Chapter 7 Drawing Conclusions?vuir.vu.edu.au/424/1/07ch7-end.pdf · 2011-09-09 · Chapter 7 Page 297. Building empirically grounded theory requires a reciprocal relationship between

Page 294.

Chapter 7 Drawing Conclusions?

Till a man is sure he is infallible, it is not fit for him to be unalterable.

Robert Boyle (1661), Proëmial Essay100

Yet I sense your hesitation. By placing Jaya’s accusation at the end of myaccount, I’ve lent it credence. We believe the explanation we hear last. It’s one ofthe ways in which narrative influences our perception of truth. We cravefinality, an end to interpretation, not seeing that this too, the tying up of all looseends in the last chapter, is only a storyteller’s ruse. The device runs contrary toexperience, wouldn’t you say? Time never simplifies—it unravels andcomplicates… The plot does nothing but thicken.

Michelle de Kretser, The Hamilton Case

What a pleasure it was to revisit Shapin and Schaffer’s Leviathan and the Air-pump, their

monumental study of Robert Boyle, Thomas Hobbes and the development of

experimental science, after ten years and to be able to read it in a different light to when I

first encountered it (Shapin and Schaffer 1985). In those ten years my ideas about the

near infallibility of science and the role of technology in the world have become less

certain and definitely less scientifically rationalist. I have come to appreciate the fact that

there are many different ways to see the world and this thing we Westerners call reality.

Whilst not quite as ardently relativist in my views as someone such as Feyerabend (1978)

(although I suspect a number of my colleagues would dispute this) the following chapter,

and indeed those that precede it, are not to regarded as unalterable. This one is really my

100 As cited in Shapin, S. and Schaffer, S. 1985, Leviathan and the Air Pump: Hobbes, Boyle and theExperimental Life , Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. (p. 74).

Drawing Conclusions(?)

Chapter 7 Page 295.

summing up of the data collected over the life of this project, a tying up of loose ends.

View it as just one way of drawing the picture—a storyteller’s ruse.

In this process of tying up I will firstly revisit the notion of open systems as this provided

the theoretical underpinning, a lens through which to view the world of the Internet and

libraries. From there we can look back at the discoveries made over the life of this project

and what can be learnt from them. In passing, I will also discuss the ontological and

epistemological validity of the methods used. No research project, regardless of whether it

employed quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods of data collection and analysis, is

without its limitations and it is important that these are addressed before we examine

what generalisations can be made from this exercise. Finally, I will highlight some

possible directions future research could take.

7.1 Open Systems Revisited

In Section 2.3 an open system was described as being a sociotechnical system (collection

of human and nonhuman actors) that was a constantly changing nebulous structure; it

never reached a point where one could say ‘here is the final configuration’ where it was

stable and determinate; more than likely one could not determine what actors were part

of the system at any given time. At times, the evolution of this system may be predictable

and planned but often the changes were unforeseen.

In the realm of Information Systems, an open system is one that operates continuously

and is capable of handling large amounts of data that flows from many sources to many

destinations, not as a constant stream but in a generally unpredictable manner. Another

characteristic of such a system is that it is capable of performing many different

operations concurrently.


Chapter 7 Page 296.

There will exist, within the larger system, sub-systems that operate independently only

communicating with the larger system via explicit communication channels when

required. This implies that there will be varying degrees of co-operation between systems

and that decisions are not made by some centralised omnipotent being but rather at the

local level based on the information currently available to the local system.

It is with this understanding of an open system that the research was conducted and it is

within this framework that the results and major lessons learnt are recounted in the next

section. However before moving onto that part of the story, it would be worthwhile

answering one criticism that the astute reader is likely to raise. That is, the one that

basically says that I, the researcher, was sensitised to the concept of open systems before

the research began, thus, I was sure to find evidence of an open system in any data I

collected and analyzed.

This is true to an extent and experienced researchers such as Strauss and Corbin (1998)101

and Creswell (2003) acknowledge this. In particular Creswell warns that even in

ethnographic studies where theory is employed early on that the researcher may find that

the theory has to “be modified based on participant views”(p. 134). Furthermore he cites

Lather’s qualification on the use of theory:

101 This is the concept of theoretical sensitivity that is closely connected with Grounded Theory.It was developed by Strauss’ one time research associate Glasser but found its way in a dilutedform into Strauss and Corbin’s book. Simply stated, theoretical sensitivity refers to the idea that aresearcher should enter the field with just enough knowledge of what to expect but little enoughso they avoid trying to fit the data into predetermined views. Urquhart, C. 2001, 'An Encounterwith Grounded Theory: Tackling the Practical and Philosophical Issues', in Qualitative Researchin IS: Issues and Trends , ed. Trauth, E. M., Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA., pp. 104-140.


Chapter 7 Page 297.

Building empirically grounded theory requires a reciprocal relationshipbetween data and theory. Data must be allowed to generate propositions in adialectical manner that permits the use of a priori theoretical framework, butwhich keeps a particular framework from becoming the container into whichdata must be poured. (Lather (1986, p. 267) cited in Creswell 2003, p. 134)

That is, we must not allow theory to shape our interpretations of the data that has been

gathered and I hope to a certain extent that I have avoided this pitfall. I will say however

that I was looking for evidence of an open system in my analysis and of course I did find

that evidence. One possible way to counter that claim is for researchers to be transparent

about their interpretations. I believe that by employing a degree of reflexive reporting and

providing copious quotations from a variety of participants—in other words allowing the

data to speak for itself—that this has been achieved.

An additional way to counter the above claim is to find other researchers who have

discovered some or all of the aforementioned characteristics of ‘open system’ in their

particular study. As it happens, a recent study conducted by Eschenfelder and Chase on

the evolution of Web Information Systems (Web IS) some time after their initial

implementation (this was termed the post-implementation period) can do just that.

Although it did not use an open system framework, it nevertheless employed

sociotechnical methods. The authors found evidence of “highly dynamic systems”

(Eschenfelder and Chase 2002, p. 1). Now, for Eschenfelder and Chase an organizational

Web IS is “the union of all externally oriented Internet or extranet sites maintained by a

single organization and linked together by hypertext tags” (2002, p. 1). Hence, whilst it

has much in common with the system being studied here, I see a web IS as being a

subtype of the Internet implementation at the SLV. Recall, for instance, that the library

system is purposely linked to external databases and email providers and that these are

maintained by organizations external to the SLV, but that it also has large Internet

implementations that are administered in-house. Thus, having established that we are


Chapter 7 Page 298.

looking at similar types of systems it is instructive to delve a little further into

Eschenfelder and Chase’s results and see what parallels exist.

They employed four case sites for their data collection and found:

• “That actors made many changes to the web IS at each…site” [post-implementation], to the extent it challenged assumptions of system stability and“suggests actors undertake continual reconfiguration after systemsimplementation and that these reconfigurations require steady levels of activityand resource investment” (Eschenfelder and Chase 2002, p. 6). Compare thiswith Hewitt and de Jong’s (1984) that open systems are indeterminate, andnever likely to reach a final stable configuration. In the case of this study, wehave seen that various aspects have undergone continual change. This wasparticularly marked in the way the procedures for obtaining access to the PAIfacilities were altered at different times by the actors. Another example can bedrawn from the fact that in the first phase of the data collection we saw that theresearch terminals in the TIC did not have Internet access but by the time of thesecond phase of the research they did and that these terminals were ‘selfbooked’.

• That three of the four web IS experienced what they term “distributedgovernance” where distributed governance was described as follows “businessgroup web IS managers did not have to acquire approval from other actor groupsprior to making changes to their website”(Eschenfelder and Chase 2002, p. 7).Furthermore, this method of control “allowed business groups [within eachcompany] to maintain independent websites and make independent decisionsabout the configuration of their websites while still remaining linked to the largercompany web IS because of standard protocols” (Eschenfelder and Chase 2002,p. 7). Again compare this with the open system statement that decisions aremade at the local level based on information currently available at that level butthat such local systems communicate with the larger system via explicitcommunication channels. In this study one illustration of this is the way thatVICNET and the management of the Internet facilities within the SLV were theresponsibility of two different groups.

• Web IS were social constructions; they are “highly dependent on non-technicalcomponents” and any analysis should be holistic in nature and incorporate “thework and influence of disparate organizational and extra-organizational actorswho influence the use and success of the system” (Eschenfelder and Chase 2002,


Chapter 7 Page 299.

p. 8). Again this appeal to a sociotechnical approach is an echo of Hewitt’s(1986) appeal for incorporation of social interactions into the study of computersystems and the situated actions that accompany them (see page 52). Manyexamples of the involvement of non-technical components and intra- and extra-organizational actors in the current system will be highlighted in the next section.

It would appear from the foregoing that the post implementation Web IS that

Eschenfelder and Chase researched can be viewed as open systems although they do not

refer to them as such. Having found systems that exhibit similar dynamic and

sociotechnical properties to those attributed to open systems by Hewitt and de Jong

(Hewitt 1986; Hewitt and de Jong 1984) I believe that the legitimacy of the open systems

approach has been validated. Now, we can turn to the other lessons learnt from this in

depth sociotechnical study of libraries and the Internet.

7.2 The Main Lessons Learnt—The Library, The Internet aSociotechnical Co-Construction

Remember back to Chapter 3 and the major research question that I stated there, namely:

What role does the Internet play in the provision of information in libraries? The intellectual

puzzle for me was to unravel, to understand, the interplay between Internet technologies,

libraries, staff and users. The other challenge that I set myself was to improve my skills as

a qualitative researcher. I will have more to say about the second point later in this

chapter, for now I wish to try and gather up discoveries that have been made and that

are scattered like a myriad of snowflakes throughout Chapters 4, 5 & 6 and from this

assemble a personal vision of what was learnt from this project.

You will recall that I began this particular investigation after a much shorter study of the

early days of VICNET (Wenn 1996c) and from that study I had come to understand the

world in a particular way—that it was a complex web of actors that pushed, pulled,

struggled, formed alliances or even betrayed each other in an effort to construct a system


Chapter 7 Page 300.

that advanced their interests. That is, it was a sociotechnical world which Geertz (2000)

describes rather nicely when he says:

Machines, objects, tools, artefacts, instruments are too close at hand as to betaken as external to what is going on; so much apparatus free of meaning.These are mere ‘things’ that have to be incorporated into the story, and whenthey are the story takes on a heteroclite form—human agents and nonhumanones bound together in interpretivist narratives. (Geertz 2000, p. 154)

Thus, my world view was one where these actors (remember I understand actors to

comprise both humans and nonhumans) are intricately constrained by the relationships

they form with each other into some sort of purposeful whole. The purpose of this whole

is determined by those actors who wield the most power although there may be others

who undermine or betray the relationships in an effort to shape that purpose to meet

their own ends. To enable me, and I hope you, to interpret and reach some

understanding of those interactions (be they constructive, destructive, or simply

ambivalent) I employed Actor-Network Theory (ANT) for this project as I had done

previously. By the time this project was well underway I felt that I had gained some

facility with ANT and its use in Information Systems research and was comfortable using

it here.

It would be true to say that fundamental to all of this was my firm view that the system

under investigation was one that was dynamic, one undergoing constant change. That

is, an open system. A developing awareness of this helped shape the research

process. This illustrates the spiral nature qualitative research in particular where the

data, research questions, researcher, supervisor, even feedback from reviewers shape

or maybe it is better to say co-construct the research process. It is as Perez-Reverte

(1996 (originally published 1993)) says (in the epigraph for Chapter 3) a problem with

no clear boundaries, one where one thing influences another, a labyrinthine interpretivist

narrative.


Chapter 7 Page 301.

In order to solve the puzzle outlined above, I framed a qualitative investigation that was

part ethnography (without the overriding emphasis on culture that such studies entail)

and part case study (employing a less strictly defined ‘case’ than is normal for such a

study).

The data was collected using a variety of methods—interviews, observation,

photographs, published documents and on internal unpublished texts. This ensured that

the data was adequately rich in detail and covered a variety of the Internet based

activities that the target organization was involved in at the time of the initial study

(1997-9). The site, or case for the study was the State Library of Victoria, chosen for

several reasons. It was the library involved in the early development of VICNET and

through the previous study I had formed some useful relationships which facilitated my

entrée to the site. As explained in Chapter 3, VICNET was not seen by its developers and

backer’s as being purely limited to SLV users but was to be expanded into other libraries

as well, thus the Internet at the SLV also meant to some extent the Internet at the SLV

and those libraries that used VICNET as their service provider and gateway to a whole

world of information. With this in mind, two other libraries, Sam Merrifield and North

Melbourne Public Library, were included as additional sites. This in fact turned out to be

rather fortuitous, since in the end I moved my roving lens away from VICNET and

focussed it onto the larger and more complex image of the interactions between the

Internet and libraries. It was data collected at these two libraries that enabled me to

assemble a much better story about particular aspects. My picture of the social nature of

information practices would have been very scant indeed without them and certainly the

story of the backpackers’ Internet use would have been different without the readiness of

the North Melbourne Library staff and users to share their experiences. Even if they are

not reported in detail here they certainly helped my understanding of the co-construction


Chapter 7 Page 302.

activities and as you will see in Section 7.4 allow me to better discuss issues of

generalizability.

The data collected was analyzed using both manual and computer assisted techniques

(See Section 7.3 for some reflections on the use of computer assistance for data analysis).

More crucial is the fact that several different ways of “cutting-up” the data were used.

I find it interesting to note that I was not completely aware of the variety of different

approaches to data analysis until I commenced the task; looking for ways the huge pile

of interview transcripts, photos, emails and other documents I had amassed could be

sifted through to find at least some of the answers to the research questions developed

in Chapter 3. This suggests to me that one can read as much as one likes about

analysis of qualitative data, but it is not until one actually gets ones’ hands dirty, delves

into the thick of it so to speak, that it becomes apparent how the data should be cut,

reassembled, clustered, grouped or whatever. This was made even more apparent

when I encountered Mason’s discourse on organizing and ‘slicing’ qualitative data in late

2004 where she discusses why a researcher may wish to do more than a simple

thematic cross-sectional analysis (Mason 2002). For instance, there may be an occasion

when it is worthwhile looking at particular sections of the data, clustering it and examining

it in more detail for practices that are specific to a group of participants (Mason 2002, p.

166). This is just what happened when I examined the ‘itinerant community’ aspect of the

backpackers and how they acted as a learning community. Another way of organising

was used to extract answers to the question dealing with the nature of information. Here,

a large proportion of the data set was used, themes were developed and used as initial

codes within the data. Then I reexamined the subsequent batch of coded data looking

for sub-themes such as access, signification, organization and so on. In many ways, it

was like tinkering with the materials for a collage seeking to find a sense-making pattern.

It was a continual interrogation of both self and materials about whether this made sense,

or was a valid claim or whether there was any confirming or even disconfirming evidence

present.

There are many things of interest that emerge from this exploration of libraries and the

Internet and the way they are mutually and simultaneously shaping each other not just


Chapter 7 Page 303.

on the micro but also at meso level. In Chapter 2 libraries were defined as public

institutions charged with the collection and care of texts that people may come and read

for the purposes of learning and relaxation. Now whilst recognising that libraries are

always undergoing change—just think back to the excerpt from The Name of the Rose

used as the Chapter 2 epigraph which describes a mediaeval library as a labyrinthine

series of rooms fitted out with mirrors and hallucinogen inducing smoke generators

designed to hide knowledge rather than make it generally accessible (Eco 1984), then

compare it with the picture of ‘Super Librarian’ the knowledge navigator, whose task it is

to make knowledge visible (Figure 5.19) —there can be no doubt that some of the changes

that the SLV was experiencing over the period of the research (1997-2005) were difficult

for the organization to grapple with.

To my mind, one of the most startling things to emerge was that of the power exerted by

a particular group of users. In fact they were a group of users new to the library—the

backpackers. In Section 5.6 this group was described as being amorphous and itinerant,

having no formal structure, no easily defined membership (in fact it would be extremely

difficult to draw up a list of members) but, as we also saw in that chapter they exerted a

considerable influence in the shaping, the co-construction, of the sociotechnical world

within the library. They brought apprehension, sometimes chaos, and even occasionally

fear to the reference desk staff, not as individuals but as a group, a specific community of

Internet users. Booking procedures were changed, firstly to accommodate their needs to

use email then, as we have seen from the Phase 2 data collection, a means of excluding

them (Section 6.2).

It is in the uncovering of events like this that make the sociotechnical approach so

valuable. The adoption of a more technological determinist approach would have

downplayed the role of the social effects, whilst a social determinist approach may have


Chapter 7 Page 304.

put less stress on the role of technologies such as email in shaping the role of the library

and the Internet use therein. Using this approach enables us to see local agency at work

even to the extent of understanding that it was not so much individual backpackers who

exerted pressure but backpackers as an amorphous group. And again, I think that the

adoption of the longitudinal approach to data collection (no matter how reluctant I was

to collect yet more data) has proved valuable as we can see how the SLV wrested back

control of the PAI facilities by asking that users show some form of ID that defined their

validity as an Australian resident.

There is also another way of understanding this amorphous itinerant community, that

being as a Community of Practice.

The term Community of Practice (CoP) arises out of the work of Lave and Wenger (1991;

Wenger 1998). Whilst there are many definitions of communities of practice for the

purposes of this discussion I will use that of Saint-Onge and Wallace (2003) for the sheer

reason that it is simple and broad enough to allow me to make the points I wish to. They

see a community of practice as a group of individuals who make a collaborative effort to

improve their practice (Saint-Onge and Wallace 2003, p. 33). This practice occurs at the

local level and is to be thought of as the work, actions, “… process and procedures that

inform a collection of actions”(p. 35). That is they come together to learn from each other.

Furthermore, Saint-Onge and Wallace classify CoPs as being informal, supported or

structured, depending on whether or not they have sponsorship, the degree of focus and

organization and their alignment with an organizations’ strategic imperatives (2003, pp.

35-6). It is the informal type, the group of people who voluntarily come together to share

knowledge with a desire to develop their own and others’ capabilities that concerns us

here. Table 7.1 describes some of the characteristics of an informal community of practice.

As you can see there is no formal connection with the organization other than a


Chapter 7 Page 305.

recognition that such a group may exist, no sponsorship other than maybe provision of a

meeting place but meetings could just as easily happen at the local hostelry or be more

virtual in nature mediated by ICTs but this is often seen as a secondary communication

path. The last column of Table 7.1 summarises the backpacker community using the

same characteristics that Saint-Onge and Wallace applied to the informal one.

Characteristic Informal Amorphous InformalItinerant (Backpacker)

Purpose Provide a discussion forum forpeople with affinity of interest orneeds within their practice

No formally defined purpose aknowledge sharing community

Membership Self-joining or peer invited Self-joining

Sponsorship No organizational sponsor No organizational sponsor

Mandate Jointly defined by members No formal mandate

Evolution Organic Organic, rhizomatic

Main outcomes Individual capability development

Codification of knowledge useful tomembers

Increased level of trust andcollaboration in the organization

Greater retention of talent

Individual capability development

Making contacts and friendships

Organizational support General endorsement of CoPs No formal recognition of CoP

Infrastructure Most likely meets face-to-face forprimary contact

Has a means of communication forsecondary contact

Most likely meets face-to-face forprimary contact

ICTs likely to be just as importantafter primary contact.

Visibility So natural may not even be noticed Definitely noticed. Helped defineorganizational procedures.

Table 7.1: Characteristics of ‘Informal’ and ‘Informal Itinerant’ communities of practice (after Saint-Onge and Wallace 2003, pp. 36-7).


Chapter 7 Page 306.

An examination of the table shows that there are a number of differences between the

informal CoP of Saint-Onge and Wallace and the backpacker community I encountered

at the libraries. Now whilst, this project did not specifically set out to investigate the

presence or absence of these characteristics it makes for an interesting comparison. This

amorphous itinerant community (AIC) very definitely does not have any sort of mandate

for its existence nor a shared purpose beyond that of helping others with the Internet as

required. It certainly does share knowledge and acts as an informal environment where

people can ask questions and learn. Perhaps the most strikingly different thing is that

although members of this AIC meet face-to-face it will not always be at the SLV (it could

be at a Hostel, Internet Café or even on a train whilst travelling) but this makes the role of

ICTs perhaps even more important for second and subsequent contacts. Recall that there

were a number of backpackers who stated that they used it to keep in contact with

friends, and others whom they had met on their travels, or to arrange meetings. I also see

the evolution of this CoP as being better understood as rhizomatic because backpackers

take their skills—be they newly acquired or pre-existing, their friendships and contact

lists with them out into the world and such is the nature of the technology and the

alliances they have forged with it they can then put forth new shoots anywhere their

journey takes them. The other important point to note here is that the backpackers can

also act as individuals where it is likely, but not necessarily true, that they will perform

different actions than when they are an ingredient of the AIC.

