reflections by kathyThis process of building a digital library has been a labour of love. Emphasis on the "labour." While the search process to locate suitable Holocaust-related resources through search engines and the Vancouver Public Library’s online catalogue was not difficult, as there was a wealth of information in many formats, the challenge came with paring down the search results. It was indeed “information overload.” Nicole and I wanted to ensure the websites we chose were comprehensive and had a variety of information formats and different features.
The creation of the digital library on Weebly.com was a new experience for me as I had never created a website before. It took some time to familiarize myself with the different tools and functions, but eventually, it became easier to navigate around the site. And while I would not say that creating websites or digital libraries has become my forte, I have come to appreciate how attractive and useful they can be. The idea for the Holocaust as a subject for our digital library came from a bibliography assignment I had to do for a previous course, which was on the topic of World War II. I did this assignment the ol' paper-and-ink way, compiling the resources into a binder. But now, having done a digital library, and working with the Internet medium, I realize how websites or blogs can enhance students' interest in a subject and motivate them to explore it even more. I realized that there are just some resources or information that cannot be put on paper. Oral histories for example, provide learners with the ability to "be there" in a profound way that makes historical events, which can often be abstract because they occurred long ago, more concrete. One of the most challenging aspect of creating this digital library was the creation of MARC records for our resources. It was a painstaking, tedioius process that required a lot of going back and forth between the MARC guides and the actual MARC records. But I have also come to appreciate the need to have an understanding (even if it still quite a basic understanding) of MARC records. Connected to the creation of MARC records was the use of the Sears Subject Headings List. My initial assumption about the Sears List was that it had every subject term imaginable to choose from, and it was interesting to read Sears' concession regarding the scope of its list, stating that "no list can possibly provide a heading for every idea, object, process, or relationship, especially not within the scope of a single volume. What Sears hopes to offer instead is a basic list that includes many of the headings most likely to be needed in small libraries together with patterns and examples that will guide the cataloger in creating additional headings as needed" (p.9). I understand this to mean that while there is controlled vocabulary and authority control that ensures unformity and consistency to allow students better access to learning resources and materials in a library catalogue, cataloguers and librarians still have a measure of flexibity of language to create specific subject headings to improve access. Overall, this was a great learning experience that introduced me to a new form of presenting information and learning resources. For future assignments, I would not hesistate to consider using websites (and blogs) to present my learning. I am even considering creating a personal website myself using Weebly! |
Reflections by NicoleAfter agreeing to make this a partnered effort, the decision came to pick a topic. Kathy had some prior information regarding World War II, so the choice came from there. With such a wide scope, we decided to narrow it down to the Holocaust – still quite an extensive topic, but there are many great resources to draw from.
The initial set-up of this Weebly was relatively easy, but learning how to navigate around it took some learning, that thankfully the Weebly site provided. Figuring out how to hide our MARC records so that they did not appear on the Home page took some research. I ended up by creating another sample Weebly that I could try different things on and experiment with designing each page. Once our Weebly was established, it was just a matter of plugging in the novels, information, and searching for some good quality websites. I did use Google, but incorporated the Advanced Search, which enabled me to find some quality educational sites that would appeal to students conducting their research. I found myself going through the websites with a more critical eye, evaluating whether it would be a site that would provide quality, relevant information, and appeal to a student in upper level highschool. The most difficult aspect, for me, during this assignment was learning how to create our own MARC records. At one point, I became frustrated with a few of the MARC records, and I wished we could incorporate copy cataloguing into this project! I felt the published MARC records were of much better quality, and more accurate than I could do for this assignment. After looking at a few samples from the Vancouver Public Library, and Library of Congress, I realized that many of the tags would require me to have the actual book/resource in my hand to figure out the information for many of the fields. I made a decision to use the most common fields, as outlined in the Library of Congress introduction to MARC for ease of finding the information and being able to fill in the information for each tag. I also spent some time familiarizing myself with the Sears subject headings, as I found it easier to navigate through the Sears document rather than the Library of Congress subject headings document. Once familiar with my own format for the MARC record, it became a bit less labor intensive, and I enjoyed picking subject headings that would relate to the resource. I have to admit, I am more comfortable with MARC records, but relieved to be finished with them for this assignment! I am thinking that anyone who puts together some kind of digital library feels like there are so many resources that could be included, and other visual aspects of the website that could be added. I think that is the nature of a website – it needs to be constantly monitored and updated for it to be successful and relevant to the user. |