Collaborative Research Projects

SILS faculty and students have played an important role in the development of many of these digital projects. Visitors from outside the University of Michigan should note that due to licensing restrictions, in some cases, services are available on campus only to students, faculty, and staff.

• Clearinghouse for Subject-Oriented Internet Resource Guides
  • The Clearinghouse, jointly sponsored by Argus Associates of Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan, is an internationally recognized Internet resource for reference information. The Clearinghouse provides central access to hundreds of topical guides to the Internet's information resources, with special emphasis on guides that provide evaluative information. You can reach the Clearinghouse through the Web, Gopher, and anonymous FTP. The service was developed by Lou Rosenfeld, a doctoral student at SILS. The Clearinghouse has been revised for ease of use.

• CORE Journal Project
  • Some of the most-used journals may now be printed directly from the MIRLYN (electronic catalog) system in the libraries. The CORE Journals project is a collaborative effort involving the University Libraries, the Information Technology Division, UMI, Inc., and the H.W. Wilson Co. Users have access to more than 550 journals, 100 of which are not currently held in paper form. Development of the Core Journals service began in April 1994. From its introduction in November 1994 through June 1995, library patrons have printed more than 70,000 articles. The project is also useful in the classroom in that it illustrates an additional component in the structure of a database, such as full-text documents. For additional information, write to Beth Warner (bwarner@umich.edu) or Becky Dunkle (rdunkle@umich.edu).

• Crossfire
  • Crossfire is a commercial product from Beilstein Institute. It is the online version of the Beilstein Handbook, a comprehensive resource for organic chemists. It is a drawing program and search engine which allows patrons to search for structures, as well as substructures, and retrieve chemical and physical data. For for information, contact the Science Library.

• Dissertation Express
  • UMI, Inc., and the University Libraries have developed this means of timely and inexpensive access to dissertation literature. The University is provided Internet access to Dissertations Abstracts International as well as a service for on-demand creation of digital dissertations from the UMI microfilm archive. In the first phase of the project, print copies were made at UMI and delivered to U-M by vehicle. The second phase, that started in February 1995, provides for digital delivery directly to campus printers. The project has reduced the delivery time of dissertations from approximately three to four weeks to three to four days. The cost has also dropped, from approximately $35 to $15.

• Electronic Reference Shelf
  • This project of the Humanities Text Initiative has created a network-accessible "reference" collection with a common search interface and an SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) search engine. You'll find the Oxford English Dictionary, the Information Please Almanac, and other frequently used sources.

• Geographic Information Systems
  • The GIS is the term applied to the software, databases, and procedures used in collecting, analyzing, and displaying spatial information in a digital environment. In the Map Library within the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, users may use ArcView2 to work with GIS databases. Soon, this service will be expanded to other campus sites. A powerful feature of ArcView2 is the relative ease of importing data, including user-generated data, and of displaying and querying that data spatially. The Map Library has several commercial products that contain U.S. Census Bureau data from 1990 in ArcView format. For information, write to Karl Longstreth at karleric@umich.edu.

• Humanities Text Initiative
  • The initiative serves as an umbrella effort for the creation and maintenance of online texts through UMLibText. The HTI was conceived by the University of Michigan Press, SILS, and the University Libraries, with important support from the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research. The initiative primarily develops and maintains texts resources in SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) and provides support for other text and multimedia collections in SGML. Work is under way to develop interfaces to journal literature. A new electronic journal, the Journal of Electronic Publishing, is being developed by the U-M Press.

• JSTOR
  • This effort, funded by the Mellon Foundation, will create an archive of 10 core economics and history journals. Users will have full-text searching of the selected journals. It will also allow evaluation of changes in user behavior vis-a-vis older journals and changes in library behavior vis-a-vis storage of back volumes of these titles. Deployment will begin this year with five college libraries and U-M.

• The Michigan Electronic Library
  • This service is an electronic library of thousands of Internet resources arranged much like a public library. It specializes in information about the state of Michigan, business and economics, education, information science, and social services. GoMLink maintains the comprehensive list of Michigan government information services and library catalogs in Michigan. Includes the MLink Program.

• Newsreel Jukebox
  • The University Libraries and the Information Technology Division have joined forces to provide campus access to the Video Encyclopedia of the 20th Century, a videodisc-based commercial product from CEL Communications, Inc. The VETC is a 44-disc archival collection containing nearly 90 hours of historical documentary and news footage, plus supplemental print indexes and reference materials spanning the past century. Campus-wide, remote access is provided through the VIDS network, and the use of a videodisc jukebox. All faculty, staff, and students have remote access to the video footage for inclusion in presentations, "video term papers," and other U-M course or campus activities.

• Nursing Resource Page
  • The page is a collaborative effort of the Taubman Medical Library, the School of Nursing, and the CIC Health Sciences Internet Working Group. The page is a prototype for a larger project called HealthWeb. Resources on nursing career information, clinical nursing, electronic communication in the nursing field, education, and professional organizations are available.

• Papyrology
  • Michigan holds one of the largest collections of papyri in the Western Hemisphere. Portions of the collection have been scanned and a database created to track and assign papyri to individuals worldwide. A joint effort with Duke University and Columbia University is in progress to create a more comprehensive resource base of papyri, including the necessary bibliographic linkages with library systems and published papyri.

