Special & Rare On A Stick

Holmes at the University of Minnesota

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:11:00 +0000

We have a great relationship with the Libraries Communication office and the University Relations office. U Relations just posted two video stories about the Holmes Collections. The first piece gives you a nice overview and features appearances by Professor Gordon Hirsch from the English department and Dick Sveum, president of the Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections.

The second piece focuses on a few of the treasures from the Collections, notably the Beeton's Christmas Annual and a manuscript leaf from the Hound of the Baskervilles.

My sincere thanks to the folks from University Relations--Drew Swain, Ryan Mathre and Liz Giorgi--for all their help in promoting the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University. And my thanks as well to Professor Hirsch, Dick Sveum and Marlo Welshons from the Libraries Communication office. We had a lot of fun with the interviews! I hope you enjoy them!

Follow-up on Holmes Story in the Strib

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:13:00 +0000

I found it interesting that the Star Tribune decided to use photos from its own morgue instead of the photos provided by the AP for the Holmes story. I don't know what was behind that decision, but it did lead to an erroneous caption for one of the pictures. The caption reads: "Sherlockiana at the University of Minnesota's Wilson Library (emphasis mine) includes an 1887 copy of "A Study in Scarlet," an original draft page 24 from "The Hound of the Baskervilles," an ashtray from the Sherlock Holmes Pub in London and other items." The Holmes Collections moved out of Wilson Library in late 1999 and have resided in the Elmer L. Andersen Library ever since. Whoever does the Stribs captions didn't do their fact-checking. That, in turn, will lead people to Wilson library asking about the Holmes collections, at which point they'll be directed to Andersen Library (unless they want to see the permanent exhibit of the 221B sitting room that has resided on the 4th floor of Wilson since 2008).

At the same time, it was great to see an old picture of "Mac"--E. W. MacDiarmid in the stacks with the Holmes Collections (probably taken when the materials from the Hench Collection arrived in 1978, and probably taken when that part of the collection resided in Walter Library, on the East Bank campus). That was the first time that Mac's path crossed mine, when I was a graduate student in the Library School, taking classes on the 4th floor of Walter Library. Fond memories.

Sherlock Holmes: The Movie and the Collections

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:45:00 +0000

Just thought I'd make a brief note of a couple of items that came out from the Associated Press the other day about our Sherlock Holmes Collections. Look here if you're interested in the print version of the story and here if you want to see another AP bit on YouTube. Since this was an AP report, the story appeared in any number of papers and other media sites. At least a few of those included the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Minneapolis StarTribune, and ABC News.

I had a lot of fun doing the interviews with the AP reporter, Jeff Baenen. I'm looking forward to a couple of other pieces hitting the airwaves/net soon: a couple of pieces from our own University Relations department, and from the public radio show "Studio 360."

And, of course, there's the movie. I'm looking forward to seeing it (although I haven't found anyone yet who can get me into a sneak preview--which I'd love to do). I've been checking the trailer for some time now, noting a few subtle changes in trailer and web site along the way. Bottom line--I think its going to be a lot of fun.

It was interesting--a great word here in the upper midwest--to see that the movie has received a Golden Globe nomination, although the category is a bit jarring--best actor for Robert Downey Jr. for a musical or comedy. I'm sure the characterization of the movie as musical or comedy will come as a bit of a shock to some of the Sherlockians/Holmesians out there, who would most likely think of Holmes in terms of drama. Anyway, we shall see (and soon, I hope)...

Live: Lorcan Dempsey--Discussion and Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:47:00 +0000

the presence of social networking and possible fruitful conversations that we might have with those in the marketing world, e.g. Best Buy, Pancheros, who are using social networking as part of their marketing plan
it is good to be on the landscape, to have a good tone with those in the social network
the importance of community stewardship, e.g. things that are pushed to Flickr
the resident/visitor scenario. more data about what people are doing will help to improve services. the trade-off between privacy and convenience.
transaction costs. learning requires the expenditure of work:) don't want to get caught in the quality and convenience trap
experiences of newspapers, travel agents, bookstores. alignment of revenue models and use models. libraries will depend more on shared consolidation services

Next speaker on Dec. 17th

Live: Lorcan Dempsey--Tentative Conclusions

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:30:00 +0000

Current will move to emerging pattern

Books: a new balance?
Journals: move to consolidation?
Discovery layer: need one?
Institutional materials: disclose through discovery layer, but also...
Analytics: let traffic influence design of website

Disclose and syndicate

institutional collections: is someone responsible for search engine optimization?
holdings: syndicate (knowledge base, holdings,...)
services: Libx, widgets,...
SEO. Consistent url patterns across services, hackable urls, bookmarking buttons, etc.

