Conspectus method used for collections mapping

and structuring of portals in Czech libraries

Bohdana StoklasováNational Library of the Czech

Republic

Content

• Introduction: History before November 1989 and after November 1989

• Step 0-1: November 1989-2000• Step 1: Conspectus for collections evaluation and

development, 2000-• Step 2: Conspectus for subject cataloging and access, 2001-• Step 3: Conspectus for the Uniform Information Gateway, 2001-• Step 4: External audit, 2003• Step 5: Conspectus for subject gateways, 2004-• Step 6: Conspectus for the new building, 2005-• Step 7: Conspectus for the Czech Digital Library, 2005-• Step 8-??? New challenging projects, 2006-• Conclusion• ?Questions?

History before November 1989

• National Library of the Czech Republic – strong limitations for collection development and description until the revolution in November 1989 (prohibited authors, areas and subjects)

• Not allowed to show clearly the strengths and weaknesses (especially not the gaps) of the collections

• General and vague collection description and collection development policy required and sufficient

• Limited international cooperation• Comparison with libraries abroad not desirable

November 1989-

• All the limitations (except the financial one) over• Time of principal changes in different areas• Need for confirmation and/or modification of the

mission of the National Library (NL): national, universal [university], special

• Need for new collection development strategy (clear and internationally understandable)

• Collection development policy – theoretically free, but strong financial limitations [too many new priorities for the state budget, competition, library collections not the priority no. 1]

• Need for the new collections description (clear and internationally understandable)

• Need for cooperation, comparison etc.

Step 0-1November 1989-2000

• Too many new challenges• Priorities?• Slow development• Difficult decisions – which tool? • Conspectus? Well developed in many areas, but

problem of classification. No classification is an ideal one to be acceptable for everyone

• Can it be applied for the National Library?• Long discussions, slow progress

Step 1: Conspectus for collections evaluation and development, 2000-

• Uniform Information Gateway – universal national portal, subject division necessary (concept in 2000, pilot project 2001) – decision inevitable

• Decision: Conspectus for the National Library in 2001, after testing – other Czech libraries (specific situation in university libraries)

Step 1: Conspectus for collections evaluation and development

• Translation and understanding – completely new concept, no experience

• Terminology, controlled vocabulary• Collections evaluation – quantitative data not available,

qualified estimation and evaluation• Working group: chaired by deputy for library management,

members: acquisiton, cataloging, library collections and library services heads

• Deep evaluation, long discussions, sometimes different views, need for compromise

• Universal Library Collection and Study Collection ok, problems with National Archival Collection

Step 1: Conspectus for collections evaluation and development

Results:

http://conspectus.nkp.cz

Step 2: Conspectus for subject cataloging and access, 2001-

• Conspectus as a part of subject cataloging at the NL since 2001

• Added value • Quantitative data available• Other libraries – downloading Conspectus data with

BIB and AUT records – consistency, collections assessment and comparison easier

• Conspectus for special libraries (medicine, economomics, librarianship, music etc.) – changes inevitable, but only the necessary ones

• UDC-DDC concordance tables

Conspectus for subject cataloging and access

• Conspectus division Anthropology including UDC-DDC mapping (unmodified)

Conspectus for subject cataloging and access

• Conspecus division Medicine including UDC-DDC mapping (modified)

Conspectus for subject cataloging and access

• Conspectus subject category [general management] in BIB record

Conspectus for subject cataloging and access

• Navigation from the BIB record to records containing the same Conspectus subject category and/or link to Conspectus subject categories index

Conspectus for subject cataloging and access

• Other BIB records containing the same Conspectus subject category

Conspectus for subject cataloging and access

• Conspectus subject categories index – BIB database

Conspectus for subject cataloging and access

• Conspectus subject categories index – AUT database

Conspectus for subject cataloging and access

• Conspectus subject category AUT record (bilingual subject cataloging)

Step 3: Conspectus for the Uniform Information Gateway (UIG), 2001-

• Pilot project of the National Library and the Charles University in 2001

• National project in 2002• Universal gateway covering all the subjects – need

for the structure: top level (Conspectus divisions)• In 2001: plan for subject gateways in the future –

need for the top level (Conspectus divisions) + something more detailed (Conspectus categories)

Conspectus for the Uniform Information Gateway

• Conspectus divisions: top subject division (crossroads) in the UIG

Conspectus for the Uniform Information Gateway

• Conspectus divisions: top subject division (crossroads) in the UIG – combined with other criteria

Step 4: External audit2003

• External audit done by foreign expert (Mary Bushing) extremely helpful

• Did we understand the concept?• What about our new approach based on qualified

estimation? Can it work?• What about collection level indicators? What do they

exactly mean? Practical examples and explanations resulting in changes

Step 4: External audit

• Evaluation based on results available online: Initial evaluation report

• Visit – analysis and discussion: Final report• Analysis of collections – interesting discoveries and

recommendations• Recommendations

Step 5: Conspectus for subject gateways, 2004-

• Several projects, need for the new concept• UIG + subject gateways or• Subject gateways + UIG?• How to avoid double efforts in some subjects and

blank spaces in other ones?• Cooperation, coordination• Pilot projects, good examples

Step 6: Conspectus for the new building, 2005-

• NL – out of space in 2010• Baroque Klementinum – beautiful, but strong

limitations for modern library services• New building needed• New building (hopefully) in 2010• Open stacks with study areas, new organization of

collections• Conspectus subject areas (open shelves)

Step 7: Conspectus for the Czech Digital Library, 2005-

• Czech Digital Library: a new concept• Conspectus as a part of subject description

(metadata) accompanying digital objects – subject access and integration easier

• Subject oriented digital documents – Conspectus will help for their structuring

Steps 8-?: Future projects

• ???• Nice to be prepared• Conspectus as an extremely helpful tool in many

areas including those where one would not expect it

Conclusion• Choice of one (whatever) tool for identifying collections at

different levels is important for seamless integration of different subsystems

• Decision to be done in time • Before the decision the same problems are solved at different

places with different results that complicate the integration of collections and resources later

• An ideal tool acceptable for all different projects and people does not exist

• Czech experience: Conspectus is not an ideal tool, but it is a very powerful and flexible tool, useful even for areas you can not predict – once you decide for it (or any other tool), it is just here to make the integration of different projects possible and the life of librarians and mainly users much easier

??? QUESTIONS ???bohdana.stoklasova@nkp.cz