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Tools and Services Working Group: Call for Ideas

December 7, 1999 Author: CDLCategories:

The CDL Tools and Services Working Group has been working during the last year to identify areas in need of new tools and services, as well as define a process for soliciting and developing ideas.  We have targeted the area of customization as the next focus for investigation, and are issuing a call for input and ideas to library colleagues throughout the UC system.

Customization within the context of resources available to UC faculty, staff, and students through either the CDL or their specific campuses represents a major step towards personalization of digital library resources.  The Profile service for CDL-hosted databases is an initial step toward providing customization, but users may also benefit from the ability to customize at a broader level.  Among other things, a customization tool might allow end users to do the following:

  • Organize frequently used information resources in a personally meaningful way
  • Create, store and manage customized “update” searches within specified resources or subject areas
  • Create one-step pathways to frequently used reference tools
  • Store and manage customized profiles for searches within resources such as SearchLight or the CDL-hosted databases

It might also allow library staff on UC campuses to provide the following for campus users:

  • Personalized contacts for assistance with digital library resources
  • Messages concerning new or updated resources
  • One-step access to electronic reference and consultation services

Your Ideas and Input Are Requested

The CDL Tools and Services Working Group would like your input and ideas on how such a service might be developed within the context of the UC Libraries and how it might be useful to faculty, staff and students on your campus.  We are interested in any and all thoughts about customization and profiling within the CDL.

Please use the TSWG Web form available at [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/ts/] to let us know your thoughts regarding customization within the CDL.  Responses received by January 31, 2000 will form the basis for an initial proposal and subsequent campus visits.

The informational page at [http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/system_services/tswg/custom.html] provides more background on a customization tool and on the process for developing ideas for the tool, as well as a link to the submission form.