This is about interoperability with the web

User and institutional leverage

expertise, reputation (provide bibliographic tools,...)
watch identity management: prepare for when manage context (usage) and claims. (affinity strings)
integration with other campus systems (course management,..)
'follow' and intervene? (Salesforce.com)

Usercentric mashups will continue to be important

Organizational

seek collaborative sourcing models
externalize infrastructure
focus on distinctive impact
place local in bigger contexts
track identity management and reputation enhacement
recognize that things have changed

Presentation end. Time for discussion and questions

Live: Lorcan Dempsey--emerging Pattern 2

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:16:00 +0000

Mendeley: 100,000 users and 8 million research papers; manage profile; manage publications; "like itunes for research papers";

VIVO at Cornell: $12mil project funded by NIH

Reputation management, social networking

Discovery scenarios:

Relationship between consumer and library: direct--added value
Between library and flow: disclosure and syndication
Between many/indirect discovery: may involve identity, locate, resolution or other services at library

The "indirect discovery" scenarios; with the second and third scenarios the discover happens elsewhere

With the second scenario we want to disclose holdings and existence

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Example of indirect discovery: Google Scholar, Google Books

Syndication via iTunes

Syndication: bookmarking and rss; pushing stuff into their flow

We now have "an ecology of services"

What does it really mean to push stuff out onto the web?

Live: Lorcan Dempsey--Network Reconfigurations

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:04:00 +0000

An "insta-mashup" i.e. Lorcan's experience with LinkedIn and the NYT; pulling stuff from NYT based on his LinkedIn profile; here's stuff you might be interested in.

Will probably see more like this

In the future, how much will we focus on "identity services" for the network that will, in turn, deliver information based on your profile.

Social services require identity

Realtime services require identity

movile services require identity.

They all want to know who you are, or who you claim to be.

Tweetdeck knows about Facebook identity. Lorcan's example, for this morning, where he went to Tweetdeck which in turn used his FB identity to authenticate his internet use with the hotel (ALoft/Minneapolis) in which he was staying

Importance of cloud computing when you're constantly changings devices; cloud and mobile are natural partners

network is the unit of attention
data aggregation
gravitational pull
networks effects
long tail

Multiscalar: personal, departmental, disciplinary, library, consortial, systemwide

bookmarking, researcher pages, deposit papers, research data

identity and federation lacking across scales

Choices: focus on distinctive local impact? Engagement? externalize infrastructure? Common requirements?

Live: Lorcan Dempsey--Collection Directions

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Stuff that comes from the outside in (old) and the stuff that comes from inside and wants to get pushed out (new)

Grid with two axes: stewardship; uniqueness

Low unique/High stewardship = newspapers, gov docs, cd & dvd, maps, scores; concentration of licensed material, small number of suppliers, 'professional services'; bought materials--move to licensed? concerns with space/usage
high unique/high stewarship = rare books, local/historical newspapers, archives, mss, these, dissertations; special to whom? distinctive?
high unique/low stewardship = ePrints, learning objects, courseware, e-portfolios, research data, prospectus, institutional website, tech reports; institutionally important, future 'special'
low unique/low stewardship = open source software, newsgroup archives, freely-accessible web resources; interest will grow

The outside in stuff: discover, deliver, disclose holdings, manage claims

The inside out stuff: disclose. Array alongside other institutions? Make sense as individual destinations?

Live: Lorcan Dempsey--Emerging Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Environments: back office/management; materials workflow; user environment; between Managment and end User Access

Workflow:

Bought/physical
Electronic/Licensed
Digital/Digitized
Special collections/Archives

Manage it-->Content-->Metadata-->Get It-->Find It

This results in a very complex environment, with legacy systems, etc.:

ILS, ERM, Repository, Special
MARC, A&I, XXX, DC, EAD
ILL/Circ, Link resolver, special
OPAC, MetaSearch,A-Z,NxtBen, Website

Website intergration that gives something wholistic/organic

U of Michigan's web site does quite a nice job of wrapping around all these services, etc.

