Re: Use statistics
Erin E Foley (mailto:EFOLEY@VZ.CIS.UMN.EDU)
Fri, 16 Sep 1994 10:05:02 -0500
Message-Id: <mailto:199409181037.FAA10139@library.wustl.edu>
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 1994 10:05:02 -0500
From: Erin E Foley <mailto:EFOLEY@VZ.CIS.UMN.EDU>
Subject: Re: Use statistics
To: Multiple recipients of list IMAGELIB <mailto:IMAGELIB@ARIZVM1.BITNET>
Thanks to Mary Larsgaard of the UCSB Map & Imagery Lab for her answer
to my rrequest for help. My problem may be that I am not able to be
on the Library's online catalog so the increased advertising is not
available that way. Our system is unique: INMAGIC software, our own
choices of what we catalog, our own thesaurus (partly based on the
Draft LC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials, but only partly). We are item
indexing in great detail. I think we pull thousands of images, but the
"perfect" image for the patron is usually the one which was once in a
subject folder with only a single access point. If I did not need to
pull all the other images to convince a patron, the images would be
safer. I want to put the images online for a patron to browse. Our only
use statistics are provided by our orders for reproductions. Many patrons
now use their own cameras to shoot images inhouse or use video cameras.
Our use may have increased, but it is impossible to prove: it is just a
"feeling".
Thanks also to Sandeep (spelling?) in Blacksburg for your thoughtful
response. (My last job was in Lexington, VA, so I am familiar with the
neighborhood. It is one of the most beautiful places I have been.) Your
reasoning may help me in my quest to write a grant for some sort of online
access to our 20,000 images of Minneapolis. Am not sure this would be
useful outside of the state of Minnesota, but maybe will be able to be
mounted on the new system the library is considering for its catalog.
The IMAGELIB discussions have given me a start in understanding what is
involved.
I have one firm conclusion: If images have online cataloging, they MUST
have an online image. The cataloging whets the appetite, but does not
satisfy it. The words provide access but the image is the only answer.
Erin Foley, Minneapolis Public Library, Special Collections