On Mar 23, 2016, at 6:26 PM, Mark Weiler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I'm doing some exploratory research on personalization of academic library websites. E.g. student logs in, the site presents books due dates, room reservations, course list with associated course readings, subject librarians.  For faculty members, the site might present other information, such as how to put material on course reserves, deposit material into institutional repository, etc.   Has anyone looked into this, or tried it?

I did quite a bit of work on this idea quite a number of years ago, measured in Internet time. See:

  MyLibrary@NCState (1999)
  http://infomotions.com/musings/sigir-99/

  The text describes MyLibrary@NCState, an extensible
  implementation of a user-centered, customizable interface to a
  library's collection of information resources. The system
  integrates principles of librarianship with globably networked
  computing resources creating a dynamic, customer-driven front-end
  to any library's set of materials. It supports a framework for
  libraries to provide enhanced access to local and remote sets of
  data, information, and knowledge. At the same, it does not
  overwhelm its users with too much information because the users
  control exactly how much information is displayed to them at any
  given time. The system is active and not passive; direct human
  interaction, computer mediated guidance and communication
  technologies, as well as current awareness services all play
  indispensible roles in its implementation. 


  MyLibrary: A Copernican revolution in libraries (2005)
  http://infomotions.com/musings/copernican-mylibrary/

  "We are suffering from information overload," the speaker said.
  "There is too much stuff to choose from. We want access to the
  world's knowledge, but we only want to see one particular part of
  it at any one particular time."... The speaker was part of a
  focus group at the North Carolina State University (NCSU),
  Raleigh, back in 1997... To address the issues raised in our
  focus groups, the NCSU Libraries chose to create MyLibrary, an
  Internet-based library service. It would mimic the commercial
  portals in functionality but include library content: lists of
  new books, access to the catalog and other bibliographic indexes,
  electronic journals, Internet sites, circulation services,
  interlibrary loan services, the local newspaper, and more. Most
  importantly, we designed the system to provide access to our most
  valuable resource: the expertise of our staff. After all, if you
  are using My Yahoo! and you have a question, then who are you
  going to call? Nobody. But if you are using a library and you
  have a question, then you should be able to reach a librarian.


  MyLibrary: A digital library framework & toolkit (2008)
  http://infomotions.com/musings/mylibrary-framework/

  This article describes a digital library framework and toolkit
  called MyLibrary. At its heart, MyLibrary is designed to create
  relationships between information resources and people. To this
  end, MyLibrary is made up of essentially four parts: 1)
  information resources, 2) patrons, 3) librarians, and 4) a set of
  locally-defined, institution-specific facet/term combinations
  interconnecting the first three. On another level, MyLibrary is a
  set of object-oriented Perl modules intended to read and write to
  a specifically shaped relational database. Used in conjunction
  with other computer applications and tools, MyLibrary provides a
  way to create and support digital library collections and
  services. Librarians and developers can use MyLibrary to create
  any number of digital library applications: full-text indexes to
  journal literature, a traditional library catalog complete with
  circulation, a database-driven website, an institutional
  repository, an image database, etc. The article describes each of
  these points in greater detail.

Technologically, the problem of personalization is not difficult. Instead, the problem I encountered in trying to make a thing like MyLibrary a reality were library professional ethics. Too many librarians thought the implementation of the idea challenged intellectual privacy. Alas.

—
Eric Lease Morgan
Artist- And Librarian—At-Large

(574) 485-6870