Industry pattern that you can see emerging==end-user environment with integrated discover and the management environment that has integrated resource managment

When you put the network in there, it gets a little more complicated, but can still see this integrated environment

Live: Lorcan Dempsey--First Network Interlude

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:26:00 +0000

Here's the first "interlude" in Lorcan's talk.

Attention switch

Then: resources scarce; attention abundant
Now: attention scarce; resources abundant
this flip is important because it tells us how people think about information

Workflow switch

Then: expect workflows to be built around my service
Now: Build services around workflows

Consumer switch

Then: More investment in business/eduction environments
Now: More investment in consumer environments

People are bringing more advanced expectations. Is this driven by the attention on the consumer? What, these days, do we really mean by "being available." If a piece is found, according to OCLC, in four research libraries, is it "available" or "effectively lost?"

"In an environment of scarce attention high transaction costs equals low/no availability."

Dave White's "Visitors and Residents" in terms of a presence on the web.

Live: Lorcan Dempsey--the Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Lorcan's comments (we may also link to the UMConnect Presentation at some point):

This is the 3rd time Lorcan's been here to present
Discoverability report done by the U Libraries was done very well
How people do things, discover things and deliver things
Disclosure to the network

Numbers:

4,316,022 WorldCat holdings
575,542 UM contributed records in MNCat
2,687,888 number of holdings attached to UM contributed records
683,258 number of items held by 5 or fewer institutions
1,603,701 number of items held by 25 or fewer institutions
311 languages represented in collection
233 countries of publication represented in collection
These are the stats/numbers as of July 2009
784,796 UM owned titles in HathiTrust as of October; 20% of UM holdings
12% of these titles in less than 25 libraries
retain the 12% as local asset; the stuff held by 25-100 libraries--shared research collection, regional consolidation; stuff held by more than 100 libraries--source print delivery with network provider?

Live: Lorcan Dempsey--Wendy Lougee Intro

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:03:00 +0000

OK, I decided to "live blog" Lorcan's speech to the U Libraries. Wendy is now going through the opening and, interestingly, indicated that this talk is available not only through UMConnect to library staff unable to attend, but is being streamed to CIC colleagues as well. Given the collaborative nature of our endeavor, this is a great move to open up Lorcan's talk to a wider audience.

Wendy mentioned "Financing the Future" and wants to make sure everyone has read it. I'll come back later (if I don't have time now) and put in some other links. Here's a link from the staff wiki to today's event.

Lorcan's title slide: "discovery, delivery, disclosure"

Lorcan Dempsey on Campus

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Today marks the beginning of an interesting speaker series for the U of M Libraries. The series is described thus:

"The University Libraries have invited speakers to engage the Libraries staff in broad strategic themes that will shape the future of the University Libraries. These themes capture an arena of strategic importance to the University and to the Libraries. Through the process, we will explore directions and potential investments...."

Today's theme is "Discovery and Delivery" and the speaker is Lorcan Dempsey of OCLC. Here's the little blurb that accompanies today's theme and speaker:

The Libraries' classic roles in providing collections and information access have undergone fundamental changes in the context of new models of distributing content, new technologies and players in the discovery environment, and changing expectations for delivery among our users.

When "discovery happens elsewhere" and users expect discovery and delivery to coincide, how should libraries respond? What mechanisms should be developed to meet the needs of students and faculty?

What roles do major players (such as Google and Amazon) currently have in the overall search and discovery environment and how will these roles evolve? In the years ahead, how will the library interact with these players and their services?

What is the future role of the local library catalog? Does it exist? What should it contain? How should it be defined?

What are library staff roles in this new discovery and delivery environment? Where are the future alignments for library expertise?

