems administration needs.
  • Hosted Librarian in Residence- Jessica Kayongo worked in the Department for three months. During this time she facilitated quite a number of usability studies and authored a citation analysis study. The usability studies helped us improve our "new books" services, and the citation analysis provided some insight on how the Libraries' collections are being used.
  • Installed ClioWeb- A Web-based interlibrary loan application allowing patrons to determine the status of their requests was implemented and modified by the Department in conjunction with the Interlibrary Loan Department and DCNS.
  • Learned XML- In an effort to become more familiar with XML, a number of structured classes were conducted in the Department and attended by members of E-Resources as well as the engineering library. Topics included XML syntax, document type definitions, cascading stylesheets, and extensible stylesheet language transformations.
  • Made MyLibrary an open source project at Notre Dame- After a year in limbo, the MyLibrary@NCState open source software project became simply MyLibrary, and the University Libraries of Notre Dame became the institution hosting the system.
  • Maintained E-Journal Locator- As new data arrived from Serials Solutions (about once a month), the Department indexed and mounted HTML files representing this data on the library's website.
  • Maintained Gateway- As SOER articulated refinements to the library's subject oriented gateway, the Department, mostly through Tom Lehman implemented these refinements throughout the year
  • Maintained Libraries' website- As people throughout the Libraries requested improvements to their individual subsites, the Department, mostly through Elaine Savely, implemented these improvements. One of the more significant improvements was the creation of a set of human resource pages.
  • Participated in NSF grant proposal- Along with Emory University, Arizona University, and Virginia Tech, the University Libraries put its name on a grant proposal to explore the feasibility of more widely disseminating the data and information stored in various NSF digital library systems.
  • Re-installed ETD- The Electronic Theses and Dissertations project was moved to a production host in anticipation of use by the Graduate School.
  • Refined mission, goals, and objectives- The Department's mission was rearticulated -- the Department helps the Libraries provide digital library services and digital library collections. This change reflects the purpose of the Department considering last year's experience and evolving needs of the Libraries.
  • Sponsored visit by Ed Summers- Mr. Summers visited the Department for two days to educate us on the advantages and disadvantages of object oriented programming techniques in Perl.
  • Sponsored visit by Lou Rosenfeld- In an effort to learn more about information architecture, Lou Rosenfeld visited the Libraries for a day as a consultant. During his visit the Department identified a number of short-term priorities for the Libraries' website as well as a number of longer term tasks.
  • Started ambassador program with LSD- In an effort to improve communications between the Department and LSD, staff members rotated between staff meetings to share current events.
  • Started exploring the use of database-driven website- A group consisting of the Department plus eight other librarians was created to explore the possibilities of using the MyLibrary system to create and maintain a database-driven website. The group has given itself until October 15 to determine whether or not the system solves more problems than it creates. This exploration also includes examining ways of syndicating our content in a campus-wide portal application.
  • Started Information Architecture bibliography- The Department systematically read and reviewed a number of articles about information architecture and usability. This process manifested itself as a online bibliography mounted on the Department's website.
  • Started Library Web Advisory Group- Increased communication about the usefulness of the Libraries' website is the goal of creating a Libraries Web Advisory Group. As of this writing the group is in the very beginnings of formulation.
  • Started migrating Special Collections- In conjunction with LSD, the Department began the process of institutionalizing the various digital services, systems, and collections of the Special Collections Department as well as taking over the maintenance of the system given the departure of one of their staff. Additionally, we began a process to institutionalize a number of Special Collections digital collections such as the OVA and the Ambrosiana Collections.
  • Started systematic log file analysis- Rob Fox consulted with many library faculty and staff asking them about their Web server log file analysis needs. He then implemented a systematic way of extracting the library's log file data from the University's data and created sets of individualized reports for people who desired them.
  • Started work on automating the Aleph link checking process- Many URL's are embedded in the catalog, and we have begun a process regularly check these links in order to keep them up-to-date.

Date created: 2003-07-15
Date updated: 2003-07-15
URL: http://www.library.nd.edu/daiad/annual-report-2002/

 

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