Classifying Fiction

For some time now, I have been interested in how we can ensure that both borrowers and staff can easily find books on shelves.  In my current library, I have worked with a number of colleagues to re-arrange and re-organise stock in order to make it easier for the borrower (and indeed the staff) to find what they want.  This has included putting genres at the end of the author run, rather than breaking up the sequence, and removing a paperback spinner that merely caused confusion (as stock could be on genre shelves, return shelves, fiction shelves or the spinner it could be quite time consuming for the borrower to find what they are looking for).  I’m so prone to suggesting changes, that staff almost expect me to suggest a new change every week (much to their annoyance!).

My current preoccupation is the removal of genre sections in preference to a single run of fiction shelved by author.  I am not a big fan of genre sections as they can (in my view) be confusing and rely heavily on borrowers who read by genre.  Many authors write in a variety of genres which means that, using a genre system, books by a particular author can be spread across the library.  This would be particularly annoying for readers who read by author (like myself).  Instead of simply finding the author on the A-Z shelving, you would have to know what genre someone has decided the text represents.  This is not exactly user-friendly in my opinion, particularly considering genres such as Crime and Adventure.  How do you decide what constitutes one and not the other?  How would you categorise an adventure story that has a crime at its heart?

Consequently, I have been mulling this over and trying to decide whether the removal of genre sections in public libraries is a good idea or not.  My view is quite probably influenced by the way I search for books, and whilst I may find it easier, there will be many who would loath the idea (the genre searchers).  Anyway, this may not be a bone of contention for too much longer.  If and when ebooks become a standard format, the issue of physical shelving will no longer be a concern as there will no longer need to be a decision about whether an item can be Adventure OR Crime, they can be both.  Suddenly, years of debate over the classification of fiction would be resolved in an instant (yeah right!).

So what should it be?  Genre distinctions?  Or simply shelved by author?  Would be interested to hear thoughts on this subject.

Incidentally, I have also set up (yet another) twtpoll relating to this matter.  You can vote here.

Cataloguing – The Fear Fades

For about five months I had been working on the cataloguing module for my course.  It was, without doubt, the single most difficult module that I have done to date.  Both the assignments filled me with dread when I first saw the outlined requirements.  The first of the two assignments in particular had caused me a great deal of stress and fretting.  Even the advice of colleagues had failed to relieve the stress I was feeling about completing this module.  It was, in short, a nightmare.

One of the main reasons for finding this topic so daunting was that I am not currently involved in cataloguing in any way, shape or form.  Consequently, the subject was a bit of a mystery to me. Much of the reading made little sense to me (although I am sure it did to those who have more experience of the subject) and, quite frankly, I was dreading working on the assignments as I feared that I would be found out at last.  A fraud amongst librarians. An impostor attempting to muscle his way in to an exclusive club populated by people who understand Library of Congress Subject Headings and suchlike.

The assignment that had me particularly vexed required the analysis of a number of different types of records.  One from an OPAC, one from a printed catalogue and one example from a full-text search (eg via an internet search).  It was then necessary to create our own record and suggest a suitable retrieval system that could be used in conjunction with it.  Having only ever used Dewey Decimal (and with only a rudimentary understanding of that), the thought of trying to comprehend another system caused palpitations.  How on earth was I even going to attempt to do this one??

As is now the norm, I finally went for it and made my way through at least six different drafts.  At each re-drafting I found myself analysing what I had written so much, that I began to lose sight of what was actually required.  I had begun to over-complicate the assignment itself and was tying myself in knots.  Heaven knows how many emails I fired off to the module coordinator – no doubt enough to have her tearing her hair out!  I don’t know why I always end up doing the same.  Maybe because at the back of mind I am thinking that as it is a Masters, the answer must be more complex than my initial gut reaction suggests.  Still, nothing wrong with a healthy bout of self-doubt.

Eventually I got to the point where I just needed to send it off and keep my fingers crossed.  Otherwise I could see myself re-drafting for all eternity.  Chipping away at a little bit here, a little bit there, (foolishly) hoping for perfection.  I never took such an approach when studying for my undergraduate degree.  I simply handed in first drafts time and time again.  This perhaps explains my new found dedication.  I still feel I underachieved first time around, so here is my chance to prove that that degree was no mere fluke…I actually might just have been worthy of it (just).