We have been given a number of readings in preparation for today's presentation. These include:

* Horizon report 2009: The Horizon Project produces a yearly report identifying emerging technologies that are likely to have a large impact on learning-focussed organizations. Worth reading because it places the technological developments affecting academic libraries in the context of the key trends and challenges facing the learning institutions that they serve. Includes executive summary and a summary of the key trends reviewed.
* University of Minnesota Libraries Discoverability report executive summary (staff access only; don't know why). The Libraries' Phase 1 Discoverability report identifies key trends related to discovery and offers principles to guide decisions involving discovery. The full report also provides an analysis of usage data for the Libraries' main discovery systems.
* Mark Dahl, "Evolution of Library Discovery Systems in the Web Environment". Dahl recounts his work on a series of projects that take him beyond traditional library discovery tools. Provides an engaging narrative framework for understanding the need for new types of discovery and the development of technology to support them.
* Peter Brantley, "Architectures for Collaboration: roles and expectations for digital libraries". Former Executive Director of the DLF offers some personal views on what libraries need to do to adapt to their changing environment. A broad, high-level view of the changing responsibilities and opportunities facing libraries.
* Lorcan Dempsey, Four Sources of Metadata about Things. Our speaker, Lorcan Dempsey, delineates four kinds of metadata which libraries can use to enhance their discovery services.

And, finally, here's a little bio blurb for Lorcan Dempsey:

Lorcan Dempsey, Vice President, OCLC Programs and Research and Chief Strategist, oversees the research division and participates in planning at OCLC. He is a librarian who has worked for library and educational organizations in Ireland, England and the US. He has policy, research and service development experience, mostly in the area of networked information and digital libraries. He writes and speaks extensively, and can be followed on the web at Lorcan Dempsey's weblog and on twitter. Before moving to OCLC, Lorcan worked for JISC in the UK, overseeing national information programs and services, and before that was Director of UKOLN at the a national UK research and policy unit at the University of Bath.

I'm debating whether or not to live blog this event. We'll see.

MinnPost - Digital government records provide challenges for historical preservation

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:34:00 +0000

MinnPost - Digital government records provide challenges for historical preservation

Old Dictionaries

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:30:00 +0000

An interesting article in the New York Times Magazine by Ammon Shea on old dictionaries.

Lorcan Dempsey's weblog

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:21:00 +0000

Lorcan makes some comments on work done here at the U. The report is, most definitely, worth a look.

Lorcan Dempsey's weblog

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Harvard Acquires Updike

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:19:00 +0000

Good news for those interested in Updike.

MinnPost - Broadband connectivity is a big issue in rural and remote parts of Minnesota

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:17:00 +0000

You can't have Web 2.0 without good access to the 'Net. Here's a story that came across my desk this morning.

MinnPost - Broadband connectivity is a big issue in rural and remote parts of Minnesota

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Rare Books on front page of the MN Daily

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:05:00 +0000

A nice article that appeared in today's Daily. My thanks to Luke Feuerherm and photographer Marija Majerle for the coverage.

University’s rare book collection held deep underground

One of the nation’s most unique collections of rare books is preserved and available on campus.

Library curator Tim Johnson points out archived books Tuesday in the Elmer L. Andersen Library. Comprised of nearly 3 million volumes, the library is home to one of the world's foremost rare book collections.

Published: 10/06/2009

By Luke Feuerherm

When searching for rare art on campus, most turn to the aesthetic grandeur of the East Bank’s Weisman Art Museum. However, some of the University of Minnesota’s rarest art lies buried beneath 90 feet of shale and limestone across the Mississippi River.

Elmer L. Andersen Library is home to one of the world’s foremost rare book collections, containing 120 special collections and additional archives that make up nearly 3 million volumes in total, including Andersen’s vast personal collection.

“Our Sherlock Holmes collection is one of the largest, if not the largest in the world,” said Kris Kiesling, director of archives and special collections at the University libraries.

The volumes are held in two main caverns that protect them from four major threats: temperature, humidity, dust and light. This protection includes filtered ventilation, low-flow fire sprinklers, pressurized halls and chemical detectors used to discern fires before they happen.

While these intricate caverns are closed to the general public, their rare treasures are not. Reading rooms are available during library hours where library workers access the rare collections to retrieve works upon request.

“There’s just something that happens to you when you hold a book that’s over 500 years old,” library curator Tim Johnson said.

The University library system is North America’s 15th largest research library and assists the University in its status as a research university.

“There’s just no way to get across its value in any type of virtual mode. It has an artistic value; it has a tactile value,” said graduate instructor Kevin Mummey, who recently took his students to the library to view 3,000-year-old stone tablets.

“Our hope is that the collections support the research our students do,’” Johnson said.

The collection stands as a valuable supply of primary sources on campus.

