IMC 451:

ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION

TOPIC 2:
Organization of Information in
Different Environments
The Approach to the Organization of Information in
Different Environments
Institution or center to
organize and provide
information so that it Organize information
will be retrievable for so that it will be kept
various purposes and for posterity.
also provide resources,
services to the users.

DEFINITION OF INFORMATION AGENCY

The Approach to the Organization of Information in
Different Environments

Library

Record Museum
Center

Digital Libraries
Types of and Archives
Informatio
Knowledge n Agencies
Center Archive

Information
Art Galleries
Resource Center
 Organization of Information in LIBRARIES

Library collections are developed

Libraries are primarily in three (3) ways:
thought to
Libraries
have the
rely on the
longest
efforts of
tradition of
collection
organizing 1. 2. 3.
developmen
information Librarians learn Donated Prearranges
t to fulfill
for purpose about existing gifts from relationships
their patrons,
of retrieval and new works with book
missions.
for future from reviews, organization vendors that
civilization. publishers’ s, supply titles
announcement, government, based on a
requests from etc., and pre-designed
patrons. profile
 Organization of Information in LIBRARIES

Arrange and Classify Cataloguing & MARC (Machine

• When materials Classification Process Readable Format)
are received they • The first activity to • This information is
are physically occur following the almost always
arranged and receipt of new entered in the MARC
classified. resources. record where it
• Arranged by • Creating a description becomes
alphabetically, of the physical item. electronically
Dewey Decimal • Choosing certain retrievable in the
Classification, names and title as form of union
Library of Congress access points. catalogs (i.e. OCLC,
Classification. • TRLN, WNCLN, UNC
Authority work.
Coastal Library
• Subject analysis. Consortium, etc).
• Creating a call number.
Dewey Decimal Classification System
Library of Congress Classification
Organization of Information in LIBRARIES
Cataloguing and Classification Process

Descriptive Subject Analysis Classification

Cataloguing • Determining the • Classification
• The process of subject matter of a notations are
choosing a name work. chosen from a
and title access • Subject headings are standard
point. chosen by refereeing classification
• Followed a set of to a list of controlled schedule.
rules called vocabulary terms. • E.g. Library of
Anglo-American • E.g. Library of Congress
Cataloguing Congress Subject Classification
Rules (AACR2) & Heading (LCSH), (LCC); Dewey
RDA: Resource Medical Subject Decimal
Description and Heading (MeSH) Classification
Access. (DDC).
CATALOGUING TOOLS
Organization of Information in LIBRARIES

Original Cataloguing /
Copy Cataloguing

Subject
Analysis

Classification

Catalog Record
Organization of Information in LIBRARIES
Once items have been chosen, received and added into the catalogue, the physical
Items have to be processed ….

Conservation
Placing call
Removing Placing and
number
and adding security strips preservation
labels and
book jackets in or on items for older
barcodes
items and etc.
Security Strip Call number labels

Library Barcode Conservation and Preservation

 Organization of Information in
DIGITAL LIBRARIES

A collection of Information
Resources in digital form that
are selected , brought
together, organized,
Definition preserved, and to which
access is provided over digital
networks for a particular
community of users

The electronic extension of the physical places where resources are

collected, organized, preserved and accessed, including libraries,
museums, and schools.
 Organization of Information in
DIGITAL LIBRARIES
• The documents in a digital library are called ‘items’ or ‘objects’, which contain
data or the ‘content’ that is stored in the form of ‘repositories’.

• The Content concept encompasses the data and information that the Digital

Library handles and makes available to its users.

• The description of the stored data/information is known as ‘metadata’ or

‘properties’ of that data.

• Almost every type of information can be represented in digital form including

text, pictures, music, computer programs, databases, models, video and a
combination of any of the above.

• Every digital ‘object’ needs to be identified by a name, a time stamp and the
owner, so as to establish the legal ownership.
 Organization of Information in
Digital Libraries and Archives

5 Steps to create a digital library:

1) Selection of documents and Scanning

- scanning (or converting the text/image into digital format) of printed
documents.
2) Storage & management
- standards for the creation, storage and delivery of digital information.
3) Search & Access
- accessible over the Internet from anywhere and by anyone on all the
365 days of the year.
4) Distribution, and
5) Rights management
 Organization of Information in
Digital Libraries and Archives
DL FILE FORMATS AND STANDARDS

Types of Digital Information File Formats

1. Postscript and PDF for page description TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PNG etc.
2. Images PCD
3. Structured Documents HTML, XML & SGML
4. Audio, etc AU, MP3, WAV, RAM & MIDI

- There are various file formats to store each type of data.

