Editor's note: We are big fans of one-stop shopping sites here on ResourceShelf, and we are unabashedly partial to sites created by librarians. This week's resource is both...and since the topic is especially timely, we've invited one of its creators to tell you about it.
Mary Flannery Climes, our Head of Reference, and I created a web resource guide in hopes of helping people locate key information on the current economic crisis, related concepts and initiatives, as well as recent U.S. Government statements and actions concerning the situation.
Our web resource guide contains:
National & International Economic Information
Learning about the Economy
Economic Indicators
Global Economic Crisis Coverage
Economic News (U.S. & Global)
Government Information (relevant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008)
International / Global Economies
Personal Finances / Consumer Interest Topics
Banking
Credit & Debt
Energy
Housing Crisis / Mortgages / Subprime Mortgages
Investments
Labor & Unemployment
Economy keywords/subject headings for researchers
The guide is updated as new information becomes available.
Our decision to create this resource guide partly stems from our long-held belief that a library can and probably should (wherever possible, appropriate, in support of the institution's mission) act as sort of a "first responder" whenever the public's need for substantial and immediate information intensifies.
At such a time, when search engines have yet to index key points of information, when media sources are just starting to make sense of and report on breaking news, and when the general state of information (on and off the Web) can range from the uncertain to the chaotic, libraries can step in and lend a sense of stability, direction.
How? By combining traditional library strengths (such as organizational skills and resource awareness) and related knowledge and practices with the latest resources and technologies, we believe libraries can provide some notable degree of "informational relief" by offering clear and convenient paths to critical sources.
What can make such efforts especially advantageous and attractive is the ability to not only point to remote websites but also to feature otherwise unknown resources available within one's own library or library system. Collections, databases, and any other materials or services (library, community-based, or local government) relevant to the cause can be highlighted for the instant benefit of each library's patrons.
These considerations inspired us over the years to create topical web guides (http://thrall.org/guides), our Special Coverage Center (http://thrall.org/special), Current Interests (http://thrall.org/current), and even our blogs (http://thrall.org/blogs). Many of these guides have local linkage.
Several factors determine the content and structure of our guides, including, but not limited to:
The nature and complexity of the subject.
The strength of local (in-house or library system-wide) resources.
All the local service area considerations, including demonstrations of the need for specific information by local patrons; local news coverage sources; local government and community services, activities, contacts, and so on.
The currency, quality, and relevancy of information available; consequently:
Collection development criteria.
The information actually available at the moment and how that information might be made more navigable through classic, contemporary, or novel subject headings and groupings.
How information might need to be reorganized as new sources/materials become available.
How the guide could be integrated and cross-referenced with our other resources and Reference services and, later, incorporated with items like our in-house publications and classes.
Afterwards, each guide remains in a state of perpetual reconstruction, organic and evolving in response to dynamics in the informational environment, which often influence and require the resource guide to adapt in various ways if it is to survive (i.e. be visible, discernible, relevant) amid millions of other web pages indexed by search engines.
Such work requires a strong initial effort, preceded by planning and achieving a familiarity with the resource you wish to create a pathfinder for, and succeeded by a long-term commitment to keep the guide alive and thriving through periodic edits and link reviews (and not simply automated link validation, but actual human site checks to ensure every resource included is still at least what it once was when you first listed it in your guide).
We believe such efforts are indeed worthwhile -- necessary, even -- if a library is to give its patrons a better starting point than an empty search box. We applaud other libraries engaging in comparable local/web resource organization for patrons. Likewise, we would encourage other libraries not currently involved in such resource guide creation to consider pursuing something comparable. In doing so, more libraries might enjoy increased appeal, relevancy, and utility within their communities, possibly to the point of reclaiming the "first-stop-for-information" status often lost to search engines these days.
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