“We get a lot of students using the collection in a variety of ways. We probably see between 800 and 1,000 students in the course of an academic year, either through class presentations or working on papers or projects using the collection,” said Marguerite Ragnow , library resources advisor for graduate students.

In addition to research, the library’s collection also stands as a preservation of the art of literature. The value of the rare books extends beyond simply information.

“It’s not just the text in the book but the creator and the art,” said Johnson. His favorite pieces in the collection include “The Kelmscott Chaucer,” regarded by some as the most beautiful book in the world, and a Sherlock Holmes novel that once belonged to Tsaritsa Alexandra of Russia.

The thick stone that encases the rows of rare literature is in place to protect them from their environment, not shield them from the public, for which they are open to daily upon request.

Go Twins!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Like politics, there won't be many times when I interject my enjoyment of certain sports and teams into this blog, but I can't resist the opportunity to hype my Minnesota Twins. Last night's game against the Detroit Tigers was, truly, one for the ages. I've seen many games in my life and this one has to rank near the top. To use the cliché, both teams left it all on the field. This game is full of highlights and I hope the Twins or somebody in Major League Baseball puts that game on a DVD and offers it for sale. I'd buy a copy in an instant.

I don't know what to expect in the Twins-Yankees series. Its only a best of five series, so there's not a lot of room for mistakes, but I think the Twins will surprise a lot of folks. They've been full of surprises all year; their run through the final stretch of the regular season was an amazing thing to watch (or listen to on the radio, for those of us without cable television).

Every year, come about the time of Spring training, I pull out my vhs recordings of the 1987 and 1991 World Series games, in anticipation of the coming baseball season. Next year maybe I'll have one more game to watch as I get ready for the Twins and a whole new adventure in their new outdoor stadium.

Book TV: Allison Bartlett

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:36:00 +0000

Book TV on C-Span has this program related to "The Man Who Loved Books Too Much." The blurb for the show reads: "Allison Bartlett talks about John Charles Gilkey, a rare book thief who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of books, and the rare book dealer who tracked him down and brought him to justice. She spoke at The Booksmith in San Francisco."

Presidential Proclamation

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:15:00 +0000

I'm not always sure of what to make of proclamations from official sources, but this one is probably worth noting.

What struck me most is the following: "Over the past decade, we have seen a crisis of authenticity emerge. We now live in a world where anyone can publish an opinion or perspective, whether true or not, and have that opinion amplified within the information marketplace."

Part of what we're about is helping create an informed citizenry. Critical thinking skills and the broad perspective of a liberal arts education are important components to an authentic, civic conversation.

Here's an overview of our own program at the U of M.

From the daily feeds

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:02:00 +0000

A couple of things to note from the daily reading of rss feeds:

A review in the NY Times of THE MAN WHO LOVED BOOKS TOO MUCH: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession. By Allison Hoover Bartlett, 274 pp. Riverhead Books. $24.95

An essay by Lewis Hyde, also in the NY Times, on Google, copyright and orphan works.

An obituary of Reinhard Mohn "the entrepreneur who transformed Bertelsmann from a provincial, war-shattered German publisher into a global media giant..."

A report on the New York Art Book Fair

And, from Kevin Driedger's blog, a link to the University of Florida and the inclusion of zombie attacks in their disaster preparedness plan.

ResearchChannel - Libraries, Coffee & Surfing

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:08:00 +0000

I haven't had a chance to view this yet, but wanted to pin it to my blog in case anyone else is interested in viewing.

ResearchChannel - Libraries, Coffee & Surfing

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Fitzgerald at the Ransom Center

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Johnson) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:16:00 +0000

This interesting press release came across my Google Reader on the acquisition of F. Scott Fitzgerald material by the Ransom Center. The last two sentences caught my eye: "The materials will be accessible once organized and housed. High-resolution press images of a selection of the new materials are available."

Which made me wonder about work-flows and processing. I think its very interesting--and smart--that digital images of some of the materials are already available, even though the collection is not yet fully processed. This will help with additional publicity and give folks a sense of what's there. But it is a double-edged sword. Advance PR may mean phone calls and e-mails about access to the full collection. Does this speed up the processing? Does the collection skip to the front of the processing line? Or, if "more product, less process" is in play maybe its not an issue. In any event, I find it interesting that some digitization of materials appears to happen towards the front end of the process.