- Hence, it becomes essential to adopt various international standards for the creation, storage and
delivery of digital information.
- The Digital Library Federation (DLF) recommends standard naming conventions for the digital
objects.
- Dublin Core Metadata is one such method that describes a resource or contains data about data.
- Dublin Core Metadata Element Set is a standardized, descriptive metadata method to locate networked
resources.
- Metadata formats such as Dublin Core, MARC, IAFA, TEI, and GILS, describe an object in a
standardized format.
- Metadata standards/formats will be discussed in Topic 7.
 Organization of Information in
DIGITAL LIBRARIES and Archives
Some Examples of Digital Library and Archives Initiatives: International
1990s – Digital Library Projects funded
by U.S National Science Foundation
and U.K. Joint Information Systems
Committee.
Aim – To remove technical and
distance barriers from the provision of
access to all kinds if information and
irreplaceable artifacts.
Digitization Projects: “Electronic
Beowulf Project” (the eleventh –
century manuscripts of Beowulf);
audio recordings of historic speeches
or exotic sounds from nature so forth.
Cornell University Digitization Projects:
- primary sources of the nineteenth-
century American culture and history.
- Audio recordings of rare birdcalls.
- Works drawn from the university
library’s rare book collection
American Memory Digital Library
- It was established by the Library of
Congress in 1990.
- Collaborative effort with public,
research, and academic libraries,
museums, historical societies, and
archival institution.
- The digital collections available on the
American Memory site.
Organization of Information in Digital Libraries and Archives
Digital Library Software:
- it is an independent software that libraries can use to build their own digital libraries.

Example 1: Greenstone
- is a suite of software for building and distributing digital library collections.
- It provides a new way of organizing information and publishing it on the Internet or on
CD-ROM.
- It is produced by the New Zealand Digital Library Project at the University of Waikato,
and developed and distributed in cooperation with UNESCO and the Human Info NGO.
- It is open-source, multilingual software, issued under the terms of the GNU General
Public License. (http://www.greenstone.org)

Example 2: DSpace
- is a groundbreaking digital library system to capture, store, index, preserve, and
redistribute the intellectual output of a university’s research faculty in digital formats.
- Developed jointly by MIT Libraries and Hewlett-Packard (HP).
- DSpace is now freely available to research institutions world wide as an open source
system that can be customized and extended. (http://www.dspace.org).
Organization of Information in
Digital Libraries and Archives

Right
Management

Issues of
Digitization

Metadata
Preservation
Encoding
Consist of Organizational Archive
Preserve
unique items. records consist of materials are
records of organized and
enduring annual reports,
correspondences, described in
value that personal records, groups.
document etc.
organizational Materials are
Personal records arranged by the
or personal may consist of basic principles
activities letters, diaries, of provenance
accumulated manuscripts, etc. and original
in the course or, collections of order.
of daily life memorabilia,
and work. souvenirs,
machinery, etc.
 Organization of Information in ARCHIVES

Two sub-principles of Respect Des Fonds

Respect Des
Fonds
Archival
Basic materials
Principles of created Original
Organization Provenance
together Order
in Archives should be
kept together
in their
-
original
order.
Organization of Information in ARCHIVES
Respect Des Fonds Principles

• The originator (i.e., the corporate body or

individual) that created, gathered or
maintained the collection before it was
Provenance sent to the archive.
• The ownership history of a particular
artifact/ collection of archival information.

• The sequence in which the originator of an

Original archival collection kept or created the
collection.

Order
Organization of Information in ARCHIVES
Three (3) distinct activities in processing archival collections:

• Gathering and analyzing information about the collection.

• Analyze the materials to identify their origin, structure and content.
Step 1

• Organizing and arranging the collection.

• Organization: The materials have been subdivided into smaller units.
• Arrangement : Once the various units and sub units of the collections have been
Step 2 established, the archivists decides how to order the individual items within those units
(filling system)

• Creating finding aids to provide access to the collection.

• The creation of finding aids, both catalog records and inventories /registers, is a complex
process that requires the archivist to have a working knowledge of the standards and
Step 3 tools.
Organization of Information in ARCHIVES
• An accession record summarizes information about the source of collection,
Accession • Briefly describes the physical data and contents for a collection.
Record

• Is a tool to retrieve archival collections.