I now wish to turn the discussion to information. At the end of Section 2.12 I stated that

because the definition of ‘information’ was so fluid perhaps the best way to understand it

was as something that was socially constructed through the practices of those who were

dealing with it. This is in fact what I did in Section 5.8. During Phase 2, I revisited my

ideas about information during an interview with Ian from the SLV and reported on that

in Section 6.3. Some of the practices of information that I discovered were recorded in


Chapter 7 Page 307.

Table 5.5. There, we saw that information could be a signal, it is evaluated, organised,

people search for it, and information is involved when librarians play with the Internet

learning how to use it. Information broadens horizons. It has a semiotic, temporal and

contextual nature.

So, similar to the word ‘heat’ or the word ‘blue’, ‘information’ is something we can talk

about but cannot define absolutely. Heat is actually energy and as such can be defined

mathematically (Resnick and Halliday 1966) but you ask the average person in the street

what heat is and they will be hard pushed to explain it102; blue is an even more abstract

concept.103 Information can be defined mathematically, but this applies in a limited

context only (Shannon and Weaver 1963).

In his later philosophy Wittgenstein came to view the meanings of words as being

defined by the way they were used in practice. Language and hence the meaning of

102 In fact one person I asked said “it’s better than warm” another said “it’s a measure of thevibration of particles”.103 In a classic and oft quoted example from the Philosophical Investigations Wittgensteinexamines the different way that the word blue—as a colour—may be used. To indicate a few:

“Is this blue the same as that blue over there? Do you see any difference?”—You are mixing paint and you say “It’s hard to get the blue of this sky.”“It’s turning fine, you can already see blue sky again.”“Look what different effects these two blues have.”“Do you see the blue book over there? Bring it here.”“This blue signal-light means…”“What’s this blue called?—Is it ‘indigo’?”

Wittgenstein, L. 1958, Philosophical Investigations, Anscombe, G. Trans., Macmillan, New York.(33, p17e).

Wittgenstein’s question really is do we always do the same thing when we attend to colour? Wemay not. In one example we attend to the hue and try and match it to something we may knowas indigo. In another we look for differences that the use of two blues may have. Our practice inattending to word use may vary greatly depending on context.


Chapter 7 Page 308.

words cannot be divorced from their everyday use. Casti (1998), in his popular book

about Wittgenstein, The Cambridge Quintet: a work of scientific speculation explained it

this way (and here I paraphrase). Naming of things can only arise out of the context of a

developed language; it does not arise out of the use of arbitrary symbols. We need to

know how to pick out objects and use names. These are the practices of a ‘language

community’. Meaning arises out of participation in language games; this is the social

consensus that allows us to communicate with each other. Hence, language is a social

activity. To agree on what examples are particular instances of concepts we need a

language and we need rules which the community must agree on so that language gains

its meaning. These rules arise out of agreements in practice within the community.

Notice how agreed practices within a community define what a word means. Understand

or know the language rules of a particular community and we are some way towards

understanding how the community functions. The paradox is that for an outsider to

become part of that community they need to understand the language use within the

community. To understand the language use they need to know the practices of the

community, thus they must become part of the community.

The point to understand here is that it is the practices of a community that defines

information. So one way of understanding what information is is to observe and learn

these practices. A further point is that just as Wittgenstein illustrates for the colour ‘blue’

that meaning is very context dependent. Thus, the concept of ‘information’ is context

dependent both within the community and very much defined by the practices of the

community.

Hence, once again we see that it is a community and its practices that is important in the

co-construction of not just language but the shape and function of the modern world

(Edwards 2003) of the library. Just as Slater (2003) in his ethnographic study of the


Chapter 7 Page 309.

Internet in Trinidad found that “Trinidadians clearly did talk a lot about ‘the Internet’ as

a single phenomenon (p. 147) a technology that “promised (or threatened) certain…

experiences” (p. 159) and offered a pathway into the modern world, we have seen that

the SLV will talk about the Internet in the same way. What is important here is that it

can be disaggregated (just as Slater did) into a variety of forms and practices, not all of

them stable, many of them contested both in spatial and functional terms. Here in the

context of this project, the Internet has, for librarians, been subsumed into their practice

as just another tool; it has been something resulting in contested access; a means of

shaping and co-constructing information; something that they require further training

on; a tool to enhance their professional image and pride. For users, it has been email

access, messages to and from home, or arranging to meet friends in remote places; it has

been standing in queues to get a booking or having a reason to visit the SLV; even a way

of building friendships; creating communities that are globally visible or learning new

ways of doing things. These are just a few of the things that resulted when Internet

technologies were incorporated into libraries. Some of these were more stable than others.

For whatever else we may ascertain from this research one thing is pretty certain and that

is we are dealing with an ‘open system’.

7.3 The author reflects…

By now, dear reader, if you have made it this far through the thesis I wish to further

involve you in the reflective process. All writing, unless it is purely for private or

solipsistic purposes, is an implicit contract between the author and the reader in that the

author hopefully can ask the reader to do some work and apply intellectual effort in

extracting or negotiating a meaning with the text (Fell 2001).104 In return, the author hopes

104 Fell actually says: “it’s always good … to be aware that the reader is willing to work . How hardis another question, of course!” Fell, A. 2001, 'Deconstructing Beds …', in The Creative Writing


Chapter 7 Page 310.

that he can provide the reader with a new insights or an alternative way of

understanding the situation being described.

An additional item I wish to introduce here is that research for a higher degree is not just

about investigating, in great depth, some external phenomena, reporting on it and

bringing new insights to the attention of others. It is also an opportunity for the

researcher to learn more about the conduct of research and improve their investigative,

analytical and reporting skills. Thus, it is with this in mind, that I wish firstly to take you

through some of the things I have learnt and then provide you with an opportunity to

think of what insights you have gained as you progressed through this text.

What have I learnt?

The reader may recall that earlier I mentioned that I wanted to improve my skills as a

qualitative researcher and viewed this research project as means of gaining the

required experience (Page 101). Following Creswell’s (1998) advice, I deliberately

included research questions related to matters of method namely:

• What observations can be made?

• What themes emerge?

• How might events leading up to the use of the Internet best be described?

• How does one interpret and write about the observations?

Albeit these are the questions I raised in that chapter, I wish to reflect on more general

issues to do with what I learnt about conducting research. This is by no means intended

to be a complete catalogue but rather a description of some of the more pertinent

issues.

1. Research technique

Coursebook, eds Bell, J. and Magrs, P., Macmillan, London, pp. 50-53. (emphasis in the original).Dear reader, would it be too much for me to ask how hard you worked whilst reading this work?


Chapter 7 Page 311.

My interview techniques have improved; I feel more confident and able to adapt

questions to suit each interviewee. There is no doubt that when I began this thesis back

in the last century I felt that I should formulate around twenty or so questions before I

commenced the interviews and that for each interviewee I should stay fairly close to that

list. This was undoubtedly shaped by at least two factors. Firstly, the requirements of the

research ethics committee to submit a list of questions that would be presented to each

subject and secondly my lack of confidence and inexperience as an interviewer. When I

had completed the first half dozen or so interviews I had begun to realize that unless I

varied the questions all I would find out was that each answer almost repeated what had

been said previously. In other words there would be confirming evidence, which in itself

was not bad, but there would be a lack of depth. The chances of uncovering some new

or different facts would be minimal.

Another thing I learnt was to listen more attentively for cues from the interviewee as to

what was interesting or of concern to them. Previously, I had been more reliant on the

tapes of the interviews and in the process missed opportunities to explore and further

engage the subject in matters that would later turn out to be of greater interest. Tape-

recording the interviews is a very important step but one should not just listen with the

knowledge that all that is being said is being recorded for later perusal but listen actively

and thoughtfully. This in turn, will encourage the interviewee since they will feel that they

are being listened to. Of course, one must also be willing to not let the conversation stray

too far off line.

2. Methods of data analysis.

As mentioned earlier, (Page 148) I used a mix of manual and computer-based

techniques for the data analysis. Whilst, having a fairly extensive background in

information technology would seem to bias me towards using some sort of computer

based technique, in fact I found it rather limiting and lacking in flexibility. This is no

reflection on the software employed Atlas.ti (Muhr 1998) initially and TamsAnalyzer

(Weinstein 2002) after 2002, both of which were reliable, flexible and powerful, rather it is

a reflection of my preferred way of working (or should I say practice?).

Then as I noted (Page 148) the need to retype or scan documents that existed as paper

copies only could only be regarded as tedious and time consuming. Of course, it would

have been possible to just type in the relevant sections of the aforementioned


Chapter 7 Page 312.

documents but this assumes some degree of prior analysis, which rather defeats the

purpose.

3. The supervision process and the student-supervisor relationship.

As you now know, this project was not without its ups and downs (Appendix A). It is thus

with some trepidation I approach this section. In fact it is only because I decided early

on in the writing-up process that if I was going to include my reflections then I needed to

be honest to myself (and this is a point that my current supervisor reinforced when telling

me I needed to add an extra section to Chapter 3) that I am writing this at all.

It is widely acknowledged that the student-supervisor relationship shapes the research

project (Hanrahan 2003; James and Baldwin 1999; McMorland, Carroll, Copas and

Pringle 2003). Trauth (2001) indicates, the skills of the researcher will mould the project

being undertaken and certainly in the initial stages of a PhD the student relies on the

knowledge and skills of the supervisor. The supervisor, or advisor (as the position is

often referred to in the United States) is the senior partner in the relationship and has an

important role to play. The supervisor also wields tremendous political power and thus

has to use this carefully. When a student is expecting constructive criticism and is

fobbed-off with a careless off-the-cuff remark there is a danger the relationship will be

destroyed.

An amicable melding of personalities is also required. This is especially so, if at the

meetings of student and supervisor the perceived temperature falls several degrees

and the conversation lacks intellectual thought-provoking content where a frank and

friendly exchange of ideas can take place. And if, this recurs time after time then that

relationship is in real danger.

Now, I have stated the above not to aim more arrows at the other academic actors

involved in this project but more to remind myself of things I need to be more aware of

when, as is inevitable, I assume the role of supervisor of a research student. The time for

recriminations and laying of blame is past. We need to learn from the experience and

move on.

This student-supervisor relationship is not a one-way thing with the supervisor being

expected to provide all the ideas and the stimulation. The student must provide input as

well. However for this to occur there must be a level of trust and dare I say honesty


Chapter 7 Page 313.

between the parties involved. The student should feel free to advance new ideas, ask

questions and raise concerns about the research process and his or her project in

particular. This will only happen if the student feels that the supervisor will not dismiss

them out of hand or not provide frank and truthful assessments of the worth of the input.

4. Reporting the research

Writing is rarely, if ever, discussed as part of the labour process of researchers. Yet ‘writingup’ is task that we all have to do; … it is an integral part of the researching process. (Horsfall2001, p. 82)

From the very beginning, I realized that the results of this research would not be earth

shattering. I was under no illusions about the number of people who would actually read

this document all the way through. What I hadn’t realized was the extent to which it would

affect me. Early on, I certainly had no idea that I would be writing reflective passages

such as this one, even though I may have wanted to.

When I think about it, it is probably true to say that the most problematic part of this

thesis was finding a style and method of writing-up that I was comfortable with. Here I

can squarely lay the blame (in the nicest possible way) at the supervisor of my Masters

Thesis for it was she who encouraged me to explore a very different method of

presentation for that report. It too was assembled as a series of exhibits, but more outré

than that seen in Chapter 5 and whilst we thought it worked well it left one of the

examiners somewhat bemused.

Hanrahan (2003) has described the process of traditional academic writing that she was

trying to escape from as one where the author:

… is meant to act as though her own learning happened as a unitary, and purely intellectualprocess, and was “uncontaminated” by personal experiences of any kind, and, to a greater orlesser degree (depending on the research paradigm), as though the resultant knowledge wasindependent of time, place and personal (including bodily) context. (Hanrahan 2003,paragraph 2 emphasis in original)

That is, the thesis is supposed to be an objective depiction of research process and the

‘truth’ discovered therefrom. This truth will be both time and geographically invariant.

The ‘truth’ so depicted is absolute. Whilst this aspect of her claim could be disputed, it

does enable me to highlight some of the problems I was having. From the very start, I


Chapter 7 Page 314.

knew the system I was describing was exceedingly complex and subject to change.

This is probably the only true claim that I could make about it and was the reason why I

adopted the open system framework (Section 2.3). Not only that, many of the actors I

uncovered and the relationships formed were unlikely to be found in another time or

another place.

Thus, I knew that I didn’t want to write the traditional univocal style thesis described

above for I couldn’t see it performing the tasks I required, which was reflecting the

multilayered and networked relationships that I was discovering. To complicate matters,

not only was I uncovering a multiplicity of actors and relationships during the research I

was also finding that I was, as Day (2002) has said, growing and developing as a

researcher.

Therefore, I desired not only to use a writing style that incorporated the voices of these

actors, but also one that enabled my own voice as a reflective practitioner to be revealed

also.

Ideally, a hypertext collection would have fitted well, but finding a supervisor who would

be amenable to the idea, and for my own part the courage to do it, were the ultimate

deterrents. By now, the story was too old to warrant the extra effort involved, and if one

contemplates the number of people likely to read it then the whole scheme takes on the

air of a fantasy.

Ultimately, the method of presentation adopted here, which firmly eschews the post-

modern approach of my previous thesis, is rather conservative. The only hint of a desire

to do something different being these reflections scattered throughout. I found this

opportunity to reflect on what was being presented in the body of the report at the time

rather liberating, providing, as they do, a chance to explore issues and interpretations

that are perhaps only connected by the finest of filaments to the main discussion. In

other words, to refer back to the reflection on page 127, explore the rhizomatic structure

of the project.

In the final assessment, although not written exactly the way I wanted (I would have

preferred more integration between data and interpretation rather than the strictly

enforced style-based delineation used in Chapters 5 & 6) what you have before you is, I

feel, an acceptable compromise in that it does enable the multiplicity of voices to show

through and provides a space for my own reflections. Whilst the use of reflection and a


Chapter 7 Page 315.

confessional style is a personal thing I view it as enhancing my learning experience105

and will certainly advocate it to any research students who come my way.

At the start of this reflection, I hinted that I intended to involve you, the reader, in the

process. I will do this not just by asking you to read my personal reflections but to adopt

a technique employed by educators who favour a constructivist approach to learning

(McPherson and Nunes 2004). You have now read close to 320 pages of this report and

it would be a pity if you were to walk away from it empty-handed. Recently, in some of

my classes I have adopted an active-learning approach whereby I ask students to

respond to several questions. I find it works well. Now, I would like you to reflect on and

answer some similar questions. Here they are:

• What is the most important thing you have learnt from reading this thesis? Why do

you think this?

• What question is left unanswered by this research?

7.4 Project Limitations and some Notes on Generalizability

Looking back over this project, the data collected, data actually used and the stories

actually told, I find a resonance with the thoughts of narrator and lawyer Stanley

Obeysekere (Obey) observations on his recounting of The Hamilton Case:

The first lesson the Bar taught me was that narrative is chiefly a matter ofselection. What one leaves out is quite as important as what one chooses todisclose—indeed more so. I must endeavour to keep the precept in mind as Icompose this account. (de Kretser 2004 pp. 41-2)

Yes, I have left much out and by so doing I don’t mean to imply that it was unimportant

or uninteresting. Much was left out for purely pragmatic reasons—to try and focus the

study, to ensure that the project was ‘doable’ and that the analysis and interpretation did

105 McPherson, M. and Nunes, M. B. 2004, Developing Innovation in Online Learning: An Action


Chapter 7 Page 316.

not go on forever. Reading that passage only last June (2005) I was struck by how much

Obey’s thoughts reflected what I had actually but often unconsciously done.

So, the first limitation is just that, there are untold stories in this narrative. This is

perhaps a blessing in disguise, but is one that the reader should bear in mind whilst

looking back over this report.

Extending this further, one of the basic tenets of qualitative research is that it is holistic in

nature (Mason 2002; Yin 1994). This is in so far as the data collection draws on a range

of sources and the analysis process admits the possibility that human and nonhuman

factors play a role in the case or phenomenon under investigation.

Of course the other thing that plays into this decision about what data to collect and the

subsequent analysis is the researcher’s ontological perspective (Mason 2002). That is,

how he or she sees the world to be. By now, I think it should be clear that not only did I

commence this project with an ontological perspective that allowed human and

nonhuman actors to actively participate in the organization of that world, I have also

argued for an ontology that sees the social and technical being inextricably entwined

(Section 2.4 (See also: Wenn 2005a; Wenn 2005b)).

In acknowledging the fact that I amassed data from a variety of sources, it should also be

acknowledged I have not told all the possible stories that data contained. Another

researcher looking at the same data would more than likely discover other stories that

they consider more interesting and more worthwhile telling.

A second limitation is that there is no doubt that the State Library of Victoria is very

different from other libraries in Victoria. It views itself as the premier research library in

the State, it exists for all Victorians to use and is not geared to the needs of the local

Research Framework , RoutledgeFalmer, London.


Chapter 7 Page 317.

communities as the public libraries are. The SLV is not a lending library whereas the

public libraries are. We have seen that the SLV developed VICNET and that other

libraries were incorporated into the VICNET actor-network through a variety of

negotiations and alliances; some initiated by particular public library others through

initiatives at the SLV level. So the picture I have given of the Internet in libraries is more

one of the Internet at the SLV. I have attempted to ameliorate that view to some extent by

including two other libraries in the project, but they were both close to the city so that

another limitation is that outer metropolitan and rural public libraries only get a mention

in passing (mainly in Chapter 4).

As mentioned in Chapter 6 when I revisited the library in 2005 the data collection was not

as wide-ranging as in Phase 1. This was a deliberate decision because limitations of time

determined by both the PhD candidature and the period of leave that I had been granted

so that this thesis could be completed. As a consequence, I decided to concentrate on

changes that had occurred in the TIC, the major public area of the library. As we have

seen, there were changes in Internet use in the TIC over the duration of this project, but

what you have not seen are the other areas where the Internet was a tool in the library nor

have I discussed the redevelopment of the SLV’s website. Some of these aspects are

discussed in the next section where I contemplate future directions and research that

could be conducted.

Another consequence of this decision to limit the data collection for Phase 2 is that there

is a very limited picture of what and how the visitors to the SLV use the Internet facilities

in 2005. As we have seen, during Phase 1 (1997-9) very few people were using it for

research for a variety of reasons, but mainly due to the high demand for email.

The fourth and a rather obvious limitation is that detailed descriptions of changes to the

technology are absent. That there have been such changes can be garnered by comparing


Chapter 7 Page 318.

the descriptions of the facilities in the TIC in Phases 1 & 2. However, that falls far short

of describing what type of technologies (servers, communication media, operating

systems, modems, software and so forth) have been enrolled into the sociotechnical

network to enable the SLV to struggle towards its goal of equitable access to information

for all. Another aspect of this limitation is that I do not describe in any detail the sorts of

technical problems that were encountered during these machinations and co-

constructions. It is important to remember that the way these technologies function also

contributes to the shape of the sociotechnical network at any given time.

So please be aware, dear reader, that the story of the Internet in the SLV is incomplete but

the story of the Internet in libraries generally is even less so. Which brings us neatly to the

issue of generalizability.

Generalizability

As a rule, it is considered difficult to generalize the results of a qualitative research project.

For example ethnographer and qualitative researcher Van Maanen (1982) whilst

reminding us that “There are many truths to be found that help shape and order

organizational life” (p. 20) is of the view that these truths don’t have to be consistent,

generalized or permanent rather it is a case of this is how things were when I conducted

my study. Maxwell finds (1996) the types of questions asked in qualitative research are

inappropriate because the sample size is most often far smaller than that required for

generalizability and furthermore the sampling methods employed are not conducive to

the same. Later in the same book he becomes somewhat ambivalent about the issue

providing a number of references to people who have discussed generalizability in some

form or another and concludes that: “… these characteristics can provide credibility to

generalizations from qualitative studies, but none permit the kinds of precise

extrapolation of results to defined populations that probability sampling does” (Maxwell


Chapter 7 Page 319.

