# /research/publications/archive/releases/1996-07-19.htm

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# OCLC awards 1996 research grants

DUBLIN, Ohio, July 19, 1996--The OCLC Office of Research has awarded three Library and Information Science Research Grants to university researchers for 1996.

"We are pleased to be able to support these projects," said Terry Noreault, director, OCLC Research and Special Projects. "University-based research adds an important dimension to our research agenda, and these projects promise findings that should be of broad interest to the library and information science community."

The grant recipients and their projects are:

- Dr. Myke Gluck, assistant professor, Florida State University, "A Descriptive Study of the Usability of Geospatial Metadata":

  This study will investigate the usability and usefulness of geospatial metadata for a range of users. Ten participants in each of three phases will be videotaped exploring geospatial metadata online providing talk-aloud protocols and screen-image sequences. The participants will conduct searches for researcher-created as well as individually posed queries. Content analysis of the data from early phases of the study will be used to modify the researcher-created metadata for subsequent phases of the study. The overall goal is to describe metadata usability precisely enough so that user needs for geospatial metadata may be incorporated into either metadata standards or into geographic information retrieval systems.

- Dr. Gregory H. Leazer, assistant professor, University of California, Los Angeles, "A Demonstration System for the Explicit Control of Bibliographic Works and Relationships":

  Dr. Leazer will help develop a robust prototype system for the control of bibliographic works and relationships. The prototype system consists of separate descriptive records for works and items, and uses hypertext links to express bibliographic relationships. The prototype system will be automatically derived from a sample of USMARC records drawn from the OCLC Online Union Catalog.

- Dr. Charles R. McClure, professor, Syracuse University, "Quality Criteria for Evaluating Information Resources and Services Available from Federal Websites Based on User Feedback":

  The evaluative effort of this research has the potential to establish benchmarks during an early diffusion phase of an innovative emerging technology [the World Wide Web]. This research will focus attention on a unique opportunity to design and implement carefully evaluated elements into this potentially valuable communications medium before too much effort is wasted on ill-conceived webpages. This focus may save considerable effort, anxiety and taxpayer dollars, while pointing the way toward reaching the webpage stakeholders in an optimal fashion. Additionally, the distributed feedback concept is a powerful means of evolving open network systems. This is itself a departure from standard models of systems design and one reflecting the ideals of an open society.

The OCLC Library and Information Science Research Grant program awards grants of up to $10,000 to help foster quality research by faculty in schools of library and information science. Projects are generally completed within one year, and findings are published in the Annual Review of OCLC Research and in the public domain. Application materials for 1997 will be available this November. For more information, contact the Office of Research by phone at +1-614-764-6448 or by e-mail at suzanne_lauer@oclc.org.

OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit computer library service and research organization whose computer network and services link more than 22,000 libraries in 63 countries and territories. More information is available at the OCLC Web site [http://www.oclc.org].