The Amazing Internet Challenge: How Leading Projects Use Library Skills to Organize the Web.

Abstract

This collection describes twelve Internet virtual libraries selected by the editors for “their international reputation as leaders in the delivery of selective, quality resources” (p. v). The twelve are: (1) Agriculture Network Information Center/AgNIC, (2) Argus Clearinghouse/Argus, (3) Blue Web/n, (4) BUBL Information Service/BUBL, (5) Edinburgh Engineering Virtual Library/EEVL, (6) INFOMINE, (7) Internet Public Library/IPL, (8) Librarians' Index to the Internet/LII, (9) Mathematics Archives, (10) Organising Medical Networked Information/OMNI, (11) Scout Report Signpost, and (12) Social Science Information Gateway/SOSIG. Eight are based in the United States and four in the United Kingdom. The twelve cover a spectrum of information services covering both specialized and interdisciplinary subject areas. The purpose of this collection is to present these projects as “strategic examples of the possibilities inherent in online information” (p. v). It is designed to appeal to reference librarians, catalogers, systems librarians, and administrators by providing insight into the day-to-day workflows and the long-term plans of the twelve virtual libraries. A basic assumption of this presentation is that all virtual libraries share common concerns and challenges. Therefore, within its own scope, each project has defined “quality information” and “trusted sources” and determined selection criteria to create collection resources valuable to its users. Although some of the criteria will be the same as those used in the print world (e.g., author, content, audience, and scope), the ephemeral nature of the Internet resource requires that new criteria also be considered, such as design and accessibility, site permanence, site revision and updating provisions, and linkage accuracy. The virtual library faces these fundamental considerations as well as more complex challenges. How best to use the technology to present and deliver information to the end user? How best to present the collection through the user interface? How many access methods should be provided? These and other issues are faced by the project developers, and their decisions are based on the primary audience served. The funding source, in most cases, defines the primary audience … and so it goes with each project having addressed common issues faced by all. The editors have profiled each of the twelve virtual libraries in chapters that follow the same outline: (1) responsible persons, (2) mission statement, (3) funding source(s) and project budget, (4) target audiences, (5) collection description, (6) resource selection and evaluation, (7) software and hardware mechanics, (8) taxonomy of classification, (9) project strengths, (10) project weaknesses, (11) project time frames, (12) project future goals, and (13) vision statements for future resource location and description. While each project has responded to these profile questions in its own way, the format provides a common outline that underscores the unique and outstanding approaches that the individual projects have taken in working in an online environment. For those faced with the challenges of organizing information on the Internet, this book should provide much useful data on selection criteria, evaluation processes, funding and budget mechanisms, and software and hardware technology. The twelve virtual libraries described here have been called trailblazers. Those about to embark on a similar project will want to familiarize themselves with the collective experience presented by these twelve successful projects.