So anyway, I received my marks the other day and was quite frankly shocked to see that not only did I score over 70%, I scored over 70% for the whole module.  Needless to say I opened a (very small) beer to celebrate.  What is particularly pleasing on a personal level is that I never scored above 68% on my first degree (and I only achieved that twice).  So far on this course, I have hit over 70% on at least six assignments – something I never could have imagined when I started the course as although I always wanted to go on and complete a post-grad, I always had the nagging doubt that I was not capable.  As I have said before, I have always felt that at some point someone is going to turn around and call my bluff.  That eventually someone is going to ask the question: how did I slip the net?  Maybe one day they will.

Anyway, as time is progressing I am giving more and more serious thought about the possibility of a doctorate at some point in the future.  Given my background, it would be a dream to be in a position to do so.  I certainly don’t want to get to the end of my studies and then come to an abrupt halt.  I am seriously interested in working on some studies and conducting some research when I do complete the course.  Maybe I need to get out more, but I do actually quite enjoy studying.  Now I know there is definitely something wrong with me!  I really must get out more………

User-based tagging – creating chaos or a new order?

User-based tagging is not exactly a recent phenomenon.  Over the past few years it seems that practically every Web 2.0 innovation allows users to apply tags to items to add retrieval.  This has (somewhat predictably) caused a few in the library profession to throw their arms up in despair and claim that this ‘chaos’ will be the end of organised information retrieval as we know it.  This egalitarian system of organising information was always likely to upset the more elitist members of the library fraternity.  After all, what do they know about the subject matter of a particular source of information?  No, it is best left to the ‘professionals’.  But to what extent is this an accurate reflection of the use of tags by the general public?

There are a certain amount of limitations regarding the use of tags to index an item.  For example, there is a certain amount of inconsistency regarding the application of tags.  Take a typical set of tags on Delicious for example.  An article on the Library of Congress may be tagged in several ways:

• LOC
• Library_of_Congress
• libraryofcongress

Whilst all these tags may be appropriate for the individual, the lack of consistency does cause problems for other users.  A user searching for items on any one of these terms will miss any items tagged with any of the other terms.  Clearly with the possibility of such a high degree of ‘misses’, it cannot be described as a foolproof system by any means.

There are also problems when it comes to homonyms.  Take, for example, the word ‘bow’.  This can be used to refer to the implement used to fire arrows, as well as a decoration on a present.  Sticking with Delicious, should the user tap in ‘bow’ as a search term, they would be presented with list of links related to either medieval weaponry or decoration – two very different subjects with very different audiences! However, using Delicious, it should be possible to select an additional tag that will narrow the search down, although this is still likely to miss out relevant materials.

Although there are some issues with consistency, when tagging habits are analysed the picture isn’t nearly as chaotic as one would expect.  I have recently spent some time looking at such habits, and was interested to discover that there is a high level of  commonality between users tags.  Take an article by Peter Merholz entitled ‘Metadata for the masses’.  At time of analysing tagging habits related to this item, it was bookmarked by 56 members. Despite there being 61 different tags applied to the item, there was a high level of agreement between users regarding the ‘aboutness’ of the article.  As you can see from the chart below, after the first three most popular tags there is a big drop-off in numbers.

In fact, should the third and fourth tags be combined (the latter is the plural form of the former) there is an even bigger drop-off.  Furthermore, it appears that the first three tags (four if ‘folksonomies’ was incorporated) were applied by around 50% of those that tagged the item.  This suggests that, despite popular conception, agreement can be reached regarding the ‘aboutness’ of a document without the guidance of an all knowing professional.

Delicious tags for 'Metadata for the masses'

In his article, Merholz explains why he believes user-based tagging could be beneficial for organising information:

The potential benefits of free tagging should encourage practitioners to address such shortcomings [caused by inconsistencies in tagging]. In looking for a real-world analog, I thought of the foot-worn paths that appear in a landscape over time. Called “desire lines,” these trails demonstrate how a landscape’s users choose to move, which is often not on the paved paths. A smart landscape designer will let wanderers create paths through use, and then pave the emerging walkways, ensuring optimal utility.

