Building and Maintaining Internet Information Services:
K-12 Digital Reference Services
by R. David Lankes
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT iii
List of Tables viii
List of Figures ix
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
INTRODUCTION 2
CONTEXT OF THE STUDY 3
THE CONCEPT OF ADAPTATION AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 4
K-12 DIGITAL REFERENCE SERVICES 7
BENEFITS OF DESCRIPTIONS 9
RESEARCH QUESTIONS 10
METHOD OF THE STUDY 11
DELIMITERS AND ASSUMPTIONS 11
- Delimiters 11
- Organization as the Unit of Analysis 12
- Literature and Previous Research Used 12
- Sample Used for the Study 13
- Methods Used to Elicit Information 13
- Assumptions 13
- The Internet will Continue to be Complex and Dynamic 14
- Understanding Users Does Not Equate to Understanding Information Services 14
- Descriptions of Digital Reference Services Are Transferable 14
CHAPTER SUMMARY 15
Chapter 2: Conceptual Framework and Related Research 17
CHAPTER PREVIEW 18
DIGITAL REFERENCE SERVICES ON THE INTERNET 19
- Defining Digital Reference Services 19
- Impacts of the Internet on Reference Services 20
- Changing Roles of Reference Librarians 20
- Digital Libraries 23
- Digital Reference Services Summary 24
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 26
HOLLAND'S PERFORMANCE SYSTEM AND COMPLEXITY RESEARCH 27
- Stasis, Complexity, and Chaos 27
- A Note on Agents 29
- Acceptance of Complexity Theory 29
- Attributes of Complex Adaptive Systems 30
- Match of Attributes to the Internet 31
- Holland's Performance System 33
- Detectors 34
- Rules 35
- Effectors 36
- Use of Complexity in This Study 36
GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY 36
- Why Complexity and Not General Systems Theory 39
KNOWLEDGE AND CONTROL 39
- Knowledge 40
- Control 40
- Management, Knowledge, and Control 40
- Examples of Limited Knowledge, and Control in the Internet Environment 42
- Implications of Knowledge and Control on This Study 42
INTERNET INPUTS 43
- Internet Frameworks 43
- Open System Interconnect 44
- Liu et al.'s Three Roles in the Internet 45
- XIWT NII Architecture 46
- The Lankes/Eisenberg Architecture 46
- Infrastructure Providers 48
- Application Builders 48
- Information Services 49
- Users 49
- Architecture Summary 49
- Internal and External Input 49
- Using the Lankes/Eisenberg Architecture to Anticipate Detector Types 50
CHAPTER SUMMARY 51
Chapter 3: Methodology and Research Design 53
INTRODUCTION 54
- Overview of Method 54
- Role of Complexity in Method 56
THE NATURE OF THE INTERNET ENVIRONMENT 56
LACK OF GUIDING RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE 56
LINKAGE OF DESIGN TO RESEARCH QUESTIONS 57
THE APPROACH 57
- The Use of Elite Interviews 58
THE SELECTION OF EXEMPLARY K-12 DIGITAL
REFERENCE SERVICES 59
- Selection of Elites 60
- Elite Interview Schedule 61
- Venues for Interviewing 67
USE OF SECONDARY INFORMATION SOURCES 68
- The Internet 69
- Sites 70
- Internal Documents 70
- Experience 70
DATA DESCRIPTION 71
DATA QUALITY 73
- Use of Criteria 73
- Use of Conceptual Framework 74
- Use of an Audit Trail 74
- Use of Member Checks 74
- Use of the AskERIC Example 75
- Summary of Data Quality 75
PRE-TESTS 76
METHOD SUMMARY 77
Chapter 4: Results 79
INTRODUCTION 80
RESULTS OF DATA GATHERING 80
THE BLUEPRINT METAPHOR 81
- How to Read the Service Descriptions 82
- Purpose of Service Descriptions and Blueprints 83
SERVICE 1: ASK A VOLCANOLOGIST 84
- Introduction 85
- Blueprint Figure 86
- Detectors 87
- Effectors 87
- Rules 88
- Resources 88
- Blueprint Narrative 90
- Question Answer Process 90
- Web Development Process 91
SERVICE 2: ASK SHAMU 93
- Introduction 94
- Blueprint Figure 95
- Detectors 96
- Effectors 96
- Rules 97
- Resources 97
- Blueprint Narrative 98
- Question Answer Process 98
- Content Creation Process 99
- Policy Creation Process 100
SERVICE 3: DR. MATH 101
- Introduction 102
- Blueprint Figure 103
