My Discoveries
My Discoveries: the 'social web' meets the library. My Discoveries® is the collective name of all 'social web' functionalities offered by Medialab as a service to the Aquabrowser Library® platform.
Background
The Internet has been transforming from a static source of information into
a platform for information and communication for some time. This development, is known as the 'social web'. My Discoveries came into existence to give expression to this development: it is a social platform for researchers,
users, producers and other professionals working in the area of information.
Target groups
My Discoveries represents a big step toward a complete online presence of
the library. The system gives end users, visitors and members of the library
a voice in the way they collect, store and publish information. My Discoveries
allows users to explore the complete search and discovery resources of the
library and to make them their own, as well as to contribute actively to
them. It also gives library professionals the tools to respond quickly to
current developments. For example, they can now respond much more quickly
to the publication of a list of works nominated for a literary prize.
Logging in
To start working with My Discoveries for the first time, you will need to
log in. You will need a username and codeword to log in. The process is easy
and anyone can register without having to wait for approval. You will only
need to select a username and codeword and fill in an email address, which
is used for reminders about forgotten codewords. After registering, you will
be given an account in the system. Not everyone has the same rights within
the system. For more on this, see ‘account management'.
Tags: what you can do with them
Tags are 'uncontrolled free keywords'. You can use them to display the results
of searches into subjects of your own choice. These could be a non-official
keyword such as 'travel book', a subjective category like 'funny', or a term
like ‘green cover’. Search results can be tagged. See the ‘save or tag’ link
next to the individual results in the results list. If you click on this
link, a screen will open where you can add or remove tags. You can also tag
a result in the screen by typing in the tag, separated by spaces. To make
tags with more than one word, use quotes: "United States". When you tag a
search result, it is stored with your other information. You will always
see your tag attached to an item that has been located.
Lists: what you can do with them
My Discoveries offers you the ability to make a number of lists that you
can name yourself. A user can for instance keep a 'Wish list', as well as
a list of good books about a subject that interests him or her. The 'My Discoveries' button in the top right-hand corner of the AquaBrowser will give you accessto screens where you can consult and modify your lists. Users can choose to make a list public. Ticking this item will make the list available as a search result, meaning that it can be shared with other users of the AquaBrowser.
Management
All libraries that subscribe to the My Discoveries service get an administrator’s
account, which allows them to log into a central website. The library can
indicate on the website which tags cannot be made publicly available by compiling a 'blacklist' consisting of the words in these tags. The blacklist can be modifiedby the administrator.
Planning
Currently, My Discoveries supports tags and lists. In the short term, reviews
and scores will be added. In the following phases, other sections of the
’social platform' will be developed and implemented. One of the things we’re
planning is to give users the ability to issue a ‘score’ or to write a review
of a book, CD or DvD
Background
The Internet has been transforming from a static source of information into
a platform for information and communication for some time. This development, is known as the 'social web'. My Discoveries came into existence to give expression to this development: it is a social platform for researchers,
users, producers and other professionals working in the area of information.
Target groups
My Discoveries represents a big step toward a complete online presence of
the library. The system gives end users, visitors and members of the library
a voice in the way they collect, store and publish information. My Discoveries
allows users to explore the complete search and discovery resources of the
library and to make them their own, as well as to contribute actively to
them. It also gives library professionals the tools to respond quickly to
current developments. For example, they can now respond much more quickly
to the publication of a list of works nominated for a literary prize.
Logging in
To start working with My Discoveries for the first time, you will need to
log in. You will need a username and codeword to log in. The process is easy
and anyone can register without having to wait for approval. You will only
need to select a username and codeword and fill in an email address, which
is used for reminders about forgotten codewords. After registering, you will
be given an account in the system. Not everyone has the same rights within
the system. For more on this, see ‘account management'.
Tags: what you can do with them
Tags are 'uncontrolled free keywords'. You can use them to display the results
of searches into subjects of your own choice. These could be a non-official
keyword such as 'travel book', a subjective category like 'funny', or a term
like ‘green cover’. Search results can be tagged. See the ‘save or tag’ link
next to the individual results in the results list. If you click on this
link, a screen will open where you can add or remove tags. You can also tag
a result in the screen by typing in the tag, separated by spaces. To make
tags with more than one word, use quotes: "United States". When you tag a
search result, it is stored with your other information. You will always
see your tag attached to an item that has been located.
Lists: what you can do with them
My Discoveries offers you the ability to make a number of lists that you
can name yourself. A user can for instance keep a 'Wish list', as well as
a list of good books about a subject that interests him or her. The 'My Discoveries' button in the top right-hand corner of the AquaBrowser will give you accessto screens where you can consult and modify your lists. Users can choose to make a list public. Ticking this item will make the list available as a search result, meaning that it can be shared with other users of the AquaBrowser.
Management
All libraries that subscribe to the My Discoveries service get an administrator’s
account, which allows them to log into a central website. The library can
indicate on the website which tags cannot be made publicly available by compiling a 'blacklist' consisting of the words in these tags. The blacklist can be modifiedby the administrator.
Planning
Currently, My Discoveries supports tags and lists. In the short term, reviews
and scores will be added. In the following phases, other sections of the
’social platform' will be developed and implemented. One of the things we’re
planning is to give users the ability to issue a ‘score’ or to write a review
of a book, CD or DvD
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