1996, p. 98). On the other hand, Mason (2002) is much more helpful when it comes to

making the findings of qualitative research more widely applicable.

Mason (2002) finds that there are essentially two ways that we can think about

generalization. Firstly there is empirical generalisation which involves making

generalizations from the study sample to a much wider population “on the basis that

your study population was statistically representative of that wider population” (2002, p.

195). For this study, this is not possible for two reasons. One, that from the outset, I

made no attempt to select a statistically representative sample and secondly (and maybe

more tellingly) the SLV is not representative of libraries in Victoria (refer to the discussion

earlier in this section). Secondly, Mason refers to theoretical generalization. This is a

generic term that covers “… a range of strategies based on different logics, some of which

are more obviously ‘theoretical’ than others” (2002, p. 195). It will depend on the nature

of the project which strategy is best applied. This is not the place to discuss each

individual strategy rather what I will do is apply the appropriate one to some of the

research findings, prefacing it with a brief explanation of how the wider applicability was

arrived at.

One of the strongest of the theoretical generalization types is that showing how the

results may work in strategically selected contexts (Mason 2002). I believe that this can be

said about the findings whereby this abstract, nebulous thing we call ‘information’ is best

viewed as something arising and circulating from practice. I refer to the discussion in

Section 2.12 where after reviewing the literature I found that there was no one definition

of information and that it was best regarded as something that is socially constructed

through practice. The work of Smith (2000) and Rowley and Farrow (2000), partly

illustrates this but Rowley and Farrow especially tend to ignore the role of technology. My

research shows that, within the context of libraries at least, practices involving


Chapter 7 Page 320.

information are co-constructed by a network of sociotechnical artefacts. This

generalization gains further strength when we consider that the evidence for this was

garnered from each of the three libraries involved in the study.

Another form of theoretical generalization takes the form of collecting data and then

producing a holistic and detailed analysis of processes that occurred in that setting. Thus

we can conclude from this that if things worked in that way in the given setting, with

care, it will be possible to extrapolate from those findings to other settings. The first

limitation to this will depend on the “extent of the similarity and difference” (Mason

2002, p. 196) between the setting where the research was conducted and those that we

are trying to generalize to. The robustness of this depends very much on the degree of

similarity between settings and how much difference we are prepared to tolerate. The

second lies with the “key dimensions [factors]” (Mason 2002, p. 196) that were

established for that first setting. Here another problem lies in the assumption that these

factors are present in, and as significant as, they were in the researched setting.

We have seen the sociotechnical process of co-construction in action in one particular

setting that consisted of three libraries and it has also been established that one of those

libraries (the SLV) has a somewhat different set of aims and culture (especially in terms

and means of community involvement) than the two public libraries. Note that this does

not mean the SLV is not interested in or aware of the role of community, just that the

public libraries are much more centred on and involved with their local community.

Remember how Joan from the Sam Merrifield Library specifically adjusted the genealogy

guide to suit the local community which has a large Italian population (Page 259). So too

with the North Melbourne Library as Rachel one of the librarians tells us:

Rachel [nm]: I have to run internet training classes for the public … hopefully we’ll targetsome, starting targeting some people at the Neighbourhood Centre which is a few doors


Chapter 7 Page 321.

down to do some very basic internet and computer training. … We’ll set a time and getthem to put their name down, three people at a time, three computers [in the library].

Finally, the recently released Libraries/Building/Communities Report examined the impact

of the State’s public libraries on their local communities. This research project was a

collaboration between the Library Board of Victoria, the Victorian public library network

and was overseen by the SLV. Amongst many other findings it identified “[t]he role of

public libraries as key players at a community level in building learning communities, and

helping to form skilled and information literate communities” (State Library of Victoria

2005, p. 4).

It would appear the SLV is in a unique position as far as community involvement is

concerned. Through the Library Board of Victoria they support and recognise the

importance community involvement of other public libraries, but through their own

policies and practices this support is quite different within the SLV itself. For public

libraries it is the local community they want work with to improve skills and information

literacy. The SLV appears to consider its community as the whole of Victoria, though the

caveat here is the work that VICNET does at the community level. Take for instance the

efforts reported in Section 4.5. The co-construction of the sociotechnical network

configures the role of the SLV differently to that of the public libraries.

Whilst wanting to avoid strong claims of generalizability based on the above, it might be

possible to apply this finding to the situation in another Australian state where there is a

state library that has similar role to the SLV and oversees the role of the public library

network in that state in the same manner. It would be fair to say that a great deal of work

would be required to ensure that a similar set of factors existed. At no stage can we look

at this and say, ‘well we identified this type of interaction here therefore it must be found

in this similar situation’. What can be said is that community is co-constructed by a

variety of social and technical artefacts and through alliances forged and contested (Slack


Chapter 7 Page 322.

and Williams 2000). If we take two, on the face of it, seemingly comparable networks (say

from two different states) we must be aware that the roles of individual actors will differ

as will the characteristics of the alliances created. One could say that the LCSNs at first

glance may appear similar but as we examine each in more detail differences will appear.

As an example of this, we have seen how the intervention and superposition of a new

rule that said the text “Australia” must describe a user’s citizenship or place residency

altered and indeed decimated the backpacker user community at the SLV. But of course

anyone was permitted to use the research terminals provided they accepted the reduced

functionality and Internet access. Remember back to Figure 6.9 which plotted the LCSN

of the booking procedure after that change. This figure along with the one from Chapter

5 is displayed below to enable easy comparison (Figure 7.1).

Figure 7.1: The LCSN for the booking procedure prior to 2000 on the left compared with the networkas it stands in 2005. A few small changes to the booking procedures cause a reconfiguration of thenetwork.

Now whilst Figure 7.1 displays the same practice, in the same library but at different

times, it is possible that this may be two different libraries at the same or similar times.


Chapter 7 Page 323.

We must be aware that factors such as intervention and choice exist (Slack and Williams

2000), and perhaps more importantly, local alternatives exist and can be employed by

libraries that desire to shape their own communities.

So perhaps this is another lesson learned. At one level we can see as Slack and

Williams did in their study of Craigmillar community information service that similar

shaping processes act “at a broader level with regard to social uses of ICTs” (2000, p.

332) but that the role of the local constituencies is just as important. Generalize with

caution!

One area that I am certain cannot be expanded into the larger library arena is that of the

itinerant backpacker community as a pressure group. As mentioned earlier in this

chapter, of the three libraries involved, the staff at the SLV was much more against the

use of email, at North Melbourne Library I didn’t come across any negative feeling

towards email use and just one librarian at the Sam Merrifield expressed some feeling

about its use in a library. During my peregrinations overseas I have taken the opportunity

to visit libraries in San Jose, Boston and Guilford in the U.K. and each appeared to

welcome the use of email. Although I cannot claim this as a representative sample it does

make it appear unlikely that backpackers would have the same type of influence they had

at the SLV.

7.5 Future Directions/Future Research

That this is in many ways an unfinished project, I have no doubts. I have captured the

Internet and its use in Libraries (especially the State Library of Victoria) at two points in

time—firstly over many months during 1997-9, and then again in the early part of 2005.

In my return visit to the site in 2005, I had to, out of necessity, restrict my data collection

to cover only a small part of the by now far more extensive system that was in place in

the library.


Chapter 7 Page 324.

Even at the outset, I made a conscious decision not to revisit VICNET as part of this

project. In Chapter 4 I briefly recounted the early years of VICNET, using that story to

establish some background and provide the reader with some insights into the

sociotechnical and open nature of the system. There is no doubt in my mind that there is

a need for, and many valuable insights to be gained, from a research project that focuses

on VICNET and the changes it has been through since its establishment. At the risk of

introducing new material into a chapter that should be attempting to gather up the loose

ends, I can perhaps provide some starting points.

• I indicated in an earlier chapter that many of the library staff were ambivalentabout the role of VICNET in an organization such as the SLV, they were unableto see how it fitted into the organization as a whole. This is an ongoing puzzlethat would be interesting to explore, particularly in view of the fact that themanagement of VICNET has been more closely incorporated into the overall ITmanagement structure of the SLV resulting in, and this is based more on hearsaythan solid fact, some acrimonious disputes106 and the retrenchment of staff.

• How has VICNET’s role changed as a result of the much wider availability ofInternet Service Providers who can for a very low cost provide space forindividuals and organizations to develop and publish a website?

• Since its inception VICNET relied very heavily on sponsorships for money andequipment there are signs that over the years that this support has dropped rightaway. Why has this happened and how is it affecting VICNET?

A recent paper by Schauder, Stillman and Johanson (2005) has studied the sustainability

of community networks such as VICNET and another possible direction for research

would be to apply the model developed by these authors to the PAI area of the SLV.

106 In informal conversations with several members of the SLV’s Technology Services Department,VICNET staff have been characterised as ‘cowboys’ who are willing to ride roughshod overeveryone and everything. A ‘bunch of anarchists’ is how another referred to them. Why and howdid this culture arise?


Chapter 7 Page 325.

Another area to explore would be the tension between the two different ways of providing

Internet access that are evidenced in the VICNET/SLV models (see the discussion above).

A couple of years into this project, the Acquisitions Department of the SLV was forcibly

persuaded into adopting the Internet as a means of acquiring new stock. This occurred

because many of their suppliers developed Internet based on-line sales and ordering

procedures. Here is a whole new aspect of Internet use that isn’t even mentioned in this

document. Again, a study using a sociotechnical focus would be beneficial for anyone

interested in researching how public sector organizations change due to external

commercial pressures.

A paper written in conjunction with two members of the Technology Services Division,

State Library of Victoria and presented at The Fourth International Conference on

Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organizations (Beaumont, Earl and Wenn 2004)

describes the SLV’s efforts to develop a single Internet based interface to all its holdings’

catalogues as well as Internet based resources. This type of search mechanism goes under

many names:

[f]ederated searching, cross-platform searching, meta-search applications,common user interface or library/scholars portals are all terms which havebeen used interchangeably for an application which enables the searching ofmultiple databases that employ differing communication protocols andpossibly different data structures in a single pass. The idea is to combineaccess to a variety of databases in such a way that the user can query themusing a single interface where they enter their search criteria just the once.

The principles behind Federated Searching are similar to those of WWW Metasearch engines … The major difference is that federated searching as it is beingused in libraries also allows commercial databases, other libraries as well as thein-house CDROM collections and the OPAC to be searched simultaneouslyrather than just documents published on the WWW. (Beaumont, Earl andWenn under review)


Chapter 7 Page 326.

Enthusiasm for this project was high during 2004 especially with the launch of the SLV’s

new website just around the corner (and that story is a complete research project in itself)

and attempts were being made to have at least a preliminary version available to the

public by then. However due to other pressures, within the division, that project has been

put on hold. Appendix H has a preliminary version of the journal article that was

developed from the initial conference paper. It describes from a technical perspective the

work carried out to get a prototype up and running but there is scope for an in-depth

sociotechnical analysis that looks at the rise and fall of the project.

There is no doubt that Internet technologies are now more pervasive than ever within the

SLV and indeed libraries everywhere. One of my regrets is that I was unable to study the

way Public Libraries (although, as you know, I used material from two metropolitan

libraries in Chapter 5) and more particularly libraries in rural areas have adopted and

have co-constructed the use of such technologies. Again there would be valuable insights

to be gained from such a study. For example, recall how I mentioned in Section 4.4 (p.

156) that the Upper Murray Regional library had adopted satellite Internet access for

their mobile library. What lessons can be learned from this not only for libraries but for

other government and NGOs107 providing services in rural areas of Victoria?

Even the data I collected could be mined again for new insights, alternative

interpretations, different stories all of which would possibly be of benefit to organizations

107 As Lindskog points out there are many differences between the way NGOs and business inthe private sector manage their IT/IS. Thus indicating that research into the way libraries do so isimperative if we wish to understand how ICTs can best be incorporated into the day-to-dayoperations of public libraries. Lessons learnt in the private sector cannot be expected to directlytranslate into NGOs let alone libraries. Lindskog, H. 2005, 'IT Oustourcing in the Public Sector',in Proceedings of ISOneWorld 2005 , eds Dhanda, K. K. and Wenn, A., The Information Institute,Las Vegas, NV.


Chapter 7 Page 327.

trying to understand how, what many authors see as the inexorable pace of technological

change, is really just not driven by technology but is the result of interactions between

many and varied actors. A co-constructed open system.

For now though, I must admit to having had enough of the Internet, libraries, users, staff,

computers, cables, email messages, three-headed dogs, interviews, transcripts and all

the other paraphernalia of a large research project, that commenced in January 1997

and is reaching its conclusion in June 2005. Nine years is a long time to be immersed in

all of that and to concurrently experience the inevitable ups and downs, the swings and

roundabouts of the PhD process itself.

It is worthwhile reflecting on the role of the Internet in all of this. Cathy might have just

seen the Internet as an adjunct to her normal work as a librarian, but ever since it was

introduced into the SLV, she has been investigating it and its potential. She says, “I

certainly spent a lot of time looking at other library’s online catalogues and using telnet to

access them…seems like a long time ago now…” She now uses it everyday in many

aspects of her work.

Similarly, others may see the Internet as just another tool; backpackers told us about the

communication opportunities it offered especially when access was free at the State

Library of Victoria. However, beneath the image of ‘the Internet’ as a single phenomenon

there is something far more complex something that it has become intricately involved in

the sociotechnical webs that inhabit the worlds of these people, organizations and

technologies. It has wrought changes in many ways, just as the functions it can perform

within the State Library of Victoria have been shaped by those very same people,

organizations and technologies.


Chapter 7 Page 328.

Likewise, the Internet as a messy, chaotic assemblage has played its part in shaping

my social world especially as a major player in this research project—it has also shaped

the way I view and use libraries.

In one of my favourite Latour books, Aramis, or the love of technology, the author

anthropomorphises the technology giving it its own voice enabling it to tell, in true ANT

symmetry, its own story (Latour 1996a). I wonder what ‘the Internet’ would say about its

co-construction in the library environment? I leave that for you, the reader, to

contemplate.

Page 329.

Appendix A A Brief History of This Project

This research commenced in January 1997 when I enrolled, as a part-time student, in the

PhD programme at The University of Melbourne. I did so on the understanding that my

chosen supervisor (Supervisor A) would be available to take me on. Due to circumstances

beyond both her control and mine this did not last for more than eleven months (in

practice it was a much shorter supervision). During that time, the first Ethics Application

was prepared, and approval obtained. I also spent time preparing a rather lengthy

application for PhD leave from my employer Victoria University of Technology (VUT).

Again, this was successful and the first half of 1998 was spent in data collection (Phase

1) and negotiating with North Melbourne Library for their participation in the project.

When I returned from leave, I had another change of Supervisor (Supervisor C) an

alteration to the ethics application to increase the sample size to include a rural library

(approved but the data was never actually collected).

Around this time, it was becoming increasingly obvious that there was a personality

conflict between my Supervisor and myself but this was not helped by his lack of

supervision experience and my inability to settle on a particular research methodology.

This started what proved to be gradual spiral into uncertainty and lack of confidence on

my part. This culminated in a rather hurtful remark about my writing ability. In

retrospect this probably not meant in the way that I understood it, but coming at the end

of a period of four months of Long Service Leave which I had taken specifically taken to

work on my dissertation was just about the last straw. From that time on until my

eventual acceptance at VUT as a PhD candidate with Advanced Standing things went

Appendix A Page 330.

rapidly downhill. Table A1 summarises these events from the time of my initial enrolment

to my acceptance at VUT.

Date Event

November 1996 Complete Masters thesis on VICNET

January 1997 Enrol in PhD Topic “The Topological Organization of an Open System”

January 1997 Supervisor A

November 1997 Supervisor B

December 1997 Ethics approval

January 1998-June 1998 PhD leave from VU

February 1998 - June 1998 Data collection

May 1998 Approval for North Melbourne Library to participate in project

June 1998 Change of supervisor – C

June 1998 Amendments to ethics application to increase sample size

January 1999 Change of supervisor – B

June 1999 Confirmation of PhD Candidature

July 1999 Change of supervisor – C

November 1999 Data collection

August 2001-November 2001 Long service leave - work on thesis

November 2001 Informed that I cannot write and advised to seek help

1/11/2001-6/2/2002 Commence search for new department/supervisor. Unsuccessful

January 2002 Continue working on thesis—no supervisor

1/11/2002-20/3/2003Approach School of Graduate Studies regarding problems. Put in contact with another potentialsupervisor. Unsuccessful.

April 2003 PhD enrolment lapses due to an Administration error at Melbourne University

10/4/2003-10/10/2003 Leave of absence

July 2003 Enrol at VU

Table A1: The history of this research project whilst enrolled at The University of Melbourne. Thiswas when the Phase 1 of data collection was conducted.

Page 331.

Appendix B Interview Details—Phase 1

Interviews with staff and library users for Phase 1 were conducted principally in 1998

with some additional ones conducted in 1999 and 2000 to follow up issues that arose

from the analysis of that data. For ethical reasons, each interviewee was assigned an

unique alphanumeric code (Table B1) and an alias if quoted extensively in the report

(Table B2-4). Some of the users were engaged in informal conversations with the dates of

these not being specifically recorded.

Site Code

State Library s

North Melbourne Library nm

Sam Merrifield Library sm

Staff s

User (patron) p

Table B1: The codes assigned to intervieweesidentified the site and whether they were a memberof staff (‘s’) or a user (‘p’). Thus nmp is an Internetuser from North Melbourne Library.

Appendix B Page 332.

Site Function ID Alias Date

p002 Benny 23/2/98

p004 Neil

p006 Otto 24/2/98

p008 Jim 23/2/98

p017 John 24/2/98

p019 Mohamed 6/3/98

p020 Emily 6/3/98

p021 Meg

p024 Susan 6/4/98

p025 Charles 6/4/98

p026 Chris

p027 John

p028 Michael

p029 Tran 7/4/98

p030 Julie 7/4/98

p031 Paul 7/4/98

p033 Pauline 7/4/98

p035 Gudrun 7/4/98

p036 Julius 8/4/98

p037 Raymondo 8/4/98

p038 Mark 8/4/98

p039 Jenny 8/4/98

p041 Sebastian 8/4/98

p042 Piere

p043 Julia

p044 Luigi 8/4/98

p045 Fred 8/4/98

p047 James 9/4/98

p049 Kurt 9/4/98

p053 9/4/98

User

p054 9/4/98

ss001 Francis 16/3/98

ss002 Josephine 16/3/98

ss003 Georgina 16/3/98

State Library

Librarian

ss004 16/3/98



ss005 16/3/98

ss006 Robert 23/4/98

ss007 Ian 23/4/98

ss008 Tom 23/4/98

ss015 Lillian 12/6/98

ss016 Veronica 16/3/98

ss017 Clive 20/12/99

ss018 Margaret 3/2/99

IT staff ss020 Barbara 3/9/02

Table B2: The majority of interviews during Phase 1 were conducted at theState Library (Code ‘s’).


nmp07 10/6/98

nmp10 10/6/98

nmp12 10/6/98

nmp15 Fred 17/6/98

nmp18

nmp19

nmp21

nmp25 24/6/98

User

nmp26 Lee 24/6/98

nms01 Julian 4/6/98

nms02 Anna 9/6/98

nms03 Rachel 10/6/98

North Melbourne

Librarian

nms04 Shioban 22/6/98

Table B3: Details of people interviewed at North Melbourne Library (Code‘nm’) during Phase 1.



sms01 Pat 27/5/98

sms02 Rosemary 28/5/98

sms04 Melinda 3/6/98

Librarian

sms05 Peter 19/6/98

Sam Merrifield

LibraryAssistant

sms03 Joan 2/6/98

Table B4: At Sam Merrifield Library (Code ‘sm’) staff were the onlypeople interviewed.

Page 335.

Appendix C Observation Details—Phase 1

Observations of Internet use were made principally in 1998, with the SLV being revisited

again in 1999. The observations at Sam Merrifield were abandoned after it became

obvious that they were not revealing much new data when compared with that collected

at North Melbourne. I originally intended to compare usage during school holidays and

the Year 11 and 12 final examination period but, I ended up being so captivated by the

‘backpacker’ phenomena that this was not carried out. In those early years of Public

Access Internet, it would have been an interesting area for further research but probably

not now as the use of the Internet at home and school has become far more widespread.

