Personal vs professional: two views of WorldCat lists
Making lists on WorldCat.org is getting to be pretty popular. We currently have over 200,000 of them on the site, with more being added daily. I've done a few of them myself, including a recent one that is simply a copy of the items mentioned in a recent io9 blog post, "Where to start with young adult science fiction." WorldCat lists are great for things like that; keeping track of books that I'd eventually like to borrow from the library and read to/with my son at some point... in the frighteningly-ever-nearer future when he goes from "kid" (he's 10) to "young adult."
With a list like that, it's neat to be able to share it or send a simple link to a friend. WorldCat makes it easy for anybody to do that. Some lists, though, are quite a bit more... well... research intensive. And WorldCat is a great place to work on bibliographies of a much more substantive nature, especially if you want help from others.
A great example of such a list is one being created by the Senior Information Specialist here in OCLC's corporate library. Tam Dalrymple provides the writers and editors on my team with absolutely AWESOME research service for many of the pieces we work on, including some of the OCLC membership reports. But she also works on long-term projects related to the profession as a whole. Tam is currently assembling the list, "Library Users and Non-Users - A Bibliography from the OCLC Library." This is a collection of studies on how -- or whether -- libraries fit into people's information-seeking behavior. Right now Tam is concentrating on published books, reports or dissertations, rather than articles. Currently many of the items focus on library use and users, but one of her goals is to include more studies that start from the perspective of the information seeker. There are 50 items on the list as of today... worth taking a look if you have any interest in research involving library use.
And... As you can guess from reading that description, this is a work in progress. Tam is actively soliciting idea for additions to the list. If you can think of something, feel free to email her at: dalrympt@oclc.org.
Two great ways to use WorldCat Lists: personal forget-me-nots, and shared, major research efforts. My guess is that there are a lot of other lists on WorldCat that fit somewhere in between.
PS: You can search for others' WorldCat lists by clicking on the "Search" drop-down box at the top of the WorldCat.org screen, and choosing "Search for Lists."
With a list like that, it's neat to be able to share it or send a simple link to a friend. WorldCat makes it easy for anybody to do that. Some lists, though, are quite a bit more... well... research intensive. And WorldCat is a great place to work on bibliographies of a much more substantive nature, especially if you want help from others.
A great example of such a list is one being created by the Senior Information Specialist here in OCLC's corporate library. Tam Dalrymple provides the writers and editors on my team with absolutely AWESOME research service for many of the pieces we work on, including some of the OCLC membership reports. But she also works on long-term projects related to the profession as a whole. Tam is currently assembling the list, "Library Users and Non-Users - A Bibliography from the OCLC Library." This is a collection of studies on how -- or whether -- libraries fit into people's information-seeking behavior. Right now Tam is concentrating on published books, reports or dissertations, rather than articles. Currently many of the items focus on library use and users, but one of her goals is to include more studies that start from the perspective of the information seeker. There are 50 items on the list as of today... worth taking a look if you have any interest in research involving library use.
And... As you can guess from reading that description, this is a work in progress. Tam is actively soliciting idea for additions to the list. If you can think of something, feel free to email her at: dalrympt@oclc.org.
Two great ways to use WorldCat Lists: personal forget-me-nots, and shared, major research efforts. My guess is that there are a lot of other lists on WorldCat that fit somewhere in between.
PS: You can search for others' WorldCat lists by clicking on the "Search" drop-down box at the top of the WorldCat.org screen, and choosing "Search for Lists."
On October 31, 2009 at 7:13 PM Dane Mun said:
Andy,
I like the lists feature of the Worldcat site, and judging from the numbers you've listed here, so do a great many others.
What I would really like to see is:
1. A way to import lists (there is already a way to export them--thanks for that)
2. A way to quickly move items from one list to another
3. A way to rename lists
4. A way to remove the default lists ("Things I Recommend", "Things I Own", "Things to Check Out") that appear whenever I try to save an item to a list
Will any of this be possible?
Dane
On November 6, 2009 at 11:54 AM bobrobboy
said:
Hi Dane, Thanks for the suggestions on lists. Each suggestion is valuable. We've discussed ways we might enable importing of lists from other sites. It is something we want to implement, but we have a lot of priorities and that one hasn't made it to the top of the list yet. The other features you mention all point to the need to have more control or management over your lists. This is something I've been thinking about lately as we continue to improve lists. I'll include some aspects of these needs as we move forward. Regarding moving items, you can move items from one list to another now by checking the items shown on the list page and clicking the "move" button and then choosing which list you would like to move the items too. Are you thinking of something other than that, or are you thinking that you'd like another way to move items? Let us know! Our list of priorities is long, but we're persistent.