Content Organisation for Internetbased Information Services

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Content Organisation for Internet-based
Information Services
T.B. Rajashekar Visiting ScientistInformatics
(India) Ltd.Bangalore - 560 003 (E-Mail
raja_at_informindia.com)
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Content Organisation for Internet-based
Information Services

• Web information architecture
• Internet-based LI services
• How are the applications accessed?
• Issues in content hosting
• Content formats
• Tools for content creation processing
• Related sources

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Web Information Architecture

• Web servers and browsers
• Web servers store variety of web compatible
  documents and provide access to these on the
  Internet or an intranet
• PCs, RISC-based workstations/servers
• These documents are accessed using Web browsers
  like Netscape and IE
• Palm tops, Laptops, PCs, workstations, etc.

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Web Information Architecture

• Web sites and URL
• One or more web servers identified with a unique
  web site address on the Internet (e.g.
  www.iisc.ernet.in)
• Documents available on a Web site are uniquely
  identified using the URL scheme access
  protocol//host.domain port/path/file
  name(Ex. http//www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/ncsi/data
  base.html)

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Web Information Architecture...

• Anatomy of a web site
• Hardware, software (OS, web server, CGI,
  database, indexing and search, etc.)
• Dedicated Internet/intranet connectivity
• Information content Documents stored in variety
  of formats (HTML, SGML,PDF, databases, images,
  audio, video, etc.)

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Web Information Architecture...

• Anatomy of a web site
• HTML pages integrate access to this information
• Organized in a hierarchical manner
• Home page (root page) provides links to second
  level HTML pages which in turn link to third
  level HTML pages, and so on
• These pages may contain images and provide access
  to databases through search forms, PDF files,
  audio and video, etc. or link to documents on
  other servers

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Web Information Architecture...
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Applications

• Let us consider different Internet-based
  applications in the library
• Assumptions
• Library has a LAN with enough network computers
  for staff and users
• Library LAN is linked to institutional intranet
• Has full, round-the-clock Internet access
• Library web site is the integrating factor

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Applications
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Applications

• Information about the library its services
• Aims objectives, opening hours, rules and
  regulations, departments, collection, budget,
  staff, map/ directions, contact, FAQs, etc
• Locally owned electronic info sources
• OPAC
• Networked CD-ROMs
• Electronic journals
• Internal publications (e.g. staff publications,
  dissertations, reports, projects, manuals)

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Applications

• Locally owned electronic info sources
• Reference sources (e.g. dictionaries,
  encyclopedias)
• Digital audio, video and multi-media collections

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Applications

• Remote information sources
• Available via the Internet
• Subscribed electronic journals, bibliographic
  databases, reference sources
• Free (e.g. PubMed, PubSci)
• Z39.50 based library catalogues and databases
• Content available on resource sharing networks
  (local, regional, national)
• Available on the intranet
• Content hosted on other web sites in the intranet

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Applications

• Push-based services
• Current awareness (e.g. new additions, news
  letters, content pages)
• Profile-based alerting services (e.g. SDIs,
  content pages)
• Discussion forums
• Housekeeping operations
• Book acquisitions
• Technical processing (cataloguing,
  classification)
• Serials management

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Applications

• Other content/ services
• Training material, guides
• Administrative, procedural manuals
• FAQs, Feedback

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How Are the Applications Accessed?

• Typically, access to all these services is
  integrated through the library web site (library
  web site design will be discussed in the next
  session)
• User visits the library web site using a web
  browser and browses through HTML pages
• Selects a link pointing to content likely to
  provide the information and accesses the
  information source/ service/ application
• Content has to be delivered in browser compatible
  format. How do we achieve this?

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Issues In Content Hosting

• Key questions to ask while hosting content
• What content I want to provide access?
• What is the delivery medium?
• Web
• Browser compatible content
• E-Mail
• Push-based services, discussion forums
• Telnet
• Legacy databases (non-web aware)
• FTP
• Download files

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Issues In Content Hosting

• Key questions to ask while hosting content
• Web-enabled content
• Browser aware ? (HTML, GIF, JPEG)
• Other formats will require helper applications/
  plug-ins
• (e.g. PDF Acrobat Reader, DOC MS Word)
• How is this going to be accessed?
• Browse
• Search
• Site search
• Content specific search
• Search level Full text, field specific
• Browse Search

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Issues In Content Hosting

• Key questions to ask while hosting content
• Who is going to access this? (download time)
• Intranet user
• Internet user
• How is the content stored (granularity)?
• File
• Record (in a database)
• How is this content going to be created?
• Paper to Web
• Scanning and conversion
• Data entry
• Electronic to Web (e.g. Word to HTML or PDF)

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Issues In Content Hosting

• Key questions to ask while hosting content
• What content creation/conversion tools are to be
  used?
• Free
• Commercial
• Security considerations for purchased content
  (Locally hosted, Remote sources)
• How do we implement access restrictions?
• How do we facilitate easy access to all internal
  users?
• Based on IP range, domain name
• User name/ password (how to administer this?)

