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15 Trends L. Libr. Mgmt. & Tech. 1 (2004)

handle is hein.journals/ttllmt15 and id is 1 raw text is: 2004 VoL 15 No. 1 j2I IN LAw LIBRARY MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY Edited by Philip C. Berwick + For academic, firm, corporate, and government law librarians Issues in Database Presentation for the Law Library By ARts WOODHAM, Washington University School of Law A s with most law libraries, Washington University has pursued a policy of continual development in the area of electronic collections. Because these resources have largely migrated to a web-based interface, the problems of integrating them within an existing library website rapidly is critical to ensuring their availability to the School's primary patron bases. While there are a host of questions as to the ultimate value of various titles in relation to the Library's mission, this article will not focus on the evaluation or choice of these resources. Instead, we will address how to best inco- rporate these often diverse data sets into a website. We will review the four areas that impact the presentation of any web-based digital resource. They are selection, content (and its description), authentication (in the case of password-protected or other restricted-access databases), and access (local or remote). In fact, each of these issues represents a constellation of problems, but, taken together, they provide a checklist of issues that must be successfully managed. Selection/Initial Presentation A threshold question is how can user choice be facilitated by the web designer. More specifically, how can the user be guided to an intelligent choice that will meet their in- formation needs. In the traditional paradigm, librarians have tended to rely heavily on categorization (taxonomy) as a means of directing users to where they need to be. In a recent article by Todd Digby, he notes that these res- ources have evolved beyond their print-based forms into cross-linked, multimedia resources (that) do not fit the traditional categories we have assigned to them .... ' As an example he cites once simple reference sources, such as bibliographic indexes, that are now, through cross- linking, starting points for access to multiple, related full- text sources.' Such hybrid products defy the traditional taxonomies (subject, type, bibliographic versus full-text) that librarians have clung to in struggling with the nature of digital resources. The once clear distinction between a reference and research source is effectively moot in a fully linked web-based environment. Even the classic for- mat distinction between text and audio-visual is less likely to be clear, or even relevant, in a multi-format data- base. Similarly, the most common alternative apart from subject categorization, organization by resource type (monograph, serial) is less useful in the digital environ- ment. So do we conclude that categorization is useless? No, it remains essential, but cannot be the sole organizing principle. As Digby points out, many users will miss critical resources if they are unfamiliar with the sort of taxonomy that may seem obvious to the information pro- fessional.3 Law students and faculty in particular often think of resources in terms of availability, location, access and provider, not subject area or resource type. So how is appropriate user selection assured? On the most basic level, the data sets must be visible. This is not continued on page 2 2004

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