Appendix C Page 336.

Year

Site 1998 1999

Mon. 16 February

Tue. 24 February

Fri. 6 March

Mon. 30 March

Wed. 1 April

Fri. 3 April

Mon. 6 - Thurs. 9 April

Fri. 6 August

Fri. 29 October

Fri. 5 November

State Library

Fri. 26 November

Tue. 9 - Wed. 10 June

Mon. 15 - Wed. 17 June

Mon. 22 June

Wed. 24 June

North Melbourne

Mon. 29 June

Tue. 5 - Wed. 6 MaySam Merrifield

Mon. 1 - Tue. 2 June*

29/6/1998 First day of school holidays

29/10/1999 First day of VCE exams

Notes:

*Planned but never actually conducted.

Table C1: Dates and sites of the observations made during Phase 1.

Page 337.

Appendix D Interview Details—Phase 2


ss021 Cathy 13/5/05

ss007 Ian 20/5/05

ss008 Tom 20/5/05

State Library Librarian

ss018 Margaret 30/5/05

Page 338.

Appendix E Observation Details—Phase 2

Site 2005

Thurs. 7 April

Wed. 13 April

State Library

Wed. 20 April

Page 339.

Appendix F Publications Directly Arising from thisThesis

Wenn, A. 1999, ‘Libraries, Users, Librarians, Information and the Internet: How Do They Interactto Change a World?’ IRMA ‘99 Managing Information Technology Resources in Organizationsin the Next Millennium, ed. Khosrowpour, M., Idea-group Publishing, Hershey, PA, pp.1045-1047.

Wenn, A. 2000, ‘Virtuality - Real or Imagined? The Messy Boundaries of Cyberspace’, in IRMA2000 Challenges of Information Technology Management in the 21st Century, ed.Khosrowpour, M., Idea-group Publishing, Hershey, PA, pp. 513-516.

Wenn, A. 2001, ‘The Everyday Practice of Information: Tales from the Field’, in ManagingInformation Technology in a Global Economy , ed. Khosrow-pour, M., Idea GroupPublishing, Hershey, PA., pp. 1119-1122.

Wenn, A. 2002, ‘Fuzzy Boundaries, Strange Negotiations: Problems of Space, Place and Identity inCyberspace’, in Managing Web Usage in the Workplace: A Social, Ethical, and LegalPerspective, eds Anandarajan, M. and Simmers, C., Idea Group Publications, Hershey.

Wenn, A. 2002, ‘Information in Everyday Practice’, in Human Factors in Information Systems, edsSzewczak, E. and Snodgrass, C., IRM Press, Hershey, PA, pp. 93-103.

Wenn, A. 2002, ‘Actor-Network Theory: How It May Assist Our Understanding of InformationSystems’, in ISOneWorld , eds Hunter, M. G. and Dhanda, K. K., Las Vegas.

Wenn, A. 2003, ‘Enrolling ANT or How One Understanding of Sociology of Technology May Beof Interest to Information Systems Practitioners.’ in Information Systems: The Challenge ofTheory and Practice , eds Hunter, M. G. and Dhanda, K. K., The Information Institute, LasVegas, NV.

Wenn, A. 2003, ‘Information in a Sociotechnical World - a Discussion Paper’, in Proceedings ofISOneWorld 2003: Nuturing Executive Networks, CDRom edn, eds Dhanda, K. K. andHunter, M. G., The Information Institute, Las Vegas, pp. 1-13.

Page 340.

Appendix G Publications Tangential to this thesis

Wenn, A. 1996, ‘Community Computer Networks and VICNET - a Study of an Artefact in theMaking’, presented at AAHPSSS, Melbourne, Vic.

Wenn, A. 1999, ‘Fluid Interactions: Describing the Development of an Open System’, in IRMA ‘99Managing Information Technology Resources in Organizations in the Next Millennium , ed.Khosrowpour, M., Idea-group Publishing, Hershey, PA, pp. 683-690.

Wenn, A. 2000, ‘Topological Transformations: The Co-Construction of an Open System.’ inHuman Centered Methods in Information Systems: Current Research and Practice, eds Clarke,S. and Lehaney, B., Idea Group publishing, Hershey, PA.

Wenn, A. 2004, ‘A Coffee Shop Conversation - Socially Responsible Information SystemsResearch’, in Proceedings of Information Resources Management Association Conference 2004 ,ed. Khosrow-Pour, M., Idea-group, Hershey, PA, pp. 683-685.

Beaumont, A., Earl, B. and Wenn, A. forthcoming, ‘Federated Searching: Disparate andDistributed Databases, One Standard Interface for Library Users’, London.

Page 341.

Appendix H Federated Searching at the SLV

Paper describing the initial stages of development of a Federated Searching Interface for

use at the State Library of Victoria. Under review for the International Journal of

Knowledge, Culture and Change Management.

Appendix H Page 342.

Federated Searching: Disparate and DistributedDatabases, One Common Interface for Library Users.

Anne Beaumont, Betsy EarlTechnology Services Department

State Library of Victoria

{ABeaumont, BEarl}@slv.vic.gov.au

Andrew WennSchool of Information Systems

Faculty of Business and LawVictoria University

PO Box 14428Melbourne City, MC 8001

Australia

[email protected]

Phone: +61 3 9688 4342 Fax: +61 3 9688 5024

Main Description

There is an increasing recognition that the expectations of library users are not being met: theyhave difficulty finding the material they are after, the user interface is often too complicated andthey are increasingly signalling that they want a single, easy-to-use interface that will allow themaccess to the plethora of databases both on and off the WWW – federated searching.Whilst these requests may seem reasonable, many problems arise in practice. Firstly, there aremany different data storage standards for library catalogues; much of the information on theWWW is not catalogued to any standard whatsoever. Secondly, libraries in Australia and elsewhereare often required to run on very tight budgets, thus they cannot afford the expensive off-the-shelf solutions that are available. Thirdly, many organizations lack the resources to enable their ITstaff to be trained. Fourthly many of the data exchange and presentation formats are cutting-edgeand thus neither firmly standardized nor well known in the ‘real world’. Fifthly, any solution mustbe cross-platform compatible, have the ability to operate with legacy databases as well as thoseavailable on the WWW and other storage media.This paper discusses one possible solution to this complex situation. It examines the alternativesoftware solutions, what has been done elsewhere in other organizations, and discusses why theState Library of Victoria chose the system it did. We then outline the practical day-to-dayproblems encountered in implementing the system and provide some advice for others who maywish to follow the same path.

Keywords

Cross-platform Searching, Libraries, SiteSearch Software, Cross-platform Searching Software,Open Source Software, Integrated Library Management Systems, Information Access


IntroductionFor many, many centuries and right up to the present day, libraries used to be repositories forcollections of printed materials that were stored within the physical space of the library. Thestorage medium may have been clay tablets as in the libraries of ancient Sumer, papyrus scrollsfor the library of Alexandria, elaborate hand written paper texts that were regarded as being sovaluable they were chained to desks, for example Oxford University’s Bodleian Library and, thenas cheaper ways of reproducing texts arose after the development of the moveable type printing-press, in far more accessible collections (Lerner 1998; Petroski 1999). But the one thing they allhad in common was the document was available as a tangible object for the reader to hold andperuse. Each library would also have implemented some sort of catalogue to allow the desired‘volume’ to be retrieved and read. That is, each library would have had its own system forcataloguing a document’s contents and indicating where it was stored within the physical space(see for example Burke 2000 for a discussion of knowledge classification systems in early modernEurope). Various attempts had been made over the centuries to develop some sort of standardclassification but it was not until Melville Dewey developed and published details of his DeweyDecimal Classification System (DDC) that libraries had access to what was to become a widelyaccepted cataloguing system (Cooper 2000; Rowley and Farrow 2000). The DDC provideduniform way of storing knowledge about a topic on the library shelves and then indexing it forsubsequent retrieval. This enabled users to visit different libraries and be reasonably confident thatthey knew how to locate the publication they wanted using either the card catalogue or later on acomputerized version of the same.There can be little doubt that the nature of libraries has changed dramatically over the last sixty orso years with publishers using information technology to develop and publish information in avariety of electronically mediated formats that were not necessarily stored within the physicalconfines of the library (Rugge and Glossbrenner 1994). Perhaps the most dramatic changes haveoccurred in the last ten years with the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW).However, since the development of the WWW these physical boundaries have been very muchdissolved, the organization of much of the information no longer uses the strict cataloguing rulesdeveloped by Melville Dewey or the Library of Congress (Rowley and Farrow 2000).

The transition to more databases and documents in electronic form has been accompaniedby another significant trend, the increased use of networking [mainly through the Internetand WWW but also Intranets and other networks] to provide access to information sourcesand knowledge (Rowley and Farrow 2000, p. xiv).

Because of their long history as knowledge repositories, libraries are far better organized than thechaotic (dare one use the term anarchic?) and ever changing Internet (Chandler and Anderson2002). The Internet can be a potentially rich information resource but despite attempts to getdesigners to implement meta data descriptions of the site using a standard such as the Dublin Core(Hillman 2001; Neville 1997) there are many, many sites that do not do so (Sellitto and Wenn2004). Traditionally, libraries are bound by such things as collection policies and resources as tothe type of information and access provided.Add to this the fact that there is a plethora of other standards that commercial database providerscan use to index their databases such as Z39.50 or MARC as well as differing record storageformats. Thus we may have many more potential information sources, but it seems as theymultiply so do the compatibility problems. On top of this there is increasing evidence that libraryusers (especially the younger ones) are increasingly expecting library catalogues to be as easy touse as Internet search engines (McPherson 2001).It is against this background of multiplying entities such as online databases, that may be internalor external to the library, may use different storage formats for instance magnetic disks, CDROMs(or one suspects soon to be DVDs), different indexing systems, and access methods (custom


designed and programmed interface, HTML based interface) that the State Library of Victoria(SLV) decided to implement a single, simple to use interface to its own and external informationresources. This paper describes the development of such an interface, in this case, termed afederated searching system that will allow users and staff to search multiple databasessimultaneously through a single web-based interface.

Resource povertyThere can be no doubt, that libraries and in particular public libraries are starved of resources,funding is difficult to find (OCLC 2004), there are staff shortages and those staff that are availablemay lack the requisite skills and/or have enough on their plates already (Kupersmith 1998).Additionally equipment may be scarce or outdated (Kupersmith 1998). “It is also important,though difficult, to maintain technology currency in the face of decreasing resources, rising costs,and differing views about institutional funding priorities” (College and Research Libraries News(Nov. 2002) cited in Office of Policy and Analysis 2004) Thong et al. (1994) when writingabout the problems of small business refer to this as “resource poverty”. They state, that resourcepoverty is characterized by amongst other things “severe constraints on financial resources [and]a lack of trained personnel” (Thong et al. 1994, p. 210). It is against this type of background thatthe SLV moved to pilot such federated searching system.One way that resource poverty may be alleviated is to employ Open Source software (OSS)(Morgan 2002; OCLC 2004; Satterley n.d.). Briefly OSS can be defined as software that isdeveloped by a community for use by that community and others provided that any changesmade to the source code are made available free for other members to use. Chawner (2004) hasstated that:

This is particularly applicable to projects to develop library and information managementapplications, as many librarians lack the skills to be active developers, but have extensiveknowledge of their specialised requirements, while experienced developers are unlikely tohave significant experience with library requirements. (p. 4).

One of the major advantages of OSS is that initial costs are zero but this must be offset against thelikelihood that maintenance costs will be higher in the long run, support is not guaranteed anddocumentation can be (as was the case for this project) very disorganized or even sparse (Chawner2004). However as we shall see OSS can often be useful for proof-of-concept or pilotapplications.In the remainder of this paper we define what is meant by federated searching, briefly look at whatis being done elsewhere in Australia and other parts of the world. We also examine in more depthwhy such a system is worth considering and describe the development of a pilot federatedsearching tool by the SLV.

What is Federated Searching?Federated Searching, cross-platform searching, meta-search applications, common user interfaceor library/scholars portals are all terms which have been used interchangeably for an applicationwhich enables the searching of multiple databases that employ differing communication protocolsand possibly different data structures in a single pass. The idea is to combine access to a variety ofdatabases in such a way that the user can query them using a single interface where they entertheir search criteria just the once.The principles behind Federated Searching are similar to those of WWW Meta search engines suchas AskJeeves (www.ask.com) or Kartoo (www.kartoo.com). Meta search engines such as theseallow users to enter a query that is then parsed into the appropriate format for the individualsearch tool databases that each is associated with(Maze, Moxley and Smith 1997). When the results


are returned, duplicates are removed and the results displayed along with the name of the searchtool where the particular result was found. The major difference is that federated searching as it isbeing used in libraries also allows commercial databases, other libraries as well as the in-houseCDROM collections and the OPAC to be searched simultaneously rather than just documentspublished on the WWW.Such ‘Federated searching’ or ‘Common user interface’ applications now exist, and new ones arebeing developed both by various library vendors and independent organizations (see for instanceLuther 2003). The vendor of the State Library’s Integrated Library Management System,Endeavor Information Systems, has developed one of them, (ENCompass), another three whichare being used by sites in Australia are Metalib (Ex Libris) and Z-Portal (Fretwell-Downing, andMetaSearch (Innovative Interfaces) There are also two products which are available fromorganizations which do not sell library management systems, but which license their product tothem – Muse Global and WebFeat. And there is an open source application – SiteSearch –available from OCLC. A full list of 14 current vendors is available in a recent (June 2003) reportcommissioned by the National Library of New Zealand ‘A comparative review of common userinterface software products for libraries’ (Dorner and Curtis 2003). The technology is no longerat the bleeding edge, and the products are stable for a production environment (Luther 2003).Whilst the technology exists to make such a searching method possible, it is also worthwhilelooking at some of the social pressures that are pushing for a simpler interface to many and varieddatabases.

Why the Move to Federated Searching?There are several reasons why libraries are investing time and effort in this method of informationretrieval; firstly they believe it is what their users want. In an editorial for Information Technologyand Libraries, Dan Marmion (2002) made the following comment.

Problems our users encountered in accessing digital information, …. It turns out that we arenot doing as good a job as we had hoped. A common theme among the focus groupparticipants was that they often find it very difficult to find the information they need. Hereare some of their comments:

It might be lots of good stuff out there, but because it’s so hard to find, you never botherto look for it.

There’s just so much there. I think every time you click on something, you’re giventwenty more choices and I don’t feel like I know where to go.

You’ve got to know how to do it in this library and you get the help page and you gothrough it and I’m not stupid, you know . . . but, I just can’t figure it out.

Secondly, the interface isn’t what the users would like it to be either:I want a single search to look at all the information as opposed to having to know that Ineed to go to a certain index and search for this type of information. I don’t have to knowwhether it’s in biological abstracts or whether it’s an online journal that we hold, it wouldjust go find it for me in whatever place it happened to be.

It would be nice to be able to . . . have an interface that didn’t require training and that wasintuitive.

Over and over again, people kept asking for a simpler, less complex interface.

My wish would be that the interface of the library’s resources would look like Google, andit would operate that simply. (Marmion 2002)


This summarises what one reads and hears more and more. Using libraries is too hard; everythingis (supposed to be) on the Internet (McPherson 2001). Whether or not this is true is not the coreof the matter, what is important is what our users expect. As Roy Tennant (2003) has said –

Only librarians like to search – everyone else just wants to find.

Users expect a simple intuitive interface, which they can use to search multiple sources in a singlepass. Connie Koh reinforces this point when she says: “Libraries should determine whether theircurrent offerings appeal to students’ preference for convenient services and investigate new waysin which to make the search for information simpler” (Koh 2003 emphasis added). For instance,at the moment SLV patrons need to search separately

• The Library catalogue – via the Web interface• The various databases accessible from the Library workstations, (and in some cases, from

outside the library)• The internet – usually via one of the search engines

Hardly a simple process! Each has a different interface, and different searching rules, and there isno way to do a search in one and carry the search across to one of the other sources. In the caseof the databases, whilst it is often possible to search multiple databases from within the same‘family’ at the same time, searching across databases from different suppliers is virtuallyimpossible unless one of the ‘Cross-platform/Federated searching’ applications is used.In the next section we briefly look at development activities both within Australia and worldwide.

What is happening in Australia and elsewhere?There are numerous projects underway both in Australia and overseas that are implementingfederated searching using a variety of tools and approaches.

The Australian SceneThe State Library of South Australia is using a combination of MetaFind and Google for afederated searching type application, whilst the State Library of New South Wales has plans toimplement MetaFind and the State Library of Queensland has installed ENCompass but is not yetusing it for this type of application. Pearce (2003) outlined The National Library of Australia’s (NLA) plans to move towards afederated searching or in their case a portal model. That paper described some of the reasons forthe move towards this (as they have labelled it) ‘One Search’ approach:

• a new generation of researchers has grown up with the Internet who may haveunrealistic expectations of what a library website can now deliver

• the Internet and digital technologies are also providing us with opportunities toattract new audiences for our collections who have not traditionally been libraryusers

(Pearce 2003)

In 2003 a prototype system had been implemented. This provided the NLA with an idea some ofthe difficulties that would have to be dealt with. These included (Pearce 2003):

• the current version of the catalogue software not being as ‘intelligent’ as required by theOne Search application

• the removal of duplicate results returned as a result of performing parallel searches onseveral different data sources

• development of an appropriate relevance ranking system


• some problems of translating the Z39.50 query generated by the initial search request tothe URL based one that is required by the web based catalogue interface

By 2004 the prototype had been developed enough for it to be trialed by several public libraries(Moloney, Missingham and MacKenzie 2004).Many Australian universities are independently developing federated searching style applicationsand work is also being undertaken by consortium of academic libraries as the federally fundedAARLIN Project (Lim and Gow 2003). Some 22 university libraries are involved in the projectwith six of these acting as test sites (Lim and Gow 2003).

The Victorian Public Library Sector

There does not appear to be any movement towards implementing this functionality in the publiclibrary sector at the moment, possibly because of the current high cost of the software involved.There may be an opportunity to involve Victorian public libraries in a Statewide project with theState Library of Victoria as the lead institution. It is understood that some libraries see animplementation of this type of application (Federated searching) would be useful.

OverseasAgain, much of the action is in the University sector (see for example Gonçalves, France, Fox andDoszkocs 2000; Liu, Zubair, Hong, Nelson, Knudson and Holtkamp 2002), as this is where mostof the money is being spent on providing access to multiple databases at considerable expense,with a perception by the libraries involved that these are being under-utilised because of thecomplexity involved in knowing which one to use, and having to perform the same searchmultiple times. (See quote above by Dan Marmion of Notre Dame University in the USA). Aquick review of two major library system vendors revealed a number of clients with activities inthis area.The current customer list for ENCompass includes – Cornell University, University ofPennsylvania, Kansas State University, Maryland Interlibrary Consortium, Auburn University, TheGetty Research Institute, State Library of North Carolina, University of Toronto, National Libraryof New Zealand, the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda and the ILO Geneva.The MetaLib (Ex Libris) customer list includes some US sites such as Colorado State University,MIT, and the National Institute of Health, it has a much larger customer base in ContinentalEurope and the UK, libraries such as The Royal Library in the Netherlands, the Czech NationalLibrary, Max Plank Society in Germany, and the Universities of Bradford and East Anglia, andLoughborough in the UK.Thus there is a great deal of work being undertaken to develop more user friendly single point ofaccess interfaces (or portals) to the many disparate information repositories that a library contains.It is against this background that the SLV project is taking place.

What is happening at the SLV?There are three readily identifiable factors that provide the impetus for the SLV to consider thedevelopment of a federated searching interface. These are: firstly, the way the current cataloguesystem is being used; secondly, the Victorian Government’s policy on information access andthirdly the SLV’s long involvement with internet technologies. In this section, we will brieflyconsider each of these.

Problems with the Current Catalogue SearchesThe State Library of Victoria has long kept track of how many searches are carried out on thecatalogue and which indexes are most used. It is possible to obtain information on the number of


searches carried out on some of the databases to which we purchase access. Not all the databasesprovide information in the same format or with the same level of consistency, but EBSCOhost,which provides access to a number of databases does provide statistics which can readily becompared over a reasonable time period.

