I am happy and proud to announce the availability of the newest
version of the MyLibrary manual called Designing, Implementing, and
Maintaining Digital Library Services and Collections with MyLibrary.
See:
http://dewey.library.nd.edu/mylibrary/manual/
Code4Liber's will enjoy it because the principles it puts forth can
be applied to many digital library settings. OSS4Libers' will enjoy
it because it puts into practice "free" software as well as open
access publishing. Perl4Liber's will enjoy it because it is pure
Perl. Beginning Perl scripters may benefit most from the tutorial.
Something for everyone.
About the book and who should read it
The book is a manual, and its purpose is to outline the principles
and processes necessary to implement digital library collections and
services. It uses MyLibrary as an example but the principles and
processes can be applied to just about any digital library system or
application.
The manual is intended to be read by administrators who need to know
what and how many resources to allocate to a digital library. It is
intended to be read by librarians who are responsible for collecting
and organizing content as well as ensuring the library's usability.
The manual is intended to be read by systems administrators who are
in charge of providing the technical infrastructure for the system.
Last but not least, it is intended for programers who will use the
underlying Perl API to provide services against the collection.
What the book contains and who helped write it
The book's 200+ pages is distributed in two volumes and freely
available in HTML and PDF formats. Co-written by seventeen excellent
authors, the book elaborates upon digital library topics including
information architecture, content standards, user-centered design,
fundamental computer technologies, techniques for initial
implementation & ongoing maintenance, and of course the MyLibrary
Perl application programmer's interface. Here is an outline of the
book's contents:
* Designing, Implementing, and Maintaining Digital Library
Services and Collections with MyLibrary by Eric Lease Morgan
(University of Notre Dame)
* Pioneering Portals: A History Of MyLibrary@NCState by
Keith Morgan (North Carolina State University)
* Information architecture
o First Principles of Information Architecture: "On
your Mark. Get set. Go!" not "Fire, and then Aim." by
Eric Lease Morgan (University of Notre Dame)
o Facets and Terms in MyLibrary by Tom Lehman
(University of Notre Dame)
* The Importance of Content Standards in Digital Libraries
by Leslie Johnston (University of Virginia Library)
* User-centered design
o Usability Testing: a Key to User-centered Designs by
Terry Huttenlock (Wheaton College)
o Surveys by Tom Lehman (University of Notre Dame)
o Focus Group Interviews by Megan Johnson (Appalachian
State University)
o Attracting Users by Michael Yunkin (University of
Nevada, Las Vegas)
o Card Sorting by Terry Nikkel and Shelley McKibbon
(Dalhousie University Libraries)
o Paper Prototyping by Nora Dimmock (University of
Rochester)
o Low-cost Recording of Usability Tests by Martin
Courtois (Kansas State University)
o Communicating Usability Results by Brenda Reeb
(University of Rochester)
o Case Studies by Hal Kirkwood (Purdue University),
Leslie Johnston (University of Virginia Library), and
Alison Aldrich & Vishwam Annam (Wright State
University Libraries)
* Underlying technologies
o What is XML, and Why Should I Care? by Tod Olson
(University of Chicago)
o What are Relational Databases, and Why Should I Care?
by Vishwam Annam (Wright State University Libraries)
o What are Indexers and Why Should I Care? by Peter
Karman
* Implementation and Maintenance by Eric Lease Morgan
(University of Notre Dame)
* MyLibrary Tutorial by Eric Lease Morgan (University of
Notre Dame)
* The MyLibrary Perl API by Robert Fox (University of
Notre Dame)
Colophon
The book is licensed under the GNU Public License and is an example
of open access publishing. Author's have retained copyrights to the
things they have written. The manuscript was marked up in DocBook XML
and transformed into HTML and PDF files using XSLT stylesheets,
xsltproc, and fop.
Questions, comments, corrections, criticisms, and clarifications are
more than welcome. Send them to [log in to unmask]
--
Eric Lease Morgan and Team MyLibrary Manual
