Questionpoint.org Projekt der LOC und OCLC

["Markus Gawehn" <xenian _at__ hotmail.com>]

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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