Year CatalogueSearches

EBSCO searches – alldatabases

2001/2 1963246 568912002/3 1962072 86678Total 3925318 143569

Table 2. Comparison of the number of SLV catalogue searches and those made of theseparately accessible EBSCOhost database.

The results displayed in Table 1 show a slight decrease in the number of catalogue searches, but adefinite increase in the number of database searches over the past 2 financial years. It should benoted that the catalogue searches were carried out both on-site and from remote locations, inalmost equal proportions. The database searches at present are only carried out on-site. It mightbe argued that if they could also be carried out remotely, the number might double – giving theState Library of Victoria double the value for the money it spends – which is a not inconsiderableamount.Also, although the EBSCO suite of databases is the single largest group of accessible resources (itcosts $75,663.00 pa), the Library subscribes to many others. In fact the total annual cost ofelectronic resources is $240,332.00. The question is, ‘If these resources could be made availablefor searching in a single pass – and also to legitimate users offsite – how many more satisfiedpatrons would the Library have?’Also, many patrons are not familiar with the differences between searching library catalogues andsearching for information on the World Wide Web, and therefore fail to find what they are lookingfor. If it were possible to search both catalogues and journal article databases at the same time, thepossibility of success could be significantly increased. A small test was performed to check this hypothesis. Firstly, the web log files of recent cataloguesearches were examined to find those search requests which had returned no results. Then thesame terms were used to search a selection of databases and catalogues via the test SiteSearchoption (see below) provided the results shown in Table 2.

Search term Number of hits CommentsTulipmania 156Planaria 125acausality 36patented gene 4359Zentropa 330Female film characters 15527James bothwell 511 Includes 5 at the State Library which were missed,

presumably because either the incorrect index wassearched or inappropriate syntax used.

Pthisis 8Evinrude 553ecovillage 125

Table 3 The results obtained using a test implementation of SiteSearch using searchterms that had returned no result via the library catalogue.


Although these figures look impressive some caution should be taken when interpreting them.Sometimes the problem occurs because the terminology used is too new to be used in the formalsubject headings, for example ‘ecovillage’ or ‘patented gene’. It may be too specific a term to beused at the level of complete book indexing, although it may occur as say a chapter heading, forexample ‘acausality’. Maybe as in the case of Evinrude, it may be a brand name. Alternatively,the terms may be entered using an incorrect syntax, for example James Bothwell will need to beentered in inverted form in an author index. Many of these problems do not occur whensearching databases of journal articles, and library catalogues using keyword searching, with theresult that the searches are successful.

Online Access to Information: the Victorian Government’s viewThe Victorian Government has been an enthusiastic proponent of online service delivery for someyears. This started under the previous government and has been equally enthusiastically pursuedby the present incumbents.In its July 2002 report “Victorian Online Gateway: The Vision, Strategy and Governance Model”(Multimedia Victoria 2002), some of the benefits provided by such a Victorian Online Gateway(VOG) are:User benefits

• providing comprehensive information and services associated with an enquiryGovernment benefits

• ensuring that important information and services of a department or agency are availableto enquirers to are accessing Government information

The indirect benefits of the VOG include• enhancing Victoria’s position as an innovative state• enhancing knowledge management• provides a discovery environment that assures the most efficient access to information and

services• contributing to the customer service approach in the Victorian government• “self service” access to Government for Victorians.

All the same benefits could be attributed to providing a cross-platform searching interface forState Library of Victoria patrons.

The SLV and the InternetThe State Library has for many years, mainly through its off shoot VICNET, been involved inpublishing and providing access to information via the Internet (Hardy 1996; Wenn 1996).Indeed in 1994 VICNET was seen as one of the major ways that the SLV could achieve its aim ofbeing “[t]he knowledge navigator and gateway to the world’s information” (SLV 1994).Another important aspect of this was the move to involve the state’s public libraries in the use ofthe Internet as well. In their study of ‘Victorian Public Libraries and the Internet’ Bertot andMcLure (1998) describe the SLV and the public library network as being the leaders of Australianlibraries adoption of the Internet. So there is a history as well as experience of the technologiesavailable, though it should be pointed out that the VICNET staff are not available to be involved inprojects of this type.In addition to this, the State Library of Victoria:

• is re-developing its website• had usability testing done which uncovered a number of difficulties with the current site• wanted a single interface for searching inside & outside the library.• currently has a web-based interface for searching CD-ROMs and databases for onsite

use—could this be extended/amended for offsite use?


• wanted to make access to purchased databases possible some other way than via thecatalogue

However, funding set aside for purchase of this type of application had through necessity beenredirected to the overall website redevelopment (see discussion of resource poverty above). Thussome sort of cheap application was needed to develop a prototype that could be tested andpresented to the SLV’s board. Just to add to the pressure it was decided that we needed something that could be available at thesame time the redeveloped website was launched. Almost as if by co-incidence OCLC had madetheir SiteSearch software available as Open Source (OCLC 2001).

Working With SiteSearchIn this section, we will outline the architecture of the system and describe what it was like to workwith the SiteSearch software.Site Search provides the developer with a number of components, many of them written in Java,that allows the creation and maintenance of databases, the linking of databases and HTML,through a set of web server extensions, the controlling of access to various parts of the system andthe ability to access information sources that are both internal and external to the organization(See Table 3). One of our major requirements was that it understood the Z39.50 informationaccess protocol. Briefly Z39.50 is

a national and international (ISO 23950) standard defining a protocol for computer-to-computer information retrieval. Z39.50 makes it possible for a user in one system to searchand retrieve information from other computer systems (that have also implemented Z39.50)without knowing the search syntax that is used by those other systems. Z39.50 wasoriginally approved by the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) in 1988(Library of Congress 2004?).

SiteSearch Suite ComponentsWebZ Database Builder

Web server extensions Database builderZ39.50 client and server Maintenance

Customizable web interface ConversionAccess control Administration tools

Record BuilderTools to create, maintain and administer local databases with a web-based cataloguinginterface

Table 4 SiteSearch consists of many components that enable the integration of variousinformation sources with an HTML interface

In simple terms it is a standard protocol that allows the exchange and retrieval of informationfrom databases that may use different file storage mechanisms but implement the Z39.50 rules asone of the data access options. It acts in such a way that the user only has to learn the querylanguage of the front end system and the Z39.50 and associated layers do all the queryconversion and connecting to the required databases. This is shown in Figure 1.


Figure 7.2 The architecture of the federated search system using SiteSearch.

We found that SiteSearch was fully customizable but there was lots of work to be done so that itwould work with our specific configuration of software and hardware. Much of this would befairly routine to staff with a technical background, particularly if they had a background ofworking with Java and HTML. Briefly the steps involved were:

1. Install software on server2. Install and configure web server (In our case Apache)3. Setup/make sure Java is installed on your machine4. Setup access component including create and modify an SQL Database5. Setup/change database configuration files

There are a number of things that anyone working with SiteSearch should know (Jorgensen2004).

HTMLYou should have a working understanding of HTML tagging structures, what HTML entities areand their syntax. You should also understand framesets and targets, the use of HTML forms, andthe POST and GET methods.

SQLHave some understanding of SQL and how a relational database works.

Z39.50Understanding of Z39.50 protocol, MARC, BER, Client Server Technology and Searchingconcepts.

JAVAYou should be familiar with the Java programming language and the concepts and nomenclaturethat underlie Java’s object-oriented model.

As can be expected you must also have a good working knowledge of the databases and OPACconfigurations that make up your existing information resources. Above all, you should haveplenty of time and patience.


In our case we had a good knowledge of the first three, but no one available with the requisite Javaexperience. Betsy was quite willing to learn Java but did not have the time, being tied up with otheraspects of the redevelopment. Our funding was such that we could not employ a part-time letalone a full-time Java programmer. Our salvation came in the form of a university student, theson of one of the other staff members who was on vacation, had ‘messed around’ with computers,had some knowledge of Java and Unix (but had no formal training) and was free to do somevolunteer work for us. Later on as it became clear that he knew what he was doing and was capableof high-level problem solving he was employed on a piecemeal basis using money that had been‘re-allocated’ from elsewhere.As an illustration of the type of thing that had to be done we offer this simple example.

Figure 7.3 The Three ‘.ini’ files that need to be modified for each database.

To establish access to each new database the 3 ini files shown in Figure 2 need to be eitherupdated or created. Each time you do this, you also have to:

. Update the database load file to include access for users to the new database.

. Load this information into the Access database.

. Stop and restart the underlying SiteSearch server.

. Test. if not ok

. Start all over again.

Whilst a fairly simple task it is time consuming and also assumes that you are familiar with thestructure of the application. However, once the site is fully set up, the likelihood of adding newdatabases is very low.

The SiteSearch DocumentationOne of the disadvantages of OSS is that often very little time is devoted to creating andmaintaining the documentation. Whilst, in this case, it is true that the documentation is complete itwould be fair to say that it is:

a. challengingb. on-linec. shows how not to use hyperlinking.d. very comprehensive (too much so).e. updated regularly but old documentation is not archived or separated, so you need

very good deciphering skills to make sure you are using the right bit.f . you must either cut and paste or save html pages to create a copy of the

documentation in case web site goes down.


Using cross-platform searching softwareThe patron is presented with a search page (Figure 3) with various options in the top left-handcorner showing pre-configured sets of resources, for example, a General search, Business, Culture,Medicine, Virtual Catalogue – which can mirror the sorts of broad subject areas already shown inthe present Information Databases screen. The patron is also given the option of configuring theirown grouping ‘Create a new search subject’ which allows them to configure the group ofresources they wish to search. Also a significant difference is that all the available databases areshown individually in the main area.

Figure 7.4 The first screen of the pilot implementation.

If the patron elects to search just those resources labelled ‘Virtual Catalogue’ they will find allthose resources displayed in an easily identifiable manner – with an option to ‘customise topic’ inthe left-hand panel (where it says Create a New Search in Figure 3).If the patron selects this option, they are then presented with a screen that allows them toadd/subtract from those resources automatically included. We could, for instance, configure ourown topic called ‘open source’ and add in the following resources (Figure 4).

Figure 7.5 Selecting resources for ‘open source software’

By carrying out the same search for ‘open source software’ in the Keywords option. We see theresult shown in Figure 5.


Figure 7.6 The results of performing a keyword search on ‘open source software’.

Figure 5 also indicates the number of results retrieved from each source, and allows the patron tojump to the beginning of the group from each source, so that it is relatively easy to find the titlesfrom ‘computer source’ and jump straight to them.

If you want to see more about any of the items, you just click on the highlighted portion in theitem record and the details of the host and source availability are shown (Figure 6). In this case,you will notice a highlighted link beside ‘Electronic Access’. If you click on that link it will takeyou directly to the full text of the article, in either plain (html) text or pdf. It is possible to save thetext if it is a pdf, or email the result if it is plain text.

Figure 7.7 By clicking on the highlighted part of the record more detail will be revealed

Search history is saved for the length of the session, as are any customized topic options. Inreality, the searching procedure is not much different from a normal web based catalogue search,the advantage is that multiple external and internal databases are searched simultaneously and thepatron doesn’t have to know a variety of different search techniques that are often unique to aparticular database.

Progress to Feb 2004Remember this is only a prototype implemented to enable us to evaluate the feasibility of usingOSS to develop a federated searching application. It took somewhere between six to eight weeks


of investigation and testing to get it to a usable stage. Some work was needed to enable thecreation of local databases and only superficial changes were made to the interface. Many moreweeks of work will be required to get it into production.To sum up we have moved from the single-site catalogue search. To a ‘union catalogue gateway’(Figure 7), through a web based interface to individual databases and then to the interface thatallows the searching of multiple databases (Figure 6).

Figure 7.8 Where we have come from—a united catalogue search in this case COOLCAT

Conclusion and future developmentsWe are quite happy with what has been achieved so far. Work has been done as resourcespermitted and as of July 2004, a link has been created back to the SLV catalogue from andindividual SiteSearch record. We have been able to add more databases—one for free websites,one for subscription websites, one for a genealogy index and one for our networked CDROMs.The networked CDROMs have been enabled to run from our in-house Citrix thin-client terminals.A case has also been put to the SLV Board seeking approval to develop this further.There is more work to be done in terms of the interface, customizing the look-and-feel of theinstallation. At the time of writing there were problems getting more than the EBSCO databasesworking.Above all, we have shown that the whole enterprise is achievable using open source software. Justhow it performs in a ‘real life’ environment with a far greater load than we have been able tosubmit it to so far remains to be seen. We also like to do some usability tests with library patrons tosee if it is more effective than the previous mélange of searching interfaces. It is however anexample of knowledge management in the raw, if you like, where the practicalities of finite andpossibly diminishing resources have to be taken into account. All in all the writer of this paper(Andrew) remains in awe of what can be achieved with: a shoestring budget; a student Javaprogrammer who is not studying IS/IT; a database programmer who doesn’t know Java but is aPerl and SQL whiz and who has other responsibilities that must take priority and finally a managerwho does the testing when she has time.


BibliographyBertot, J. C. and McClure, C. R. 1998, Victorian Public Libraries and the Internet: Results and

Issues, Viclink, [Online. internet], Available:http://avoca.vicnet.net.au/~viclink/report97.htm, Accessed 11 Nov. 98.

Burke, P. 2000, A Social History of Knowledge: From Gutenberg to Diderot, Polity Press, Malden,MA.

Chandler, R. and Anderson, K. 2002, ‘An XML DTD for Subject Related Resources’, AustralianAcademic & Research Libraries, vol. 33, no. 3.

Chawner, B. 2004, ‘Free/Open Source Software: New Opportunities, New Challenges’, in VALA2004 Conference Proceedings, ed. VALA, Victorian Association for Library Automation,Melbourne.

Cooper, C. 2000, The Internet & IT - Chapter 3 Library Catalogues, Carol Cooper, [Online.internet], Available: www.carol-cooper.co.uk/book/chapter03.htm, Accessed 11 June 2002.

Dorner, D. G. and Curtis, A. 2003, A Comparative Review of Common User Interface SoftwareProducts, National Library of New Zealand, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.natlib.govt.nz/files/CUI_Report_Final.pdf, Accessed 26 February 2004.

Gonçalves, M. A., France, R. K., Fox, E. A. and Doszkocs, T. E. 2000, Marian Searching andQuerying across Heterogeneous Federated Digital Libraries, ERCIM WorkshopProceedings - No. 01/W001, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.ercim.org/publication/ws-proceedings/DelNoe01/11_Fox.pdf, Accessed 13August 2004.

Hardy, G. 1996, ‘Libraries and the New Media: VICNET - the Victorian Experience’, TheAustralian Library Journal, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 34-39.

Hillman, D. 2001, Using Dublin Core, DublinCore.org, [Online. internet], Accessed.Jorgensen, B. 2004, Welcome to Opensitesearch | Opensitesearch, SourceForge.net, [Online.

internet], Available: http://opensitesearch.sourceforge.net/portal/, Accessed 13 September2004.

Koh, C. 2003, ‘Reconsidering Services for the Postmodern Student’, Australian Academic &Research Libraries, vol. 34, no. 3.

Kupersmith, J. 1998, Technostress in the Bionic Library, Kupersmith, John, [Online. internet],Available: http://www.jkup.net/bionic.html, Accessed 9 September 2004.

Lerner, F. A. 1998, The Story of Libraries: From the Invention of Writing to the Computer Age,Continuum, New York, NY.

Library of Congress 2004?, Library of Congress WWW/Z39.50 Gateway, Library of Congress,[Online. internet], Available: http://www.loc.gov/z3950/gateway.html#about, Accessed 20September 2004.

Lim, E. T. and Gow, E. 2003, A New Model for Collaborative Library Service: The Aarlin Project,ALIA, [Online. internet], Available:http://conferences.alia.org.au/online2003/papers/limgow.html, Accessed 20 September2004.

Liu, X., Zubair, M., Hong, Q., Nelson, M. L., Knudson, F. and Holtkamp, I. 2002, ‘FederatedSearching Interface Techniques for Heterogeneous OAI Repositories’, Journal of DigitalInformation, vol. 2, no. 4, Article No. 106, 2002-05-21.

Luther, J. 2003, ‘Trumping Google? Metasearching’s Promise’, Library Journal, pp. 1-3.Marmion, D. 2002, ‘Editorial: Listening to Our Users’, Information Technology and Libraries,

vol. 21, no. 2.Maze, S., Moxley, D. and Smith, D. 1997, Neal-Schuman Authoritative Guide to Web Search

Engines, Neal-Schuman, New York, NY.McPherson, M. 2001, ‘Position or Purpose: Situating the Library in a Webbed World’, Australian

Academic & Research Libraries, vol. 32, no. 3.Moloney, K., Missingham, R. and MacKenzie, C. 2004, ‘A Portal for the People: National Library

& Your Local Public Library = New Access Paradigm’, in VALA 2004 ConferenceProceedings, ed. VALA, Victoria Association for Library Automation, Melbourne.

Morgan, E. L. 2002, ‘Possibilities for Open Source Software in Libraries’, InformationTechnology and Libraries, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 12-15.

Multimedia Victoria 2002, The Vision, Strategy and Governance Model for the Victorian OnlineGateway - July 2002, Multimedia Victoria, [Online. internet], Available:


http://www.egov.vic.gov.au/Victoria/StrategiesPoliciesandReports/Reports/vision-strategy-governance/vision-strategy.htm, Accessed 14 August 2004.

Neville, L. 1997, ‘Internet Resources: Issues of Access and a Possible Solution’, CataloguingAustralia, vol. 23, no. 1/2, pp. 23-27.

OCLC 2001, Sitesearch, OCLC, [Online. internet], Available: http://www.oclc.org/, Accessed 1September 2004.

OCLC 2004, 2003 Environmental Scan: A Report to the OCLC Membership, OCLC, OnlineComputer Library Center, Dublin, Ohio.

Office of Policy and Analysis 2004, Key Trends Affecting Libraries, Smithsonian Institution,[Online. internet], Accessed 1 September 2004.

Pearce, J. 2003, One Search: Don’t Make Me Think, ACOC, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.nla.gov.au/lis/stndrds/grps/acoc/onesearch.doc, Accessed 19 September 2004.

Petroski, H. 1999, The Book on the Bookshelf, Vintage Books, New York.Rowley, J. and Farrow, J. 2000, Organizing Knowledge, 3rd edn, Gower Publishing Ltd, Aldershot.Rugge, S. and Glossbrenner, A. 1994, The Information Broker’s Handbook, 2nd edn, McGraw

Hill, USA?Satterley, R. n.d., Open Source Software and Libraries, [Online. internet], Available:

http://www.gslis.mcgill.ca/marginal/mar10-2/opensource.htm, Accessed 14 August 2004.Sellitto, C. and Wenn, A. 2004, ‘Emerging Practices and Standards for Designing Business

Websites: Recommendations for Developers’, in Issues of Human Computer Interaction,ed. Sarmento, A., IRM Press, Hershey, PA.

SLV 1994, L21 State Library of Victoria Strategic Plan, SLV, Melbourne.Tennant, R. 2003, Endeavoring to Do Our Best: Library Systems as If Users Mattered, [Online.

internet], Available: escholarship.cdlib.org/rtennant/ presentations/2003end/enduserRT.ppt,Accessed 14 August 2004.

Thong, J. Y. L., Yap, C.-S. and Raman, K. S. 1994, ‘Engagement of External Expertise inInformation Systems Implementation’, Journal of Management Information Systems, vol.11, no. 2, pp. 209-231.

Wenn, A. 1996, (Dis?)Organising VICNET: A Topological Investigation of Access. MSc,University of Melbourne.

Page 358.

Glossary

account name A name that identifies a user to a computer; also know as a userid, login or username.

address A unique name or number identifying a computer or user. Used when transmittingmessages to a particular machine or person.

alias (1) An easy to remember name associated with an email address. (2) An alternative emailaddress often assigned by the system administrator.

article A message sent to a news group. Also known as a posting.

BBS A remote computer that is accessed directly by phone or via the Internet using the Telnetprotocol. It provides a bulletin board service whose function is to share or exchangemessages and files. Can be devoted to specific interests or offer a more general service.

bit A single binary digit represented by ‘0’ or ‘1’.

bookmark A way of marking a web page so that it is easy to find. The browser saves the address of thepage (URL) and its title.

broken link A hypertext link that points to a non-existent file or address. When a user clicks on the link,an error message is returned.

browser A software application that provides an interface between the user and the Internet.Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are two popular browsers.Sometimes referred to as web clients.

