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Questionpoint.org Projekt der LOC und OCLC



Hallo zusammen,
Eine Information von allgemeinen Interesse:
Eine Meldung vom 31.05. aus "The Chronicle of Higher Education"
zur Zeit auch noch online zu lesen unter:
http://chronicle.com/free/2002/05/2002053101t.htm

Das Projekt ist unter http://www.questionpoint.org zu finden.

New Service Allows the Public to Pose Reference Questions Without >Visiting the Library
By SCOTT CARLSON


Starting on Monday, members of the public will be able to use the >World Wide Web to seek answers to reference questions from librarians >around the world, including some at college libraries.

The service, called QuestionPoint, will operate through a Web browser >and may make some visits to the library unnecessary. The Library of >Congress and the Online Computer Library Center, better known as OCLC, >developed it.

A patron will gain access to QuestionPoint through his or her local >library's Web site. Questions will be routed to local libraries first. >If a user's local library isn't open, the question will be sent to an >open library elsewhere -- one that has strengths in disciplines that >match the nature of the question. A librarian will pick up the >question and help the patron find an answer. QuestionPoint offers a >reduced subscription price for any library that agrees to help answer >its inquiries.

Part of the drive behind the project is to put libraries online, >because many users are going to the Internet for research. "People now >are staying at home and not going to libraries," says Diane N. Kresh, >director of public-service collections at the Library of >Congress. "Why not have libraries be really visible on the Web, so >that people can go to library-based search systems and networks and >get information that's credible, accurate, and objective, which you >can't necessarily get from Ask Jeeves?"

She adds, "If people sitting at home access information through a Web->based information service run by libraries, it will probably raise the >visibility of their local library."

About 100 academic, public, private, and national libraries have >signed up to participate. Some 260 libraries have been part of a >similar, free online program called the Collaborative Digital >Reference Service, or CDRS, which was not open to the public. CDRS >will shut down once QuestionPoint begins running.

Ms. Kresh says that QuestionPoint is a revved-up version of CDRS, >giving users more options when posing questions -- and costing >libraries money. Individual libraries will be able to sign up for >subscriptions for a maximum of about $2,000. Libraries that are part >of consortia will be able to sign up for much less. Chip Nilges, >director of new product planning for OCLC, says that future versions >of QuestionPoint will offer software that allows librarians and >patrons to communicate through audio and video programs. Foreign->language versions are also being planned.

News of QuestionPoint kicked up some dust on the COLLIB, an e-mail >discussion list for college librarians. Some librarians said there >that QuestionPoint gives patrons yet more incentive not to visit the >libraries' physical spaces.

Mr. Nilges responds by saying that "it's a fact that users often opt >to begin their search outside of the library." He cites a survey that >OCLC did about a year ago, in which most respondents said that they >started their research with online search tools.

"We need to meet the patrons where they're looking for information, >whether that's inside the library portal or outside the library >portal," he says. "We need to find a way to make our members available >to them."

But some librarians will need more persuasion. Barbara Fister, the >librarian at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, was one librarian >discussing QuestionPoint on COLLIB. In an interview, she said that >QuestionPoint was a product of "Jeeves envy," referring to Ask Jeeves, >an online search engine. She says librarians and people at OCLC >shouldn't try to offer a competitive service, and she predicts that >QuestionPoint is going to be "a major market bomb."

"It's providing something completely different than what you can get >at a reference desk," she says. "This sends the message that you can >go online and get your reference done and that you don't need a >library for that. In a higher-education market, that is so dead >wrong. ... I look at the reference desk as a place where teaching >happens."

Mit freundlichen Grüßen aus dem wolkigen München Markus Gawehn

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