From library systems to mainstream software: how Web technologies are changing the role of the systems librarian
| Pages | 289-296 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830310494463 |
| Date | 01 September 2003 |
| Published date | 01 September 2003 |
| Author | Arthur Rhyno |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
From library systems to
mainstream software:
how Web technologies
are changing the role of
the systems librarian
Arthur Rhyno
In a newsgroup posting on 6 August 1991, Tim
Berners-Lee (1991) described a project called
the ``WorldWideWeb (WWW)'' that aimed to
``allow links to be made to any information
anywhere''. The associated prototype software
was also offered for free:
If you're interested in using the code, mail me. It's
very prototype, but available by anonymous FTP
from info.cern.ch
Few could have predicted that a simple
networked hypertext linking system would soon
form the basis of much of the world's online
experience. By the end of the decade the Web
had become firmly established as the preferred
computing environment for the public face of
most organizations.
For libraries, the Web was one of several
network-based systems to be pressed into
service at the same time as the Internet was
changing the rules for widespread
communications. Libraries were utilizing
Gopher[1] and WAIS[2] while the Web was
taking flight, and had also been involved in
earlier attempts to create public information
infrastructure through technologies such as
Telidon[3]. Yet the Web was different from
these initiatives in that it did not stay on the
fringes of the library computing landscape for
very long. A systems librarian could probably be
forgiven for not learning how to set up a
Gopher menu or a WAIS index, even at the
height of these systems' popularity, but the
technologies of the Web would become far
more pervasive and central to the library's
operations.
The Web in libraries: the beginnings
Early library Web efforts usually consisted of
several documents created in HTML
(HyperText Markup Language)[4], a format
based on SGML (Standard Generalized
Markup Language)[5] and an easy way to
publish a system of ``links'' known as hypertext.
These links were typically to information on
library hours and services, and usually offered
information on how to access the OPAC
(Online Public Access Catalogue). The
architecture for the first incarnation of the Web
can be seen in Figure 1.
The author
Arthur Rhyno is Systems Librarian at Leddy Library,
University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Keywords
Systems software, Worldwide web, Librarians,
Integrated software, Skills training, Computer applications
Abstract
With the advent of the Web, systems librarians now find
themselves managing or facilitating a wealth of mainstream
technologies. Systems work revolves around many resources
that live outside the library's walls, securing access for our
patrons and pushing access to the desktop of the user. XML
is the Web technology that is tying together systems,
applications and formats and the possibilities for
component-based applications seem revolutionary. The
resulting need for mainstream IT Web-based skills in
addition to traditional library-specific technologies is
expanding the role of systems librarians and offering a new
world of possibilities.
Electronic access
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
289
Library Hi Tech
Volume 21 .Number 3 .2003 .pp. 289-296
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830310494463
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