Bulletin Board Service See BBS

byte Often thought of as eight bits, but could be seven, nine, ten depending on the computersoperating system. A measurement of the amount of data. Used to indicate file size.

cache Local memory (disk or ram) where copies of recently requested web pages are saved.

chat Live communication involving two or more people where messages are typed back andforth, in real-time, in a conversational style. As a message is typed, it appears on thescreens of the other users who are in” the chat room.”

chat room An online forum where you can hold interactive discussions on your favourite topic withother people on the internet.

client A program or a computer that connects to a server with which it exchanges information.

closed list A subscription based mailing list where the list owner determines who is allowed to join.Sometimes called a private mailing list.

cyberspace Another term for the Internet.

digital signature An ID that has been created electronically and saved as a file with the express of the owner”of the ID being able to attach it to electronic documents so that the receiver of the file canverify that the sender is who they say they are.

DNS See domain name system

domain A subsection of a network. Can relate to a business or an industry type.

domain name system A distributed naming scheme in which unique names are assigned to computers on theInternet.

download To obtain a copy of a file from a remote computer over a network. Often done using ftp.

Glossary Page 359.

dynamic IP address The address assigned by your ISP when you connect to the Internet; this IP will change eachtime you log on.

Dynix Library automation software used for managing loans, returns, cataloguing and patronrecords

EBSCO Vendor of journal subscriptions and online databases. Offers full text journal articlesonline.

email Electronic mail. Messages that are sent electronically over a network.

email address An address that identifies an electronic mailbox. On the internet it has the form:[email protected]

FAQ See Frequently Asked Question

file transfer A way of transferring files from one computer to another via a network.

file transfer protocol The internet protocol that allows files to be transferred over a network.

firewall A security mechanism that organizations install to protect their computers and data fromundesired access usually via the Internet.

follow-up A newsgroup article that is posted in response to a previous article.

frequently asked questions Questions that many computer users ask. Because these questions are asked so frequently,often by new users, they are collected and posted to a mailing list, newsgroup or even awebsite.

ftp See file transfer protocol

gateway A computer that acts as the means of transferring data from one network to another. Ratherthan have all computers in a network connected directly to the Internet, for example, onecomputer will act as a gateway for the signals to and from the Internet.

gopher A menu based Internet browsing tool. Popular in the early 1990’s but has been largelysuperseded by the WWW and hypertext based tools.

graphical user interface A graphics based computer interface, often consisting of windows, icons and menus. Veryoften manipulated with a mouse or pointing device rather than a keyboard.

GUI See graphical user interface.

homepage The first page in a hypertext collection or set of related web pages.

HTML Hypertext Markup Language. A language that allows the user to designate or markup theway text should be formatted. It is not a programming language but one purely designed tocontrol the appearance of text and to a limited extent graphics.”

HTTP See Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

hyperlink Text and/or graphics on a web page that when selected will cause the browser to retrieveand display another page.

hypertext A series of electronic documents that are linked together in such a way that the user is freeto read them in an order which they determine. The documents or pages can range fromsimple text files to complex multimedia presentations.

hypertext transfer protocol The protocol or rules that determine how hypertext is transmitted between client and serveron the WWW.

ICT Information and Communication Technologies. A generic term that refers to a wide rangeof devices such as telephones, email, Internet, mobile phones, fax, television allowingcommunication to take place over a variety of media and in many forms.

information superhighway A name for the Internet popularised by US Vice President Al Gore in the early 1990’s.

Glossary Page 360.

Internet In its simplest definition a global system of networked computers, users and data.

internet address An IP address for a computer connected to the Internet.

Internet Protocol (IP) One of the protocols in the TCP/IP suite, IP specifies how data is passed between computerson the network.

Internet Service Provider A company that provides a link between a users computer or network and the Internet.

intranet A computer network often TCP/IP based that is confined to an organization.

IP address A unique number assigned to each computer connected to a TCP/IP network. It takes theform of nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn where each group nnn represents four bytes or more often thoughtof as a decimal number between 0 and 255.

IRC Internet Relay Chat. Chat sessions that take place over the internet. The software thatenables such sessions to take place.

ISP See Internet Service Provider.

LAN A computer network that is confined to one organization, usually in geographic location.

list owner A person in charge of a mailing list. Also called a list administrator.

list server Software that provides mailing list services such as subscription to and distribution ofmessages from the list’s members and the entire list of subscribers.

mail client A program used to compose, send, read and manage email.

mail server A computer that manages the forwarding, saving and deletion of email.

Mail Transport Agent (MTA) A piece of software that is responsible for moving email texts from place to place,managing the mail queues, rewriting mail headers so that addresses are compatible withthe networks connected to it, negotiating with the Domain Name Server for machineaddresses and dealing with undeliverable messages.

Mail User Agent (MUA) The software that forms the interface between the user and the messy network side of anemail system. Also called a mail client.

mailbox A file where a persons email messages are stored.

mailing list A group of users, with shared interests, whose email addresses are stored in an electroniclist that can be used to send email to each member on the list. Can be a public (open) orprivate (closed) list.

mirror site A web server that contains a duplicate copy of a web site from another server. Oftenestablished in order to reduce traffic to the main server.

MUD A real-time interactive virtual environment where users may play games or engage in othermore serious activities with multiple other computer users simultaneously. Depending onthe type of MUD the environment is constructed to varying degrees by the users. This typeof activity is an extension of the Dungeons and Dragons game that was popular in the1970’s.

multi-user dimension See MUD.

multi-user dungeon See MUD.

netiquette Informal rules that govern the way people behave on the Internet.

Network News Transfer Protocol An Internet protocol that determines how news articles are distributed.

news server A computer that manages the forwarding, saving and deletion of news articles.

Glossary Page 361.

newsgroup An on-line forum devoted to a specific topic. Newsgroup subscribers may particpate indiscussions centred around that topic.

newsreader A program used to read, compose, post, subscribe and unsubscribe from a newsgroup.

NNTP See Network News Transfer Protocol.

open list A mailing list to which anyone may subscribe. It may even accept posts from users who arenot subscribers.

packet Messages are divided up into small groups of bytes called packets before they aretransmitted over packet switched networks such as the Internet.

password A secret code word that when used in conjunction with a username authenticates you to acomputer or other information service.

Point-to-Point protocol A set of standards that specifies one means by which packets may be transferred betweencomputers over telephone lines.

POP3 Post Office Protocol 3. A commonly used email protocol that allows the transmission ofemail messages across the Internet

PPP See Point-to-Point protocol.

protocol A set of rules for carrying out a procedure.

request for comments Officially the set of documents provided, distributed and maintained by the InternetEngineering Task Force. Often an intermediate stage in the development of a standardwhere comment is sought from interested parties.

resolver The software that translates between domain names which are normally character basedand IP addresses which are sequences of numbers.

RFC See request for comments.

search tool A database and its associated software, that enables users to search for material on theInternet. These may be dedicated to an interest area or more general.

sendmail A common form of Mail Transport Agent.

server A computer that provides information or other services to a client computer.

sig/.sig file See signature file.

signature file Normally a textfile that is appended to email messages that contains details of the personsending the message.

SMTP (Simple Mail TransportProtocol)

A set of rules that allows two computers on the Internet to trade electronic mail messages.

snail mail Regular postal mail. Referred to as such because it requires physical handling for deliverywhich may be slower than email.

static IP address An IP address is that permanently assigned to a machine. C.f. dynamic IP address.

subscribe The procedure that you follow to join a mailing list or newsgroup. A subscriber will receivenew postings from the list or group and be able to reply to such postings or start newthreads. Usually a free service.

TCP See Transmission Control Protocol.

TCP/IP The protocol suite made up of the TCP and IP protocols that determines how computersconnect, send and receive data on such a network.

thread A series of articles, in a newsgroup, that relate to a specific topic.

Transmission Control Protocol One of the protocols in the TCP/IP suite, TCP specifies how computers on the network areto communicate.

Glossary Page 362.

Uniform Resource Locator The address of a resource on the Internet. Typically the address of a web page but may alsobe to a file available for downloading, a newsgroup, a telnet service etc.

unix A computer operating system widely used in academic and research environments as wellas for Internet servers.

URL See Uniform Resource Locator.

Usenet One of the most commonly used news services on the Internet.

userid A name that identifies you to a computer. Also know as an account name, “login name” orsimply “login”.

virus A program that, when run, replicates itself and may imbed itself in the operating system,other application programs or data files. Most often created with malicious intent.

web server A computer, where web pages intended for viewing over the WWW are stored. Onreceiving a request from a client it transmits the desired page using HTTP.

website A collection of web pages, related to a certain entity, that is stored on a webserver orwebservers.

World Wide Web (WWW) An application, associated protocols and hardware attached to the Internet that is able totransfer hypertext (hypermedia) documents. Often referred to as the WWW or W3.

Glossary compiled from a variety of sources including:

Eastern Shores Library System 2000, Glossary of Terms , Eastern Shores Library System, [Online.internet], Available: http://www.esls.lib.wi.us/glossary.html, Accessed 26 April 2005.

Greenlaw, R. and Hepp, E. 1999, In-Line/on-Line: Fundamentals of the Internet and the World WideWeb, WCB/McGraw Hill, Boston.

Krol, E. 1994, The Whole Internet User’s Guide and Catalog , 2nd edn, O’Reilly and Associates,Sebastopol.

RWH and RCH Library Service 2005, Glossary: RWH and RCH Library Service, [Online. internet],Available: http://www.rch.org.au/library/glossary.htm, Accessed 26 April 2005.

Page 363.

References

(X Leave here. (anon 1956; Eastern Shores Library System 2000; Greenlaw and Hepp 1999; Novak 2000; RWH and RCH Library Service 2005) X).

Agar, M. H. 1986, Speaking of Ethnography, Sage Publications, Beverley Hills, CA.

Agar, M. H. 1996, The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction to Ethnography,2nd edn, Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

Agre, P. 1995, 'Institutional Circuitry: Thinking About the Forms and Uses ofInformation', Information Technology and Libraries, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 225-230.

Akrich, M. 1992, 'The De-Scription of Technical Objects', in Shaping Technology/BuildingSociety: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, eds Bijker, W. E. and Law, J., The MITPress, Cambridge, MA, pp. 206-224.

Akrich, M. and Latour, B. 1992, 'A Summary of a Convenient Vocabulary for theSemiotics of Human and Nonhuman Assemblies.' in Shaping Technology/BuildingSociety: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, eds Bijker, W. E. and Law, J., The MITPress, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 259-264.

ALIA 2000, 'Your Comments on Core Values...' inCite, vol. 21, no. 9, p. 25.

ALIA 2005, Alianet Webcards Page, ALIA, [Online. internet], Available:http://alia.org.au/alianet/webcards/ , Accessed 3 January 2006.

Allen, R. E. (ed.) 1990, The Concise Oxford Dictionary, Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK.

anon 1956, The Public Library of Victoria 1856 - 1956, Melbourne.

anon 1995, Congratulatory Messages Received since 5:30pm Monday, VICNET, [Online.internet], Available: http://www.vicnet.net.au/ , Accessed 26 May 1995.

anon 1996, 'Crucial Telstra Vote Hangs on Bush Challenge', The Age, Tuesday 5November 1996, Computers, p. D12.

anon 2002, Mobile Libraries Bring Satellite Links to the Bush, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.umrl.nsw.gov.au/news/2002319211.htm , Accessed 8 July 2004.

Armstrong, E. L. 1906, The Book of the Public Library, Museums & National Gallery ofVictoria 1856-1906, Trustees of the Public Library, Museums and NGV,Melbourne.

ASTEC 1994, The Networked Nation, Australian Government Publishing Service,Canberra.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003, Census of Population and Housing: Selected Social andHousing Characteristics Australia 2001, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.

References Page 364.

Available:http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/subscriber.nsf/Lookup/74B727D9E14BB 247CA256DCC007F5048/$File/20150_2001%20(reissue).pdf , Accessed 18 January2006.

Avgerou, C. and Cornford, T. 1993, Developing Information Systems: Concepts, Issues andPractice, The Macmillan Press, Basingstoke.

Ball, M. S. and Smith, G. W. 1992, Analyzing Visual Data, Sage Publications, NewburyPark, CA.

Beaumont, A., Earl, B. and Wenn, A. 2004, 'Federated Searching: Disparate andDistributed Databases, One Standard Interface for Library Users', Paper presentedat The Fourth International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change inOrganisations, unpublished, Greenwich, UK.

Beaumont, A., Earl, B. and Wenn, A. under review, 'Federated Searching: Disparate andDistributed Databases, One Standard Interface for Library Users', InternationalJournal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management.

Beer, S. 1995, 'Thousands Sign up in on-Line Rush', The Australian, Tuesday 23 May, p.31.

Behan, K. and Holmes, D. 1986, Understanding Information Technology: Text, Readings,and Cases, Prentice-Hall, Sydney, Australia.

Bennahum, D. S. 1998, 'The Hot New Medium Is ... Email', Wired, vol. 6.04, pp. 114-126.

Benton Foundation 1996, Buildings, Books, and Bytes: Libraries and Communities in theDigital Age, Benton Foundation, Washington DC.

Bertot, J. C. 1999, 'U.S. And Australian Public Libraries and the Internet: ConnectivityIssues and Policy Implications', Journal of Global Information Management, vol. 7,no. 4, pp. 18-26.

Bertot, J. C. and McClure, C. R. 1998, Victorian Public Libraries and the Internet: Resultsand Issues, Viclink, [Online. internet], Available:http://avoca.vicnet.net.au/~viclink/report97.htm , Accessed 11 Nov. 98.

Bijker, W. E., Hughes, T. P. and Pinch, T. J. 1989, 'Introduction', in The SocialConstruction of Technological Systems, eds Bijker, W. E., Hughes, T. P. and Pinch,T. J., The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 9-15.

Bijker, W. E. and Law, J. (eds) 1992, Shaping Technology/Building Society: Studies inSociotechnical Change, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Bloor, D. 1976, Knowledge and Social Imagery, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.


Bochner, A. and Ellis, C. 1996, 'Talking over Ethnography', in Composing Ethnography:Alternative Forms of Qualitative Writing, eds Ellis, C. and Bochner, A., AltaMiraPress, Walnut Creek, CA, pp. 13-45.

Boisot, M. H. 1998, Knowledge Assets, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Borges, J. L. 1998 (originally published 1941), 'The Library of Babel', in Collected Fictions,Penguin, London, pp. 112-118.

Borgman, C. L. 2000, From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure: Access toInformation in the Networked World, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Bow, A. 2000, 'Ethnographic Techniques', in Research Methods for Students andProfessionals, ed. Williamson, K., Centre for Information Studies, Wagga WaggaN.S.W., pp. 247-260.

Bowker, G. C. and Star, S. L. 1998, 'Building Information Infrastructures for SocialWorlds - the Role of Classification and Standards', in Community Computing andSupport Systems: Social Interaction in Network Communities, ed. Ishida, T.,Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 231-248.

Brake, D. 1997, 'Lost in Cyberspace', New Scientist, pp. 12-13.

Browning, H. 1998, 'The Internet in Reality: Using the Net to Support Library Users',IRISS '98, Bristol, 25-27 March 1998,http://www.sosig.ac.uk/iriss/papers/paper45.htm .

Bruce, C. 1997, The Seven Faces of Information Literacy, Auslib Press, Adelaide.

Bruner, J. S. 1990, Acts of Meaning, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Burgess, S., Sellitto, C. and Wenn, A. forthcoming (proof), 'The Perceived Value ofWebsite Features: An Exploratory Case Study of Small Regional AccommodationProviders in Australia.' International Journal of Management & EnterpriseDevelopment, vol. X, no. Y, pp. N-NN.

Burke, P. 2000, A Social History of Knowledge: From Gutenberg to Diderot, Polity Press,Malden, MA.

Callon, M. 1986a, 'The Sociology of an Actor-Network: The Case of the Electric Vehicle',in Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: Sociology of Science in the RealWorld, eds Callon, M., Law, J. and Rip, A., Macmillan, London, pp. 19-34.

Callon, M. 1986b, 'Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of theScallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay', in Power, Action and Belief, ed. Law,J., Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, pp. 197-234.

Callon, M. 1987, 'Society in the Making: The Study of Technology as a Tool forSociological Analysis', in The Social Construction of Technological Systems, eds


Bijker, W. E., Hughes, T. P. and Pinch, T. J., The MIT Press, Cambridge Mass., pp.83-103.

Callon, M. 1991, 'Techno-Economic Networks and Irreversibility', in A Sociology ofMonsters, ed. Law, J., Routledge, London, pp. 132-161.

Castells, M. 1996, The Rise of the Network Society, Blackwell, Oxford.

Casti, J. L. 1998, The Cambridge Quintet: A Work of Scientific Speculation, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.

Cecez-Kecmanovic, D. 2001, 'Doing Critical IS Research: The Question of Methodology.'in Qualitative Research in IS: Issues and Trends, ed. Trauth, E. M., Idea GroupPublishing, Hershey, PA, pp. 141-162.

Checkland, P. and Holwell, S. 1998, Information, Systems and Information Systems: MakingSense of the Field, Wiley, Chichester, UK.

Chesher, C. 1997, 'The Ontology of Digital Domains', in Virtual Politics: Identity andCommunity in Cyberspace, ed. Holmes, D., Sage Publications, London, pp. 79 -106.

Clark, T. H. K. 1999, 'Leveraging Technology to Create a World-Class Library', Journal ofGlobal Information Management, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 5-11.

Clarke, S., Coakes, E., Hunter, M. G. and Wenn, A. (eds) 2003, Socio-Technical andHuman Cognition Elements of Information Systems, Information Science Publishing,Hershey, PA.

Coakes, E. 2002, 'Knowledge Management: A Sociotechnical Perspective', in KnowledgeManagement in the Sociotechnical World, eds Coakes, E., Willis, D. and Clarke, S.,Springer-Verlag, London, pp. 4-14.

Coakes, E. 2003, A Sociotechnical View for IS [Personal Communication].

Collins, H. and Yearley, S. 1992, 'Epistemological Chicken', in Science as Practice andCulture, ed. Pickering, A., The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 301-326.

Collins, H. M. and Pinch, T. 1993., The Golem: What Everyone Should Know AboutScience, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Crabtree, A., Twidale, M. B., O'Brien, J. A., Nichols, D. M. and Rasmussen, E. 1997,'Talking in the Library: Implications for the Design of Digital Libraries', in ACMDigital Libraries '97, eds Allen, R. B. and Rasmussen, E., ACM, Philadelphia, PA,pp. 221-228.

Cram, J. 1991, Self Love and Joy and Satisfaction in Librarianship, Jennifer Cram, [Online.internet], Available: http://www.alia.org.au/~jcram/self_love.html , Accessed 23March 2005.


Creswell, J. W. 1998, Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among FiveTraditions, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Creswell, J. W. 2003, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed MethodsApproaches, 2nd edn, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

D. W. 1994, 'VICNET: Paper Presented at the Libraries Board Seminar on Thursday 15thSeptember 1994', [Format. copy of unpublished paper], 15 September 1994.

Darke, P. and Shanks, G. 2000, 'Case Study Research', in Research Methods for Studentsand Professionals: Information Management and Systems, ed. Williamson, K., Centrefor Information Studies, Wagga Wagga, NSW, pp. 93-105.

Davenport, T. and Prusak, L. 1997, Information Ecology: Mastering the Information andKnowledge Environment, Oxford University Press, New York.

Davidson, N. 1962, Statistical Mechanics, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Day, E. 2002, 'Me, My*Self and I: Personal and Professional Re-Constructions inEthnographic Research', Forum: Qualitative Social Research, vol. 3, no. 3, p.Unnumbered.

DCITA (Department of Communications Information Technology and the Arts) 2005,The Current State of Play - November 2005, Australian Government, Canberra.Available:http://www.dcita.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/33120/Current_State_of_Play_- _November_2005.pdf , Accessed 18 January 2006.

de Kretser, M. 2004, The Hamilton Case, Vintage, Milsons Point, NSW.

Dean, M. A. 1983, North Melbourne Free Library and Mechanics' Institute 1880 - 1956,Melbourne City Libraries, North Melbourne.

Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. 1988, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia,Massumi, B. Trans., The Athlone Press, London.

Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. 1998, 'Introduction: Entering the Field of QualitativeResearch', in Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials, ed. Denzin, N. K.,Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 1-34.

Dervin, B. and Nilan, M. 1986, 'Information Needs and Uses', Annual Review ofInformation Science and Technology, vol. 21, pp. 3-33.

Dewdney, A. K. 1991, 'Mathematical Recreations', Scientific American, vol. 265, no. 3, pp.130-132.

Dougherty, S. 2001, From Buns to Bytes: Is the Image of Librarians Changing?, ColumbiaSchool of Journalism, [Online. internet], Available:


http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/cns/archives/belly0219.html , Accessed4 March 2005.

Downey, G. L. 1998, The Machine in Me: An Anthropologist Sits among ComputerEngineers, Routledge, New York, NY.

Drake, W. J. (ed.) 1995, The New Information Infrastucture: Strategies for U.S. Policy, TheTwentieth Century Fund Press, New York.

Dutton, W., Blumer, J. G., Garnham, N., Mansell, R., Cornford, J. and Peltu, M. 1996,'The Politics of Information and Communication Policy: The InformationSuperhighway.' in Information and Communication Technologies - Visions andRealities, ed. Dutton, W., Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 387-405.

Eastern Shores Library System 2000, Glossary of Terms, Eastern Shores Library System,[Online. internet], Available: http://www.esls.lib.wi.us/glossary.html , Accessed 26April 2005.

Eco, U. 1984, The Name of the Rose, Weaver, W. Trans., Picador, London.

Edge, D. 1995, 'The Social Shaping of Technology', in Information Technology andSociety: A Reader, eds Heap, N., Thomas, R., Einon, G., Mason, R. and Mackay,H., Sage, London, pp. 14-32.

Edwards, P. N. 2003, 'Infrastructure and Modernity: Force, Time, and SocialOrganization in the History of Sociotechnical Systems', in Modernity andTechnology, eds Misa, T. J., Brey, P. and Feenberg, A., The MIT Press, Cambridge,MA, pp. 185-225.

Ellis, C. and Bochner, A. (eds) 1996, Composing Ethnography: Alternative Forms ofQualitative Writing, AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

Erickson, C. A. 2002, 'Providing Digital Opportunities through Public Libraries: TheCanadian Example', New Library World, vol. 103, no. 4/5, pp. 141-149.

Eschenfelder, K. R. and Chase, L. C. 2002, 'Socio-Technical Networks of Large, Post-Implementation Web Information Systems: Tracing Effects and Influences', inProceedings of the 35th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, IEEEComputer Society, p. unnumbered.

Evans, H. 2005, 'Booking Procedures for Internet Workstations', [Format. policydocument], 15 March 2005.

Feenberg, A. 1995, Alternative Modernity: The Technical Turn in Philosophy and SocialTheory, University of California Press, Berkeley.

Feenberg, A. 1999a, Questioning Technology, Routledge, New York, NY.


Feenberg, A. 1999b, Summary Remarks on My Approach to the Philosophical Study ofTechnology, [Online. internet], Available: http://www- rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/feenberg/method1.htm , Accessed 29 Nov. 1999.

Feenberg, A. n.d., From Essentialism to Constructivism: Philosophy of Technology at theCrossroads, [Online. Available: http://www- rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/feenberg/talk4.html , Accessed 29 Nov. 1999.

Fell, A. 2001, 'Deconstructing Beds …', in The Creative Writing Coursebook, eds Bell, J.and Magrs, P., Macmillan, London, pp. 50-53.

Feyerabend, P. K. 1978, Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge,Verso, London, UK.

Firebaugh, M. W. 1988, Artificial Intelligence, PWS-KENT Publishing Company, Boston,MA.

Fleck, L. 1981 (originally published 1935), Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact,Bradley, F. and Trenn, T. Trans., University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Fletcher, P. D. 1999, 'Editorial Preface, Libraries and the Internet: An InternationalAgenda', Journal of Global Information Management, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 3-4.

Fujimura, J. H. 1991, 'On Methods, Ontologies, and Representation in the Sociology ofScience: Where Do We Stand?' in Social Organisation and Social Process: Essays inHonor of Anselm Strauss, ed. Maines, D. R., Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp. 207-248.

Geertz, C. 1975, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays, Hutchinson, London.

Geertz, C. 1993, Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology, Fontana,London, UK.

Geertz, C. 2000, Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics,Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Genealogy Centre SLV n.d., 'First Families 2001: The Essential Guide', [Format.brochure].

Giddens, A. 1984, The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration,University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Gordon, R. S. 2003, The Accidental Systems Librarian, Information Today Inc, Medford,New Jersey.

Graham, G. 1999, The Internet: A Philosophical Inquiry, Routledge, London, UK.

Graham, S. and Marvin, S. 1996, Telecommunications and the City, Routledge, London.


Greenhill, A. 2001, 'Managerial Subjectivity and Information Systems: A DiscussionPaper', in AMCIS 2001, Eighth Americas Conference on Information Systems, edsStrong, D., Straub, D. and de Gross, J. I., Association for Information Systems,Boston, pp. 2154-2160.

Greenlaw, R. and Hepp, E. 1999, In-Line/on-Line: Fundamentals of the Internet and theWorld Wide Web, WCB/McGraw Hill, Boston.

Grint, K. and Woolgar, S. 1997, The Machine at Work: Technology Work and Organisation,Polity Press, Cambridge, UK.

Guillemin, M. N. 1996, Unravelling the Account of Menopause as a Hormone Deficiency:Working Practices of the Menopause Clinic. PhD, University of Melbourne.

Hafner, K. and Lyon, M. 1998, Where Wizards Stay up Late: The Origins of the Internet,Touchstone, New York, NY.

Hammersley, M. 1992, What's Wrong with Ethnography, Routledge, London.

Hanrahan, M. 2003, 'Challenging the Dualistic Assumptions of Academic Writing:Representing PhD Research as Embodied Practice', Forum: Qualitative SocialResearch, vol. 4, no. 2, p. Unnumbered.

Harasim, L. M. 1993a, 'Global Networks: An Introduction', in Global Networks, ed.Harasim, L. M., MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 3-14.

Harasim, L. M. (ed.) 1993b, Global Networks: Computers and InternationalCommunication, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Haraway, D. J. 1997,Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium.Femaleman©_Meets_Oncomousetm , Routledge,New York.

Hardy, G. 19 June 1995, [Personal Communication].

Hardy, G. 1995a, 'Interview March 1995', [Format. transcript].

Hardy, G. 1995b, 'More About VICNET', [Format. email interview], 29 September 1995.

Hardy, G. 1996, 'Libraries and the New Media: VICNET - the Victorian Experience', TheAustralian Library Journal, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 34-39.

Hardy, G. 1998, Networking the Nation ... In The Grapevine (the staff magazine of SLV),p. 5.

Harraps New Standard French and English Dictionary, 1972, revised edn,

Hayles, N. K. 1999, How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literatureand Informatics, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.


Heaps, H. S. 1978, Information Retrieval: Computational and Theoretical Aspects,Academic Press, New York.

Hewitt, C. 1986, 'Offices Are Open Systems', ACM Transactions on Office InformationSystems, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 271-287.

Hewitt, C. and de Jong, P. 1984, 'Open Systems', in On Conceptual Modelling, eds Brodie,M. L., Myopoulos, J. and Schmidt, J. W., Springer Verlag, New York, pp. 147-164.

Hill, S. 1988, The Tragedy of Technology, Pluto Press, London.

Hofstadter, D. R. 1980, Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, Penguin, London.

Holmes, D. 1997, 'Virtual Identity: Communities of Broadcast, Communities ofInteractivity', in Virtual Politics: Identity and Community in Cyberspace, ed.Holmes, D., Sage Publications, London, pp. 26-45.

Holzschlag, M. E. 2000, 'Turning Chaos into Order: Managing Web Projects', WebTechniques, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 16-19.

Hon. Haddon Storey: Minister for the Arts 1995, 'Transcription of Speech Given at theVICNET Launch', [Format. Andrew Wenn - personal notes], 23 May 1995.

Hon. Jeffrey Kennett: Premier of Victoria 1995, 'Transcription of Speech Given at theVICNET Launch', [Format. Andrew Wenn - personal notes], 23 May 1995.

Horsfall, D. 2001, 'Black Holes in the Writing Process: Narratives of Speech and Silence',in Critical Moments in Qualitative Research, eds Byrne-Armstrong, H., Higgs, J.and Horsfall, D., Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, pp. 81-91.

'How Far Down the Open Road? E-Diversity and Libraries', 2004, The Open Road 2004,(ed. Public Libraries Unit - VICNET, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne.

Howcroft, D. and Fitzgerald, B. 1998, 'From Utopia to Dystopia: The Twin Faces of theInternet', in Information Systems: Current Issues and Future Changes, Ifip8.2/8.6,Helsinki, December 10-13 1998, Helsinki.

Hutchinson, W. and Warren, M. 2000, 'Deception and Reality: A Challenge for theInformation and Knowledge Management Function', IRMA 2000, Challenges ofInformation Technology Management in the 21st Century, (ed. Khosrow-pour, M.,Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, USA, pp. 88-91.

Iannella, R. e. Dec 1996, Australian Digital Library Initiatives, [Online. Available:http://www.dstc.edu.au/RDU/reports/DLIB-OZ/index.html , Accessed 11 Nov1998.

Interrogate the Internet 1996, 'Contradictions in Cyberspace: Collective Response', inCultures of the Internet: Virtual Spaces, Real Histories, Living Bodies, ed. Shields, R.,Sage Publications, London, pp. 125-132.


Introna, L. D. 1997, Management, Information and Power: A Narrative of the InvolvedManager, Macmillian, Houndmills, U.K.

James, R. and Baldwin, G. 1999, Eleven Practices of Effective Postgraduate Supervisors,CHSE & SGS, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.

Jefcoate, G. and additional technical material by Andrew Ford 1998, 'Portico: The BritishLibrary's Online Information Server', in Towards the Digital Library: The BritishLibrary's Initiatives for Access Programme, eds Carpenter, L., Shaw, S. andPrescott, A., The British Library, London, pp. 201-209.

Johnston, C. 1999, Sent Packing In Sunday Life.

Joslyn, C. and Heylighen, F. 1993, Hypertext Web as a Semantic Network, PrincipiaCybernetica, Brussels, [Online. internet], Available:http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/SEMNET.html , Accessed 4 Oct. 1999.

Kellehear, A. 1993, The Unobtrusive Researcher: A Guide to Methods, Allen & Unwin, St.Leonards, NSW, Australia.

Kibirige, H. M. 1983, The Information Dilemma, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut.

Kjærstad, J. 2003 (originally published 1993), The Seducer, Haveland, B. J. Trans.,Arcadia Books, London.

Klein, H. K. and Myers, M. D. 2001, 'A Classification Scheme for Interpretive Research inInformation Systems', in Qualitative Research in IS: Issues and Trends, ed. Trauth,E. M., Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, pp. 218-239.

Krol, E. 1994, The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog, 2nd edn, O'Reilly andAssociates, Sebastopol.

Krol, E. and Hoffman, E. 1993, RFC1462: What Is the Internet?, [Online. internet],Available: LISTS.INTERNIC.NET <[email protected]>, Accessed 20January 1999.

Kurzeme, I. 1995, VICNET Newsletter, VICNET, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.vicnet.net.au/vicnet/newsletter/newltr4/newltr4.html , Accessed 6 June1995.

Kurzeme, I. 1997, 'Technology and Dust Mites', The Australian Library Journal, vol. 46,no. 2, pp. 147-153.

Latour, B. 1983, 'Give Me a Laboratory and I Will Raise the World', in Science Observed,eds Knorr-Cetina, K. and Mulkay, M., Sage, London, pp. 141-170.

Latour, B. 1986, 'The Powers of Association', in Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociologyof Knowledge?, ed. Law, J., Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, pp. 264-280.

Latour, B. 1987, Science in Action, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.


Latour, B. 1988, The Pasteurization of France, Sheridan, A. and Law, J. Trans., HarvardUniversity Press, Cambridge, MA.

Latour, B. 1991a, 'The Politics of Explanation: An Alternative', in Knowledge andReflexivity, ed. Woolgar, S., Sage, London, pp. 155-176.

Latour, B. 1991b, 'Technology Is Society Made Durable', in A Sociology of Monsters, ed.Law, J., Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, pp. 103-130.

Latour, B. 1995, 'Pasteur and Pouchet: The Heterogenesis of the History of Science', in AHistory of Scientific Thought: Elements of a History of Science, ed. Serres, M.,Blackwell, Oxford, UK, pp. 526-555.

Latour, B. 1996a, Aramis, or the Love of Technology, Porter, C. Trans., Harvard UniversityPress, Cambridge, MA.

Latour, B. 1996b, 'Social Theory and the Study of Computerized Work Sites', inInformation Technology and Changes in Organizational Work, Proceedings of theIFIP WG8.2 Working Conference, Dec. 1995, eds Orlikowski, W. J., Walsham, G.,Jones, M. R. and DeGross, J. I., Chapman & Hall, London, pp. 295-307.

Latour, B. 1999, 'On Recalling ANT', in Actor Network Theory and After, eds Law, J. andHassard, J., Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 15-25.

Latour, B. n.d., On Actor-Network Theory: A Few Clarifications, Centre for Social Theoryand Technology, Keele University, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/stt/stt/ant/latour.htm , Accessed 15 Sep 1997.

Lave, J. and Wenger, E. C. 1991, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation,Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Law, J. 1987, 'Technology and Heterogeneous Engineering: The Case of PortugueseExpansion', in The Social Construction of Technological Systems, eds Bijker, W. E.,Hughes, T. P. and Pinch, T. J., The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., pp. 111-134.

Law, J. 1994, Organizing Modernity, Blackwell, Oxford.

Law, J. 1997, Traduction/Trahison: Notes on ANT, Centre for Social Theory andTechnology, Keele University, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/stt/staff/jl/pubs-JL2.htm , Accessed 15 Sept 1997.

Law, J. 1999, 'After ANT: Complexity, Naming and Topology', in Actor Network Theoryand After, eds Law, J. and Hassard, J., Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 1-14.

Law, J. and Mol, A. 1994, What Is Social Context? A Note on Boundaries, Fractals andTechnologies, Unpublished draft ms,


Lee, A. S. 2001, 'Challenges to Qualitative Researchers in IS', in Qualitative Research in IS:Issues and Trends, ed. Trauth, E. M., Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA, pp. 240-270.

Leedy, P. D. 1997, Practical Research: Planning and Design, 6th edn, Prentice Hall, UpperSaddle River, NJ.

Lehoux, P., Sicotte, C. and Denis, J.-L. 1999, 'Assessment of a Computerized MedicalRecord System: Disclosing Scripts of Use.' Evaluation and Program Planning, vol.22, no. 1999, pp. 439-453.

Lerner, F. A. 1998, The Story of Libraries: From the Invention of Writing to the ComputerAge, Continuum, New York, NY.

LFF 1997, About LFF, Libraries for the Future, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.lff.org/need.html , Accessed 5 March 1998.

Libraries Online Steering Committee 1999, 'Information Paper: Victoria's Virtual LibraryProposal', [Format. information paper], 13 July 1999.

Library Board of Victoria 1998, Victorian Libraries Policy 1998, Library Board of Victoria,Melbourne.

Lindskog, H. 2005, 'IT Oustourcing in the Public Sector', in Proceedings of ISOneWorld2005, eds Dhanda, K. K. and Wenn, A., The Information Institute, Las Vegas,NV.

Lorrain, P. and Corson, D. 1970, Electromagnetic Fields and Waves, 2nd edn, W. H.Freeman, San Francisco.

Lowe, D. 1997, 'Becoming a Library of the Future - Linking Victorians to the World'sKnowledge at the State Library of Victoria', in Digital Library Technology '97, IESConferences, Sydney, pp. 21-29.

Lynch, C. A. 1998, 'Keynote Address - Finding Common Ground', in Finding CommonGround: Creating the Library of the Future without Diminishing the Library of thePast, eds LaGuardia, C. and Mitchell, B. A., Neal-Schuman, New York, NY, pp. 1-15.

Mackenzie, C. and Siegersma, R. 1996, 'Victoria, VICNET and Ventures', in PublicLibraries - What Are They Worth?, 2nd National Public Libraries Conference,Sydney, 12-15 Nov. 1995, ed. Bundy, A., Auslib Press, Adelaide, pp. 37-41.

Mackenzie, C. and Trembath, A. 1996, 'Weaving Nets to Catch the Wind: The Creationof Nepean Net', in VALA Biennial Conference Proceedings, ed. VALA, VALA,Melbourne, pp. 147-153.


MacKenzie, D. and Wajcman, J. 1987, The Social Shaping of Technology: How theRefrigerator Got Its Hum, Open University Press, Milton Keynes.

Macworld staff 2005, Macworld UK - Yahoo Mail Hits 1gb, IDG, [Online. internet],Available: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=11146 , Accessed24 March 2005.

Mansell, R. 1999, 'New Media Competition and Access: The Scarcity-AbundanceDialectic', New Media & Society, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 155-182.

Mansell, R. 2004, 'Political Economy, Power and the New Media', New Media & Society,vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 96-105.

Marshall, B. L. 2003, 'Critical Theory, Feminist Theory and Technology Studies', inModernity and Technology, eds Misa, T. J., Brey, P. and Feenberg, A., The MITPress, Cambridge, MA, pp. 105-135.

Mason, J. 1998, 'Groupware, Community and Meta-Networks: The CollaborativeFramework of Edna (Education Network Australia)', in Community Computing andSupport Systems: Social Interaction in Network Communities, ed. Ishida, T.,Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 125-136.

Mason, J. 2002, Qualitative Researching, 2nd edn, Sage Publications, London.

Maxwell, J. A. 1996, Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach, SagePublications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

McClure, C. R. and Bertot, J. C. 1997, Linking People to the Global Networked Society;Evaluation of the Online at Pa Libraries Project: Public Access to the Internetthrough Public Libraries, The Office of Commonwealth Libraries,

MCIN n. d., Manchester Community Information Network Background Information,MCIN, [Online. internet], Available: http://www.magictouch.org.uk/mcin/ ,Accessed 11 March 1998.

McMaster, T., Vidgen, R. T. and Wastell, D. G. 1998, 'Networks of Association and DueProcess in IS Development', in Information Systems: Current Issues and FutureChanges, Ifip8.2/8.6, Helsinki, December 10-13 1998, Helsinki.

McMorland, J., Carroll, B., Copas, S. and Pringle, J. 2003, 'Enhancing the Practice of PhDSupervisory Relationships through First- and Second-Person Action Research/PeerPartnership Inquiry', Forum: Qualitative Social Research, vol. 4, no. 2, p.unnumbered.

McPherson, M. and Nunes, M. B. 2004, Developing Innovation in Online Learning: AnAction Research Framework, RoutledgeFalmer, London.


Mercer, C. 1995, Navigating the Economy of Knowledge: A National Survey of Users andNon-Users of State and Public Libraries, Final Report, Griffith University, Australia.

Metcalfe, M. 2002, [Isworld] Summary of Responses About the Nature of Information,[Online. ISWorld discussion list], Accessed 12 June 2002.

Miles, A. L. 1996, '"All the World's a Net!" the Beginning of Information SuperhighwayAccess in Melbourne's Public Libraries: A Survey', in VALA Biennial ConferenceProceedings, ed. anon, VALA, Melbourne, pp. 85 - 99.

Miles, M. B. and Huberman, A. M. 1984, Qualitative Data Analysis, Sage Publications Inc,Newbury Park, CA.

Mingers, J. 1997, 'The Nature of Information and Its Relationship to Meaning', in ThePhilosophical Aspects of Information Systems, eds Winder, R. L., Probert, S. K. andBeeson, I. A., Taylor and Francis, London, pp. 73-84.

Misa, T. J. 2003, 'The Compelling Tangle of Modernity and Technology', in Modernityand Technology, eds Misa, T. J., Brey, P. and Feenberg, A., The MIT Press,Cambridge, MA, pp. 1-30.

Misa, T. J. 2004, Leonadro to the Internet: Technology and Culture from the Renaissance tothe Present, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Missingham, R. 1995, Commonwealth Libraries: A Case Study on Access & Use of theInternet, ACS, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.acslink.net.au/~tomw/cn95rm1.html , Accessed 11 November 1998.

