CURL, for non-UK readers, is the consortium of research libraries in the UK and Ireland. Users tended not to turn to librarians for support in the search phase; they are most likely to ask for assistance in the retrieval phase.
So, for example, the ability of Worldcat. Of course, NCIP sits in this space. The academic library community does not have non commercial alternatives in a similar way. I am submerged in several assignments and will not be able to look at it myself for a little while. There were 'field studies' at several libraries, contextual interviews based on these, interviews with library staff, and followup workshops where earlier results were used to shape questions. I also wondered about the costs of open source development and support. The importance of national, publicly funded bodies in developing services and policy is much greater in a UK, and broader European, setting than it is in the more decentralized US.
They report some support for the idea of 'bookable' library advice at the point of need, as, for example, when writing an assignment.
The former they associate with volunteer community-oriented activities like Linux and Apache.
org does not behave like this now.
In some cases it was not clear to them what staff had to offer, or they did not want to disturb staff who were sitting at workstations.
Given this distinction they argue that it is unlikely that the type of software they discuss - complex administrative systems - will be addressed by the community model. These are wide-ranging and it is instructive to see what they think is important or advisable. I also wondered about the costs of open source development and support. Other areas are noted, including, fleetingly, library systems, but are not a main focus. The former they associate with volunteer community-oriented activities like Linux and Apache. More importantly, there are specific options when Zotero recognizes a page it knows how to scrape from: you see an icon in the location bar, like the RSS icon when Firefox discovers a feed.
In this way, it is suggested that Google and the library are not direct competitors. Because Sakai exists, it is is suggested by some, Blackboard is more responsive to standards issues and the hope is that it may lead Blackboard to lower prices. Overall, one could imagine how it could be more specialized to the needs of those interested in this topic and how the various services presented could be more integrated.
The authors note that 'during the interviews, many users expressed genuine surprise that they could actually ask library employees for advice'.
It makes interesting reading, especially because it is unusual to read materials in this area which have such a self-conscious policy, rather than technical, focus.
Of course, NCIP sits in this space. More importantly, there are specific options when Zotero recognizes a page it knows how to scrape from: you see an icon in the location bar, like the RSS icon when Firefox discovers a feed. Interestingly, the main Google search engine is not included. In some cases it was not clear to them what staff had to offer, or they did not want to disturb staff who were sitting at workstations.
This is one reason that the authors support the idea of an organization which bears the costs of coordination and advancement and reduces that cost for individual institutions and move things along. What proportion of, say, Peoplesoft's revenues are accounted for by higher education?
I also wondered about the costs of open source development and support. The project page is hosted at Ithaka: will it also host an Organization for Open Source Software as discussed in the report?
The second was that they were not seen as having academic expertise.
These are wide-ranging and it is instructive to see what they think is important or advisable.
They are working towards a wider range of 'research support services' of which the institutional repository may be a part, and towards a new sense of discovery in a very changed network world.