- Detectors 104
- Effectors 104
- Rules 105
- Resources 105
- Blueprint Narrative 106
- Question Answer Process 106
- Training Process 110
- Web Development Process 110
SERVICE 4: HOW THINGS WORK 112
- Introduction 113
- Blueprint Figure 115
- Detectors 116
- Effectors 116
- Rules 116
- Resources 117
- Blueprint Narrative 117
- Primary Q&A Process 118
SERVICE 5: MAD SCIENTIST NETWORK 120
- Introduction 121
- Blueprint Figure 122
- Detectors 123
- Effectors 123
- Rules 123
- Resources 124
- Blueprint Narrative 125
- Question Answer Process 126
- E-mail Process 130
- Software Improvement Process 130
SERVICE 6: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART REFERENCE DESK 131
- Introduction 132
- Blueprint Figure 133
- Detectors 134
- Effectors 134
- Rules 134
- Resources 135
- Blueprint Narrative 136
- Question Answer Process 136
TOWARDS A META-DESCRIPTION 139
- Looking Across Detectors 139
- Looking Across Effectors 141
- Looking Across Resources 142
- Looking Across Rules 143
META-DESCRIPTION 144
Chapter 5: Conclusions, Limitations, and Future Research 149
INTRODUCTION 150
CONCLUSIONS 150
- Conclusion 1: Conceptual Framework 151
- Revised Conceptual Framework 152
- Implications of the Conceptual Framework 153
- Conclusion 2: Description 153
- Methodological Conclusions and
- Implications 154
- Other Findings from the Service Descriptions 155
- User Internet Agent Types 155
- Application Internet Agent Types 155
- Infrastructure Internet Agent Types 156
- Nature of Elites 156
- Conclusion 3: Meta-Description 157
LIMITATIONS OF STUDY AND FINDINGS 158
- Dynamism in Building and Maintaining 158
- Efficiency and Effectiveness 159
- Surface Descriptions 159
- Transferability of Descriptions and Meta-Description 160
FUTURE RESEARCH 160
- Future Research Related to the Conceptual
- Framework 161
- Refining the Framework 161
- Developing the Dynamic Nature of the Conceptual
- Framework 161
- Balancing the Conceptual Framework 161
- Applying the Framework to Different Settings 162
- Conceptual Framework in Library and Information Center
- Settings 162
- Conceptual Framework in Non-Reference Settings 162
- Future Research Related to Descriptions 162
- A Longitudinal Study of K-12 Digital
- Reference Services 162
- Development of Efficiency and Effectiveness Benchmarks for Digital Reference Services 163
- Developing Streamlined Elicitation Process for Internet
- Information Services' Performance Systems 163
- Future Research Related to Meta-Description 163
- Enrichment of Meta-Description with Additional Processes 164
- Expansion of the Meta-Description to Consider Threaded
- Discussions and Iterative Processes 164
- Summary of Future Research 164
APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH 164
- A Common Answer Format: QuIP 169
- QuIP Components 169
- Transaction Wrapper 170
- Metadata Representation 170
- Blueprint Module 170
- Question 171
- Answer 171
- User Profile 171
- Implications of a Common Answer Format: A
- Question/Answer Electronic Marketplace 171
- Facilitating a Question/Answer Electronic Marketplace for K-12 Digital Reference 172
STUDY SUMMARY 173
- References 175
- Appendix A: Pre-Test Interview Transcript 181
- Appendix B: Quality Criteria Developed by the Expert Panel 189
- Appendix C: The AskERIC Pre-Test 191
- AskERIC Background 191
- AskERIC Today 192
- The AskERIC Organization 192
- User Services 192
- Technology Services (Research & Development and Systems/SunSITE) 193
- Partnerships 195
- Viewing AskERIC as a Performance System 195
- Detectors 196
- Rules 198
- Effectors 201
- AskERIC Summary 201
- Appendix D: More Information from the Internet 203
- Appendix E: Synopsis of Data Gathering 205
ASK A VOLCANOLOGIST 205
ASK SHAMU 206
DR. MATH 207
HOW THINGS WORK 208
MAD SCIENTIST NETWORK 209
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART REFERENCE DESK 210
Index 211
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