Open Library，开创开放式图书馆新局面 朱玉强　编译 　　Open Library（openlibrary.org）旨在联合互联网资源与开放内容联盟（Open Content Alliance，OCA）营造免费的、全球化的在线目录和图书馆。该组织认为，阐述图书及其元数据的最佳途径是为每本图书建立一张网页。 　　这些网页应该包含在传统图书馆目录中可以检索到的数据以及出版商靠图书线上资讯交换标准获取的读者提供的相关综述、参考文献及讨论。对于可从OCA获取的电子化的公众领域内图书而言，网站直接提供了电子图书接口。对于不能获取全文的图书，网站会提供购买、借阅或下载的相关链接。为实现其全景化描述的目标，Open Library还计划构建主题词和作者相关网页，网页的内容可由用户更新和编辑。 　　关于Open Library最有趣的莫过于其构建理念。虽然现今它只有演示版，Open Library的目标是做成“人”的产品：人们创建、修整目录，参与内容编制及管理，对数据具完全、自由存取权。 　　很多图书馆和技术博客评论说Open Library的接口及浏览个体图书时的翻页技术已经优于Google的图书搜索，因此可作为“真正的”下一代目录可能的面貌的模型。但Open Library最大的贡献或许在于其为图书馆界带来的友好挑战。Open Library具有塑造图书馆内容的线上表现形式以及推动图书馆与线上用户交流的潜力。Open Library假设用户希望添加自己的见解于某条记录中，并信任地提供了类似维基百科的编辑界面。 　　图书馆不应被此项挑战吓倒，而应投入到Open Library的怀抱，成为其积极的开发合作者和用户。如果Open Library流行开来，某特定题名的网络搜索结果将不再是某网上书店的一张网页，而是Open Library中的一条书目记录，该记录提供给用户回到可获取此书的图书馆的链接，这将有利于提高流通率及帮助研究人员找到独一无二的、绝版印刷的材料。 　　这些都必须植根于Open Library的可信性及高质量上，图书馆馆员为此可在创建、维护图书、作者及主题词元数据方面工作。作为合作开发伙伴，图书馆应该为该项目提供关于其界面及功能的反馈，使得Open Library在用户需求及图书馆现有服务间谋求平衡点。图书馆也可考虑如何充分利用Open Library，或者引入新的赞助服务。 　　在融合不同来源的数据的算法及运作庞大的数据库方面，Open Library尚需援助。图书馆馆员在这个进程中可以协助检测Open Library中的记录，指出其中算法出错的地方。除此之外，图书馆也可以在扫描公众领域图书，使其可从Open Library获取方面提供帮助。实现这些的途径之一是加入OCA的数字化项目，该项目比别的图书电子化项目比如GOOGLE图书搜索项目要好，后者对电子化后的图书使用范围有所限制。 　　虽然Open Library还处于婴儿期，此项目却有着雄心勃勃的计划，其中很多计划已经在名为“用户界面（The State of the [User Interface]）”（可从demo.openlibrary.org/dev/docs/ui查阅）的文档中列出了大纲。有些功能已经实现了，另有一些还在建设中。现在是时候让图书馆馆员们认真地考虑建设中的Open Library的功能了，因为此项目有可能对未来的线上图书馆界面设置很高的标准。 －－－ 附原文信息： 标题:Opening Up to Open Library. 作者:Coombs, Karen librarywebchic@gmail.com 来源:Library Journal; Spring2008 NetConnec, Vol. 133, p28-28, 1p 文献类型:Article 作者单位:Head of Web Services, University of Houston Libraries, TX 全文字数:687 ISSN:0363-0277 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opening Up to Open Library Open Library blends metadata, content, and Web 2.0, says Karen Coombs, blurring the distinction between catalog and texts Open Library (openlibrary.org) is being developed as a partnership between the Internet Archive and Open Content Alliance (OCA) to create a free, global online catalog and library. In their view, the best way to represent books and their metadata online is to create a web page for every book. These pages then combine the data found in traditional library catalog and publisher ONIX records with user-generated reviews, references, and discussions. For digitized public domain books available from OCA, an ebook interface is included directly on the site. For those books unavailable in full text, links to buy, borrow, or download are also included. And to round out its all-encompassing goal of total descriptive content, Open Library plans to create subject and author pages as well. Once collected, this information will be updatable and editable by users. One of the most interesting things about Open Library is the ideal on which it is based. Though only a demo version in its current state, Open Library aims to be a "product of the people: letting them create and curate its catalog, contribute to its content, participate in its governance, and have full, free access to its data." Reciprocal relationship Many library and technology bloggers have commented that the Open Library interface and page-turning technology for navigating individual books is superior to that of Google Book Search and therefore could be a model of what the true next-generation catalog might look like. But Open Library's greatest contribution may well be the friendly challenge it presents to the library world. Open Library has the potential to shape the online presentation of library content and push the bounds of how libraries interact with users on the web. Open Library assumes users want to add their own voices to a record and trusts them with it's wiki-like editing interface. Rather than being intimidated by this challenge, libraries should embrace Open Library, becoming active development partners and users. If Open Library gains popularity, web searches for a particular title will result not in a page from an online bookstore but rather that book's entry in Open Library, providing users with links back to libraries where the book is available. This could improve circulation statistics and help researchers find unique, out-of-print materials. But this can only happen if the information in Open Library is reliable and of good quality. Librarians can work to ensure this by creating and maintaining book, author, and subject metadata. As development partners, librarians should provide the project with feedback on the interface and functionality so Open Library meets user needs and leverages existing services that libraries furnish. Libraries should also consider how Open Library can be used to enhance these offerings, or implement new patron services. Open call to librarians Open Library needs assistance developing algorithms for merging data from different sources and working with enormous data sets. Aside from coding efforts, librarians can contribute to this process by examining Open Library records and noting places where the merge algorithms have gone wrong. Libraries can also assist by scanning public domain books and making them available via Open Library. One way of doing this is by joining OCA's digitization effort rather than other book digitization projects such as the Google Books Library Project, which restricts how digitized books may be used. Although Open Library is in its infancy, the project has ambitious plans, many of which are outlined in a development document called "The State of the [User Interface]" (demo.openlibrary.org/dev/docs/ui). Some of the features described are already in place, while others are under construction. Now is the time for libraries to consider seriously the functionality that Open Library is building, as this project is likely to set the bar very high for future online library interfaces. For more info on Open Library, listen to the first Library 2.0 Gang podcast at www.libraryjournal.com/LibraryGang