• Social Science Data System
  • The project has produced a menu-driven means of extracting data from social science datasets via the World Wide Web. Several datasets, including the American National Election Study, the General Social Survey, the National Health Interview Survey, and the Current Population Survey, have been made available via this system. Dataset users are able to type in the names of their desired variables and the type of cases/responses that interest them. It is then possible to retrieve a file containing this subset of the dataset or to generate univariate statistics.

• TULIP
  • TULIP -- The University LIcensing Program -- is a cooperative project which tests networked delivery and use of materials science journals. The project, begun in 1991, includes 10 U.S. universities and publisher Elsevier. Elsevier initially provided electronic files for 42 of its journals. Along with bitmapped cover-to-cover images, these files also have the full text of the journals' contents. At U-M, the TULIP project has three aspects.

• UGL Navigator
  • This project of the Shapiro Library is a multimedia, computer-assisted library instruction program. The program aims to help library users become more information literate and self-sufficient in an electronic information environment. By providing basic reference services and bibliographic instruction, the program reaches more patrons at longer hours, and potentially, will save the reference librarian time to focus on more indepth services and advanced instruction to patrons. The product is creative, fun for patrons, has multicultural features, and includes interactivity and a built-in evaluation. Among the elementary and advanced lessons are library basics, research strategies, MIRLYN (electronic catalog) searching, information on resources and services of the Shapiro Library and other campus libraries, and other matters. The service will be online soon.

• ULibrary Gopher
  • The ULibrary Gopher makes library resources available through Gopher, which is a user-friendly interface that can run on most computers. It offers an extensive collection of online reference tools and resources.

• University of Michigan Digital Library Project
  • This major project has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Advanced Research Projects Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The project aims to gain insight into the creation, operation, and use of advanced digital libraries. Participants in its development are faculty, research staff, and students from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the School of Information and Library Studies, the Department of Atmospheric, Ocean and Space Sciences, the University Libraries, the Computer-Aided Engineering Network, the Information Technology Division, Ann Arbor Public Schools, Ann Arbor Public Library, the New York Public Library, Bellcore, McGraw-Hill, UMI, Inc., Elsevier, Encyclopedia Britannica, IBM, Apple Computers, and Kodak. The UMDL provides access to significant public domain collections of scientific data and information.

Projects Under Development

• CU-SeeMe
  • This free videoconferencing program (under copyright of Cornell University and its collaborators) is available to anyone with a Macintosh or Windows-compatible computer, and a connection to the Internet. With CU-SeeMe, users may set up a videoconference with another site located anywhere in the world. With the aid of a "reflector," multiple parties/locations may participate in CU-SeeMe conferences. Another potential use of CU-SeeMe is as a remote reference tool. For information, write to Gene Alloway at cerebus@umich.edu.

• Making of America
  • The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has funded this unique, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional project to develop a digital library drawn together by a common theme. A collaborative project initially between the University of Michigan and Cornell University, the Making of America is a project designed to preserve and make accessible through digital technology a significant body of primary sources on the history of America. The initial phase of the project will focus on the development of the American infrastructure during the 1850-77 period, with later phases extending the focus chronologically to 1950. The project also explores the impact of digital preservation and distributed access on scholarly research, communication, teaching, and publication. For information, write to Wendy Lougee at wlougee@umich.edu.

• Museum Educational Site License Project
  • The Getty Art History Information Program sponsors the project, which is a collaboration between universities, museums, and scholars to develop and enhance the use of images and museum information in instructional settings. The MESL project brings together selected collections from seven outstanding American museums: the National Museum of American Art, the National Gallery, the Harvard University Museums, the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, the Library of Congress, the George Eastman House Museum of Photography, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Seven universities have been selected as initial user sites to develop access to this database, and to explore models for licensing and management. The universities are the University of Michigan, American University, Cornell University, Columbia University, the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), the University of Maryland (College Park), and the University of Virginia. At the University of Michigan, the database is under development and implementation in courses is slated for fall 1995. For information, write to Wendy Lougee at wlougee@umich.edu.

• SILS Art Image Browser
  • The project is an example of the work that will be undertaken as the Museum Educational Site License Project is implemented. It should be noted that this project is undergoing changes, so certain sections may be unavailable at times. Associate Dean C. Olivia Frost (School of Information and Library Studies) and Associate Professor Karen Drabenstott (SILS) have assembled a research team to carry out a study funded by the Department of Education. The research is intended to investigate ways of providing intellectual access to images in electronic databases. Researchers intend to enhance capabilities currently built into such Internet tools as Mosaic and Netscape by creating a classification and retrieval system that will facilitate the browsing of digitized images. The database will eventually be made available on a networked server.

• Timbuktu
  • This software program enables users to share screens in full 24-bit color. Its multi-host and multi-guest capabilities enable users to share screens long distance to view work, make changes, send files, etc. One of the potential uses of Timbuktu is as a remote reference tool.

• UMTV
  • The University of Michigan is quickly developing the first campus TV network in the country; many sites on campus are already connected. Some sites have already started programming, but the network is still in its early phases with opportunities yet to be explored. SILS and the University Libraries have decided to exploit this resource to promote one of their objectives: to educate users about information resources and how to effectively reach them. Almost all campus residence halls (representing approximately 10,000 students) have the capability to tune to UMTV. One of the sites in use is that of SILS UMTV.

• Mardigian Library
  • Mardigian Library contains the main collection on the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus. One of the projects being developed at Mardigian Library is a collection of Internet resources organized by U-M Dearborn departments and gathered into Resource Subject Trees.