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MEDIA CONTACT: Sharon Dickman sdickman@rochester.edu
585.275.4128
April 14, 2006
The University of Rochester's River Campus Libraries will take the lead in studying how best to develop an open-source online system that can unify access to traditional and digital library resources. With a $283,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the University will begin planning and requirements analysis activities for a new system known as eXtensible Catalog (XC).
XC has the potential to allow future library users at any level of proficiency to get more out of academic library collections and to give academic libraries more control over how best to help people gather information. As envisioned, XC's simple yet powerful interface will allow users to navigate through comprehensive search results sorted into useful categories that will give them the resources they seek more easily.
As lead institution for the XC project, the University of Rochester will draw upon the combined talents and expertise of existing staff within the University's River Campus Libraries in the areas of programming, metadata, anthropology, graphic design, user-centered design, and usability testing. The principal investigator for the project is Ronald F. Dow, the Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of River Campus Libraries, with co-principal investigators David Lindahl, director of digital initiatives; Jennifer Bowen, head of cataloging; and Nancy Fried Foster, lead anthropologist for the libraries. The length of the grant is May 2006 to April 2007.
The first phase of the analysis will produce a plan that will include:
One end result of an XC system may be inexpensive, flexible alternatives to using off-the-shelf software to provide access to library collections.
River Campus Libraries already has a track record of successes with open-source projects, strong institutional support for collaboration and innovation, and a vision for XC's future as a collaborative project that can benefit academic libraries and their users.
The University of Rochester (www.rochester.edu) is one of the nation's leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Memorial Art Gallery.
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