The Kids' Catalog project: Customizing networked information

Sandlian, Pamela

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/375 Copy

Description

Title

The Kids' Catalog project: Customizing networked information

Author(s)

Sandlian, Pamela

Issue Date

1994

Keyword(s)

• Children in libraries
• Networked information
• Online public access catalog

Abstract

Organizing this explosion of information is a Herculean task. Helping people decipher the information puzzle is complicated, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. The clues to solving the puzzle are often so complex that professional librarians, with years of experience, have difficulty locating information and answering reference questions. This task becomes more significant when we recognize the vital necessity that children become sophisticated information users in order to succeed in the 21st century. The traditional library tour with a review of the Dewey Decimal Classification system no longer suffices as a means for teaching children how to use the library. The networked information available in libraries, homes, and schools is not only technically difficult to acquire, but a dull source compared to other media. A generation of children who have grown up with sophisticated computer games complete with 32-bit color graphics, not to mention painless ease of access to information and recreation via the television, are not satisfied with the textbased online catalog. Creating customized information for children that incorporates appealing color and graphics sets up a successful relationship between the child, the library, and the computer. It acknowledges the importance 134 PAMELA SANDLIAN of children's information needs while at the same time creating a package that excites them. Customizing networked information is a step towards helping children become sophisticated information users. A beginning solution to this information conundrum is the Kid's Catalog. Developed by a team from the Denver Public Library and CARL (Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries) Systems, Inc., this Macintosh and PC software product interfaces with online library catalogs. This paper outlines the theoretical planning and research foundations of this library project.

Publisher

Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Series/Report Name or Number

Emerging communities : integrating networked information into library services [papers presented the 1993 Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing, April 4-6, 1993]

ISSN

0069-4789

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/375

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