Mitchell, W. J. 1995, City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn, The MIT Press,Cambridge, Mass.

Molz, R. K. and Dain, P. 1999, Civic Space/Cyberspace: The American Public Library in theInformation Age, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Ms Helen Tait: State Librarian 1995, 'Transcription of Speech Given at the VICNETLaunch', [Format. Andrew Wenn - personal notes], 23 May 1995.

Muhr, T. 1998, Atlas.ti: The Knowledge Workbench v. 4.1, [Computer program], ScientificSoftware Development, Berlin.

Müller-Merbach, H. 2004, 'Knowledge Is More Than Information', KnowledgeManagement Research and Practice, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 61-62.

Mumford, E. 2003, Redesigning Human Systems, Information Science Publishing, Hershey,PA.

Myers, M. D. 1995, 'Icis Panel 1995: Judging Qualitative Research in InformationSystems: Criteria for Accepting and Rejecting Manuscripts', in Icis 1995.


Myers, M. D. 1997, Qualitative Research in Information Systems, [Online. internet],Available: http://www.auckland.ac.nz/msis/isworld/index.html , Accessed 17November 2004.

Nieuwenhuizen, J. 1997, Asleep at the Wheel: Australia on the Superhighway, ABC Books,Sydney.

Novak, J. 2000, Virtual Libraries: Service Realities, International Association ofTechnological University Libraries, [Online. internet], Available:http://pandora.nla.gov.au/nph-arch/2001/Z2001-Jan- 30/http://educate.lib.chalmers.se/iatul/proceedcontents/qutpap/abs/novak.html ,Accessed 18 April 2005.

O'Brien, J. A. 1999, Management Information Systems: Managing Information Technology inthe Internetworked Enterprise, 4th edn, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA.

Open Systems Joint Task Force 2001, Appendix C Terms and Definitions, OSJTF, [Online.internet], Available:http://www.acq.osd.mil/osjtf/msword/OS%20Guide%20Appendix%20C.doc ,Accessed 1 October 2003.

Orlikowski, W. and Robey, D. 1991, 'Information Technology and the Structuring ofOrganizations', Information Systems Research, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 143-169.

Otte, P. 1994, The Information Superhighway: Beyond the Internet, Que, Indianapolis.

Papows, J. 1999, Enterprise.Com: Market Leadership in the Information Age, NicholasBrealey Publishing, London.

Parliament of Victoria 1994, 'Haddon Storey Announces VICNET to Parliament',Wednesday, 27 April 1994.

Parliamentary Counsel of Victoria 1989, Libraries Act (1988) VGPO, Melbourne.

Patrick, A. 1995, 'Clamp on Internet Porn', Herald Sun, Wednesday 24 May, p. 24.

Patton, M. Q. 1990, Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, 2nd edn, SagePublications, Newbury Park, CA.

Pentland, B. T. 1999, 'Narrative Methods in Collaborative Systems Research', inProceedings of the 32nd Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences, IEEE,pp. 1-9.

Perez-Reverte, A. 1996 (originally published 1993), The Dumas Club, Soto, S. Trans., TheHarvill Press, London.

Peter 1996, 'Email Interview', [Format. email interview], 26 May 1996.

Petroski, H. 1999, The Book on the Bookshelf, Vintage Books, New York.


Pinch, T. J. and Bijker, W. E. 1987, 'The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts: OrHow the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit EachOther', in The Social Construction of Technological Systems, eds Bijker, W. E.,Hughes, T. P. and Pinch, T. J., The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., pp. 17-50.

Pitt, J. 2000, Thinking About Technology: Foundations of the Philosophy of Technology,Seven Bridges Press, New York, NY.

Plant, S. 1997, Zeros + Ones: Digital Women + the New Technoculture, Fourth Estate,London.

Plato 1987 (originally published c. 360 BC), Theaetetus, Waterfield, R. A. H. Trans.,Penguin, London, U.K.

Pollard, J. 1996, 'Libraries to Offer Free Net Access', Sunday Herald Sun, p. 24.

Poster, M. 1995, The Second Media Age, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK.

Powell, T. A. 2000, Web Design: The Complete Reference, Osborne/McGraw-Hill, Berkeley.

Powell, T. A. 2003, Html & Xhtml: The Complete Reference, 4th edn, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, New York.

Rafaeli, S., McLaughlin, M. and Sudweeks, F. 1998, 'Introduction', in Network andNetplay: Virtual Groups on the Internet, eds Sudweeks, F., McLaughlin, M. andRafaeli, S., AAAI Press/MIT Press, Menlo Park, CA, pp. xv-xx.

Rafaeli, S. and Sudweeks, F. 1998, 'Interactivity on the Nets', in Network and Netplay:Virtual Groups on the Internet, eds Sudweeks, F., McLaughlin, M. and Rafaeli, S.,AAAI Press/MIT Press, Menlo Park CA, pp. 173-189.

Rao, M. (not stated), Bringing the Net to the Masses: Cybercafes in Latin America, [Online.internet], Available: http://members.aol.com/Cybersoc/4cybercafe.html , Accessed14 Dec. 1998.

Reid, E. M. 1991, Electropolis: Communication and Community on Internet Relay Chat,Electronically Distributed Version of Honours Thesis for the Department ofHistory. B.A. Honours Thesis, Department of History, University of Melbourne.

Resnick, R. and Halliday, D. 1966, Physics Parts I and II, John wiley and Sons, New York.

Rheingold, H. 1995, The Virtual Community: Finding Connection in a Computerised World,Minerva, Melbourne.

Rheingold, H. 1995 (originally published 1993), The Virtual Community: FindingConnection in a Computerised World, Minerva, Melbourne.

Roszak, T. 1986, The Cult of Information, Pantheon, New York.


Rowley, J. and Farrow, J. 2000, Organizing Knowledge, 3rd edn, Gower Publishing Ltd,Aldershot.

Rubin, H. J. and Rubin, I. S. 1995, Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data, SagePublications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Rubinstein, G. and Mackintosh, D. 2002, Prue Theroux: The Cool Librarian, Red Fox,Sydney, NSW.

Ruhleder, K. 1995, 'Reconstructing Artifacts, Reconstructing Work: From Textual Editionto on-Line Databank', Science Technology and Human Values, vol. 20(1), pp. 39-64.

Russell, B. 1961, History of Western Philosophy, 2nd edn, Routledge, London.

RWH and RCH Library Service 2005, Glossary: Rwh and Rch Library Service, [Online.internet], Available: http://www.rch.org.au/library/glossary.htm , Accessed 26 April2005.

Saint-Onge, H. and Wallace, D. 2003, Leveraging Communities of Practice for StrategicAdvantage, Butterworth Heinemann, Amsterdam.

Salus, P. 1995, Casting the Net: From Arpanet to Internet and Beyond, Addison-Wesley,Reading, MA.

Schauder, D. 1995, Publishing on Cd-Rom and Internet: Experiences from Two LibraryBased Enterprises, IATUL, [Online. internet], Available:http://iatul.org/conference/proceedings/vol05/papers/Schauder.html , Accessed 27January 2006.

Schauder, D., Stillman, L. and Johanson, G. 2005, 'Sustaining a Community Network:The Information Continuum, E-Democracy and the Case of VICNET', The Journalof Community Informatics, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 79-102.

Schultze, U. 2000, 'A Confessional Account of an Ethnography About Knowledge Work',MIS Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 3-41.

Scully, P. 1998, 'The Internet: A Core or Value Added Service?' Australasian PublicLibraries and Information Services, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 36-45.

Selwyn, N. 2004, 'Reconsidering Political and Popular Understandings of the 'DigitalDivide'', New Media & Society, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 341-362.

Shannon, C. E. and Weaver, W. (eds) 1963, The Mathematical Theory of Communication,Illini Books edn, University of Illinois Press, Urbana.

Shapin, S. and Schaffer, S. 1985, Leviathan and the Air Pump: Hobbes, Boyle and theExperimental Life, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

Shields, R. (ed.) 1996, Cultures of Internet: Virtual Spaces, Real Histories, Living Bodies,Sage Publications Ltd, London.


Sinclair, J. 1996, 'Special Report - the Tyranny of Distance', The Age, Tuesday 5November, Computers, p. D12.

Singh, S. 2002, 'Gender and the Use of the Internet at Home', New Media & Society, vol.3, no. 4, pp. 395-415.

Singleton, V. 1996, 'Feminism, Sociology of Scientific Knowledge and Postmodernism:Politics, Theory and Me', Social Studies of Science, vol. 26, pp. 445-468.

Singleton, V. and Michael, M. 1993, 'Actor-Networks and Ambivalence: GeneralPractitioners in the UK Cervical Screening Programme', Social Studies of Science,vol. 23, pp. 227-64.

Slack, R. S. and Williams, R. A. 2000, 'The Dialetics of Place and Space: On Communityin the 'Information Age'', New Media & Society, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 313-334.

Slater, D. 2003, 'Modernity under Construction: Building the Internet in Trinidad', inModernity and Technology, eds Misa, T. J., Brey, P. and Feenberg, A., The MITPress, Cambridge, MA, pp. 139-160.

Smith, W. 2000, 'Managing Information and Knowledge in a Virtual Organization:Lessons from the Emergency Coordination Centre', Working for e-business:challenges of the new e-conomy, eds) Burn, J. and Hutchinson, W., Edith CowanUniversity, Perth, WA, pp. 1-12.

Software Engineering Institute 2003, The Open System Approach at the SEI, CarnegieMellon University, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.sei.cmu.edu/opensystems/welcome.html , Accessed 1 October 2003.

Sommerville, I. 1992, Software Engineering, 4th edn, Addison-Wesley, Wokingham,England.

Sowa, J. 1984, Conceptual Structures, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.

Spender, D. 1995, Nattering on the Net: Women, Power and Cyberspace, Spinifex,Melbourne.

Stallings, W. 1989, Data and Computer Communications, 2 edn, Macmillan, New York,N.Y.

Standage, T. 1999, The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and theNineteenth Century's Online Pioneers, Phoenix, London.

Star, S. 1991, 'Power, Technology and the Phenomenology of Conventions: On BeingAllergic to Onions', in A Sociology of Monsters, ed. Law, J., Routledge, London,pp. 26-56.


Star, S. L. and Ruhleder, K. 1996, 'Steps toward an Ecology of Infrastructure: Design andAccess for Large Information Spaces', Information Systems Research, vol. 7, pp.111-134.

State Library of Victoria 23 May 1995, 'Victoria Switches into the Information Highway',[Format. publicity release].

State Library of Victoria 1994, L21 State Library of Victoria Strategic Plan, State Library ofVictoria, Melbourne.

State Library of Victoria 1995, 'Background on VICNET', [Format. Press release], 23 May1995.

State Library of Victoria 1997, Service Strategy into the 21st Century: State Library ofVictoria 1997-2002 Strategic Plan, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne.

State Library of Victoria 2005, Libraries/Building/Communities the Vital Contribution ofVictoria's Public Libraries-a Research Report: Executive Summary, State Library ofVictoria, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about/information/publications/policies_reports/plu_lb c.html , Accessed 16 April 2005.

Stewart, A. 1998, The Ethnographer's Method, Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks,CA.

Stillman, L. 1998, Libraries and the Internet, [Online. internet], Available:http://campaspe.vicnet.net.au/~larrys/stoecker/ , Accessed 3 April 1998.

Stoll, C. 1996, Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway, Pan Books,London.

Stone, A. 1995, The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age, TheMIT Press, CA, Mass.

Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. 1990, Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded TheoryProcedures and Techniques, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.

Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. 1998, Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Proceduresfor Developing Grounded Theory, 2nd edn, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Strickland, C. 1998, Aspects of Diversity, Access, and Community Networks, The InternetSociety, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.isoc.org/inet98/proceedings/7d/7d_3.htm , Accessed 25 March 2005.

Stross, C. 1996, The Web Architects Handbook, Addison Wesley Longman, Essex.

Sudweeks, F., McLaughlin, M. and Rafaeli, S. (eds) 1998, Network and Netplay: VirtualGroups on the Internet, AAAI Press/The MIT Press, Menlo Park CA.


Tait, H. 1995, 'Transcription of Speech Given at the VICNET Launch', [Format. AndrewWenn - personal notes], 23 May 1995.

Tatnall, A., Davey, B., Burgess, S., Davison, A. and Wenn, A. 2002, ManagementInformation Systems - Concepts, Issues, Tools and Applications, 3rd edn, DataPublishing, Heidelberg.

Tesch, R. 1990, Qualitative Research: Analysis Types and Software Tools, The Falmer Press,London.

Toohey, R. 1998, 'Sixth Draft Computers and the Internet in the State Library of VictoriaConditions of Use', [Format. unpublished draft policy document], 16 Mar. 1998.

Toy, M. 1995a, 'Netting for a Kinky Catch', Herald Sun, Wednesday 24 May, p. 26.

Toy, M. 1995b, 'Surfing the Cyber Swells', Herald Sun, Wednesday May 24, pp. 25-26.

Trauth, E. M. 1997, 'Achieving the Research Goal with Qualitative Methods: LessonsLearned Along the Way', in Information Systems and Qualitative Research,Proceedings of the IFIP Tc8 Wg 8.2 International Conference, May-Jun 1997, edsLee, A., Liebenau, J. and DeGross, J., Chapman & Hall, London, pp. 225 - 245.

Trauth, E. M. 2001, 'The Choice of Qualitative Methods in IS Research', in QualitativeResearch in IS: Issues and Trends, ed. Trauth, E. M., Idea Group Publishing,Hershey, PA, pp. 1-19.

Traweek, S. 1992, Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists, HarvardUniversity Press, Cambridge, MA.

Turkle, S. 1984, The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit, Simon & Schuster, NewYork.

Turkle, S. 1996, Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet, Weidenfeld andNicolson, London.

Turnbull, D. 2000, Masons, Tricksters, and Cartographers: Comparative Studies in theSociology of Scientific and Indigenous Knowledge, Harwood Academic Publishers,Australia.

U. S. Government 1993, National Information Infrastructure Proposal, Version 1,, U.S.Government, [Online. internet], Available: http://sunsite.unc.edu/nii/NII-Agenda- for-Action.html , Accessed 1994.

Urban Libraries Council 2002, Impacts of the Internet on Public Library Use, ULC,[Online. internet], Available:http://www.urbanlibraries.org/Internet%20Study%20Fact%20Sheet.html ,Accessed 6 January 2003.


Urquhart, C. 2001, 'An Encounter with Grounded Theory: Tackling the Practical andPhilosophical Issues', in Qualitative Research in IS: Issues and Trends, ed. Trauth,E. M., Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA., pp. 104-140.

Van Maanen, J. 1982, 'Introduction', in Varieties of Qualitative Research, eds VanMaanen, J., Dabbs, J. and Faulkner, R., Sage Publications Inc, Beverley Hills, CA,pp. 11-29.

Van Maanen, J. (ed.) 1983a, Qualitative Methodology, Sage Publications, Newbury Park,CA.

Van Maanen, J. 1983b, 'Reclaiming Qualitative Methods for Organisational Research: APreface', in Qualitative Methodology, ed. Van Maanen, J., Sage Publications,Newbury Park, CA, pp. 9 - 18.

Van Maanen, J. 1988, Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography, University of ChicagoPress, Chicago.

Veerbeek, P.-P. 2005 (originally published 2000), What Things Do: Philosophical Reflectionson Technology, Agency and Design, Crease, R. P. Trans., Pennsylvania StateUniversity Press, University Park, PA.

VICNET 1995a, VICNET and Victorian Public Internet Access Locations, Harnett, Wayde,[Online. internet], Accessed 15 February 1996.

VICNET 1995b, VICNET Web Server Statistics, VICNET, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.vicnet.net.au/log/getstats.report.html , Accessed 4 May 1995.

VICNET 1995c, VICNET: Victoria's Network, VICNET, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.vicnet.net.au/ , Accessed 4 May 1995.

Walsham, G. 1997, 'Actor-Network Theory and IS Research: Current Status and FutureProspects', in Information Systems and Qualitative Research, Proceedings of the IFIPTc8 Wg 8.2 International Conference, eds Lee, A., Liebenau, J. and DeGross, J.,Chapman Hall, London.

Walsham, G. and Sahay, S. 1999, 'GIS for District-Level Administration in India:Problems and Opportunities', MIS Quarterly, vol. 23(1), pp. 39-65.

Weinstein, M. 2002, TAMSAnalyzer v. 3.21a6j (v3.1), [Computer program], MatthewWeinstein, tamsys.sourceforge.net, Available:http://tamsys.sourceforge.net/osxtams/download.html .

Wenger, E. C. 1998, Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity, CambridgeUniversity Press, Cambridge.

Wenn, A. 1996a, 'Community Computer Networks and VICNET - a Study of an Artefactin the Making', presented at AAHPSSS, Melbourne, Vic.


Wenn, A. 1996b, 'Constructing VICNET - Building a Model Suitable for Studying anInformation Technology Artefact in the Making.' in Department of BusinessComputing Occasional Paper Series, Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne,Melbourne.

Wenn, A. 1996c, (Dis?)Organising VICNET: A Topological Investigation of Access. MSc,University of Melbourne.

Wenn, A. 1998, Open Systems, Social Topologies, Describing the Evolution of an InternetService, School of Information Systems, Victoria University of Technology,[Online. internet], Available:http://www.business.vu.edu.au/infosyspapers/docs/1998/AWpaper , Accessed 23Nov. 1999.

Wenn, A. 1999, The Information Technology Complexity Game: How Librarians, theInternet and Patrons Are Shaping the Libraries of Tomorrow, School of InformationSystems, Victoria University of Technology, [Online. internet], Available:http://www.business.vu.edu.au/infosyspapers/docs/1999/AWWP2.pdf , Accessed3 Jan. 2002.

Wenn, A. 2000, 'Topological Transformations: The Co-Construction of an Open System.'in Human Centered Methods in Information Systems: Current Research and Practice,eds Clarke, S. and Lehaney, B., Idea Group publishing, Hershey, PA.

Wenn, A. 2002, 'Fuzzy Boundaries, Strange Negotiations: Problems of Space, Place andIdentity in Cyberspace', in Managing Web Usage in the Workplace: A Social, Ethical,and Legal Perspective, eds Anandarajan, M. and Simmers, C., Idea GroupPublications, Hershey.

Wenn, A. 2003, 'Enrolling ANT or How One Understanding of Sociology of TechnologyMay Be of Interest to Information Systems Practitioners.' in Information Systems:The Challenge of Theory and Practice, eds Hunter, M. G. and Dhanda, K. K., TheInformation Institute, Las Vegas, NV.

Wenn, A. 2005a, 'Being Inclusive—Locating the Social and Technical Aspects of aSystem: A Baseline Case Study', 14th Conference of the Society for Philosophy andTechnology, Delft, Netherlands.

Wenn, A. 2005b, The Coffee House Conversations: Sociotechnical Turtles All the WayDown, [Online. internet], Available:http://homepage.mac.com/andrewwenn/CoffeeShop/texts/SocioTechTurtles.pdf ,Accessed 28 July 2005.

Williamson, K. 2000, Research Methods for Students and Professionals: InformationManagement and Systems, Centre for Information Studies, Wagga Wagga, NSW.


Williamson, K., Burstein, F. and McKemmish, S. 2000, 'The Two Major Traditions ofResearch', in Research Methods for Students and Professionals: InformationManagement and Systems, ed. Williamson, K., Centre for Information Studies,Wagga Wagga, NSW, pp. 25-47.

Wittgenstein, L. 1958, Philosophical Investigations, Anscombe, G. Trans., Macmillan, NewYork.

Wolcott, H. F. 1990, Writing up Qualitative Research, Sage Publications, Newbury Park,CA.

Wynn, E. 2001, 'Möbius Transitions in the Dilemma of Legitimacy', in QualitativeResearch in IS: Issues and Trends, ed. Trauth, E. M., Idea Group Publishing,Hershey, pp. 20-44.

Yin, R. K. 1994, Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 2nd edn, Sage Publications,Thousand Oaks, CA.

Documents

Chapter 7 Drawing Conclusions?vuir.vu.edu.au/424/1/07ch7-end.pdf · 2011-09-09 · Chapter 7 Page 297. Building empirically grounded theory requires a reciprocal relationship between