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Content Formats

• Content Information about library its
  services, policy/plan documents, e-journals,
  annual reports, manuals
• Running text with/without graphics, tables,
  charts, multimedia
• Storage File
• Access Browse and select (e.g. Doc title ?
  Content page ? Section/ chapter)
• Content formats HTML, PDF, ASCII (text), images
  (GIF, JPEG), audio (.WAV, .RA), video (.AVI,
  .MOV, .MPG), etc
• Search Site search, collection specific search

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File level content (example 1)
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File level content (example 1) (contd.)
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File level content (example 1) (contd.)
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File level content (example 2)
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File level content (example 2) (contd.)
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File level content (example 2) (contd.)
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Content Formats

• Content OPAC
• How to handle non-web enabled OPACs (legacy
  library automation/ DBMS packages)?
• Export OPAC records into a text files
• Index using a web enabled software (e.g. MG,
  Free-WAIS)
• Export OPAC records into ISO 2709 format
• Import into a CDS/ISIS database
• Use CDS/ISIS web tools (e.g. WWWISIS)
• Use ODBC for providing web access via CGI
• CDS/ISIS databases
• Use CDS/ISIS web tools (e.g. WWWISIS)

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Content Formats

• Content Bibliographic, experts, institutions,
  projects
• Document surrogates (meta data)
• Storage Database
• Structured (RDBMS)
• Unstructured (text-oriented)
• Access
• Database title ? Record/field -based search form
• Tools WWWISIS, MG, SQL, free-WAIS
• Content format Database specific
• Could also be used to provide access to full text
  at file level using hypertext linking

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Record level content
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Record level content(contd.)
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Record level content (contd.)
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Record level content (contd.)
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Record level content (RDBMS)
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Record level content (RDBMS) (contd.)
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Content Formats

• Content Web access to networked CD-ROM databases
• Traditional solution File server with access
  limited to PC clients
• Solutions now exist to provide platform
  independent access to Windows applications on the
  Internet
• Ex. Citrixs Metaframe using ICA
  (www.citrix.com)
• ICA client can be used alone or as a plug-in to
  Web browsers to access Windows applications
• We can thus present an integrated list of
  networked databases on the library web site and
  allow users to access these using web browsers
  from different platforms
• Trend is towards hard disc hosting for web access
  (e.g. ERL, OVID)

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Hard disc hosting of CD-ROM content using ERL
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Hard disc hosting of CD-ROM content using ERL
(contd.)
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Hard disc hosting of CD-ROM content using ERL
(contd.)
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Hard disc hosting of CD-ROM content using ERL
(contd.)
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Content Formats

• Content Remote information sources
• Most library web sites provide links to Internet
  sites (subscribed and/or free) of relevance to
  its users (Internet resource catalogue/gateway)
• Typical details include title, description,
  keywords, source type, access details, etc.
• Resource description (meta data) standards
  Dublin Core
• Format
• Simple HTML-based listings (by subject, source
  type)
• Database driven catalogues, supporting keyword
  search and subject/ source type browsing
• Z39.50 access to library catalogues (using client
  softwares like Bookwhere)

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Internet resource catalogue - e-journals (RDBMS)
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Internet resource catalogue - e-journals (RDBMS)
(contd.)
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Internet resource catalogue - e-journals (RDBMS)
(contd.)
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Content Formats

• Content Push Services
• Current Awareness Services (e.g. list of
  additions, news letters)
• Format HTML, ASCII
• Delivery E-Mail
• Also hosted on the web site
• Profile-based alerting services
• Web-based profile set-up and maintenance by
  individual users
• Processing Extraction from databases
• Delivery E-Mail

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An example Push service
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An example Push service (profile set up)
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An example Push service (modification)
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Content Formats Summary

• Major content types in library web sites
• Web pages (HTML), Images (GIF, JPEG), Text
  (ASCII), Text (PDF), Search-based content from
  databases
• Other content types
• DHTML (interactive web pages), Audio (WAV, RA,
  MP3), Video (AVI, MOV, MPEG), Animations (GIF,
  Flash), Multimedia presentations (Macromedia
  Director)
• Emerging formats
• XML (Extensible Markup Language)

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Tools for Content Creation Processing

• Some content creation and conversion tools
• HTML Netscape Composer, MS Frontpage
• Imaging (GIF, JPEG) Adobe Photoshop and Paint
  Shop Pro
• OCR TextBridge
• PDF Adobe Acrobat Exchange
• Conversion tools (Word-to-HTML, text-to-HTML)
• Audio capture and conversion (Real Audio and MP3)

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Tools for Content Creation Processing

• Search tools
• Web site indexing (HtDig)
• Bibliographic databases (WWWISIS)
• Bibliographic and full text databases (MG)
• RDBMS access using ODBC (FOXPRO ORACLE)

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Related Sources

• Network-Based Library and Information Services
  (NETLIS smart.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/netlis)
• Digital Library Sunsite - Digitisation tools and
  resources (sunsite.berkeley.edu)
• D-Lib magazine e-journal reporting new
  developments in digital libraries, including
  tools for handling digital content (www.dlib.org)

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Related Sources

• From Paper to Web How to make information
  instantly accessible (Tony McKinley)
  (imagebiz.com)
• Digitisation of exam papers (Andrew Hampson et
  al) (The Electronic Library, 17(4), Aug 1999,
  239-46)
• Web publishing with Acrobat and PDF (Bruce Page
  and Diana Holm, 1996. John Wiley)

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Related Sources

• Networked Digital Library of Theses and
  Dissertations (www.ndltd.org)
• Guide to Networked Resources and Tools (GNRT)
  (www.terena.nl/libr/gnrt)
• IFLA (www.ifla.org) particularly
  (www.ifla.org/I/training/html)
• The digital library tool kit (Dr. Peter Noerr,
  Sun Microsystems, April 1998) (www.edulib.com)

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Thank You