I think this is exactly why user-based tagging could become a useful tool.  Allowing users to freely create ‘paths’ to information would ensure that eventually a commonality will emerge.  Once this commonality has emerged it should be easier to develop a controlled language that is truly in the words of the user (rather than in the remote terminology of the ‘information professional’), making information more accessible to the average user.  Although user-based tagging does have its limitations, there is great potential there to organise large amounts of information – particularly in terms of the internet.  Ultimately our greatest concern should be making information easily accessible for the average user.  By dispensing with terminology that we are in control of and handing over a degree of control to the ‘masses’, the potential is there to attain this goal and ensure that a system that is user-friendly and relevant to the end-user emerges.

Catalogue Solutions

So, as you may be aware, I have been spending some time working on a solution to our un-catalogued items.  Well, I have had to pass on my work to someone a bit higher up the ladder (guess I should have done that before I had done so much work on it!!), who is going to have a look at what I have been doing and see if it is either useful or an avenue worth exploring.  Hopefully I will get the all clear to continue as I think it could be a really useful resource.  If not, well, it’s back to the drawing board I guess!!

Cataloguing on a Wiki

As I noted on a previous post, I have been working on solving a few practical problems at work.  As part of my drive to catalogue materials that are not on our library management system, I have been adding our collection of maps onto a wiki I have set-up at Zoho.  Up until now, the maps have been catalogued on a spreadsheet several pages long.  This meant that searching for a specific map was laborious to say the least.  To make the search process easier I split the maps up in to different areas and gave each area its own wiki page.  This meant that when a search was conducted, it would at least narrow it down to a general area.  However, the process hasn’t been without its blips.

The main problem has been with the hit-and-miss nature of the search engine.  When entering one particular search term, the engine threw up no results, even though I knew the term was in the database.  Thankfully, the guys at Zoho have been very helpful.  After encountering the problem, I decided to get in touch with a member of the team.  Impressively, they got back to me the very next day and said they would look into it.  It turned out there was a fault with the software and they assured me that they would rectify it.  They also asked of there were any features that would make the service easier to use.  I suggested that it would be useful if when a search is conducted, instead of just directing you to the page, the search terms could be highlighted on the wiki page.  Again I got an email the very next day, and they said they would look into it.  Impressive service!

I am really hopeful that this will make it easier for members of staff to use and I am hoping to build it into a one-stop shop for help with reference queries.  It will provide a wealth of information specific to our library that is easily searchable.  For example, a page would be created with copyright information on maps so that (as inevitably happens) when members of staff struggle to remember the technicalities of copyright laws, they can find the information via a simple search engine on the database.  It will take a lot of time to get to this stage, but I am confident that using a wiki in this way will make it much easier for staff to provide a quality service and, after all, that is what we should be aiming for.

Replacing Card Catalogues

Our library has a wide range of local studies materials (newspaper cuttings, maps, microfiche etc etc) and I have recently been racking my brains to come up with a way for staff to find relevant material quickly and efficiently.  Unlike our book stock, the vast majority of these materials are not on our OPAC and are therefore difficult for inexperienced staff to find.  Consequently, there is an over reliance on more experienced members of staff who know exactly where everything is (I am as guilty of pestering them as anyone!).  The ultimate objective is to eliminate this problem and make everything easy to access to enable even the most inexperienced members of staff to deal with the more complex queries we face.

With that in mind, I have been experimenting with a Zoho wiki to enter details of the materials we have. The idea is that, once everything is added, members of staff will be able to conduct a search and then find all the materials we have on that search term.   By clicking on a search result, the member of staff would be directed to exactly where the material would be kept.  At this moment in time I am not sure how useful (or user friendly) this system will be, but I would be interested in hearing alternatives.  As it needs to be set up at a local level, the option of bells and whistles databases and catalogues is out of the question.  It needs to be free and it needs to be user friendly.  If anyone has any ideas, drop a line in the comments box.  Or else, I will just persevere with the wiki (and that looks like a lot of work at the moment!!).

Study Fatigue

Brought about by a day of reading the Information Retrieval module pack.  Much as I am grateful for one days study leave a fortnight, it does have its downside from time to time.  I need to rest my brain.