• Give detailed notes of the historical and organizational context of the
Finding collection.
Aids • Describing its content and providing an inventory outlining what is in each box.

• MARC-AMC – a Marc format for archival and manuscript control (AMC).

• Encoded Archival Description (EAD) standard has been used to encode finding
Standard aids so that they can be displayed on the Web.

Archival materials are generally housed in boxes kept in closed stacks,

accessible only to staff.
Organization of Information in MUSEUM and
ART GALLERIES

Consist of visual material in two- or three-dimensional form.

Collections are less standardized and as result are less likely to be retrieved
electronically as are library or archive collections.

The provenance of an object or a collection of objects is important information

and is essential in determining the name and other elements describing that
particular object.

Accession records are created of items held within a collection. In some cases, groups
of singular objects are described as a single lot that is given a single accession number.
Organization of Information in MUSEUM and
ART GALLERIES

After receiving an accession number, items are registered. Registration is a process

much similar to library or archival cataloging.

The register serves as a catalog, where it establishes the organizational control

over the works and artifacts.

Creating records for museum objects and art has it own set of challenges.
Because the objects are often imperfectly known at the time of accessioning
and registering, the chance that where will be an accumulation of conflicting
over time is likely.

In addition, the lack of text associated with works of art and artifacts invites more
subjective observation by those persons interpreting the item or collection for public
record.
Organization of Information in MUSEUM and
ART GALLERIES
• Museums can also have archives, record management programs
and libraries.
• Collection are stored behind the scenes/ display.
• Items are numbered in a way so that they can be retrieved as
needed.

Fossil collections Museum Register

Organization of Information in THE INTERNET

Several different approaches have been attempted at

organizing information on the Internet.

Portal or gateways to the Internet (bibliographies of

websites)
• INFOMINE – virtual library of internet resources created by librarians
from several academic libraries.
• Virtual libraries (i.e. NetLibrary.com, Questia.com., ReplicaBookss.com)
that borrow classification concepts from physical libraries are
developing.

Libraries have been at the forefront at establishing metadata

standards which is called Dublin Core – a set of 15 metadata
elements used to describe Web resources).
Organization of Information in THE INTERNET

Search engines, designed primarily by computer theorists,

scientist, and programmers, are retrieval tools on the WWW that
matches keywords input by a user to words found at web sites.

More effective search engines incorporate the theories and

technologies that provides for : Boolean searching, cluster
querying, information extraction, pre-coordination of terms, post
coordination of terms, relevance search results.

Human indexers are also used (Yahoo). Websites are classified into
broad and narrow subject areas.
 Organization of Information in
RECORDS MANAGEMENT

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines record

management as:

“field of management responsible for the

efficient and systematic control of the creation,
receipt, maintenance , use and disposition of
records.”
Organization of Information in
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The terminology applied to the control of
the explosion of information and other
administrative settings.

It involves keeping, filing and maintaining

of paper and electronic records.

The units that need to be organized in the

administrative environment are such as
directories, files, programs, and field
names.

Data modeling, the process of designing

system for managing office and
administrative records, involves three
essential models that are: conceptual,
logical, and physical.
 Organization of Information in
RECORD MANAGEMENT

The characteristics of records system

4. Routinely
1. Routinely
2. Organize the function as the
capture all 3. Protect the 5. Provide ready
records in a way primary source
records within records from access to all
that reflects the of information
the scope of the unauthorized relevant records
business about actions
business alteration or and related
processes of the that are
activities it disposition. metadata
records’ creator. documented in
covers.
the records

(ISO 2001: standard for records management)

Records manager - oversee an
organization's records from their
creation and preservation through to
disposal.
 Organization of Information in
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CENTER (KMC)

Definition Knowledge Manager KM Tools objectives:

• The attempt to capture, • develop tools, policies, • to create knowledge
evaluate, store, and and incentives to repositories,
reuse what the encourage people to • to improve knowledge
employees of an share what they know. access,
organization know. • to enhance the
knowledge
environment and
• to manage knowledge
as an asset.
 Organization of Information in
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CENTER (KMC)

Organization of knowledge in KMC

•The knowledge that has been stored need to be
described, classified and retrieved.

•Therefore, the organization’s knowledge must be

sorted out, labeled (i.e., described), and classified
into different subjects or groups if it is to be
retrieved when needed.
Thank You…