Singapore Infopedia an online heritage encyclopedia Bonny Tan

Singapore Infopedia -an online heritage encyclopedia – Bonny Tan National Library Board bonny_tan@nlb. gov. sg tanbonny@gmail. com October 2006

• • Brief History Objectives & audience User needs assessment Encyclopedia Framework

Brief History – Singapore/SEA Collections ‘MR’ Coll ‘Q’ Coll ‘SEA’ Coll ‘SING’ Coll Zoology/Anthropology Travels Log & Rost RAS Children’s Singapore Institution 1823 - 1843 Raffles Library & Museum 1874 – 1959 Singapore Syonan Hakubutsu Library Kan 1844 - 1874 1942 - 1945 TYS & Gibson-Hill Asian Cdn National Library 1960 – 1995 National Library Board 1995 -

Brief History • • • 1824 – 1994 : Collections 1995 – 1997 : BPR, technology 1997 – 2004 : Info. Xpress (IX) 1997 – 1999 : Survey of IX 2003 – 2005 : Spore Infopedia (SP) 2004 : Survey of SP needs

User Needs Assessment (1998) • Total – 548 users in 4 library • • • types Users of the Info. Xpress kiosk Enquiry service and content Electronic tracking

User Needs Assessment (1998) Others • Couldn’t find information 6% Out dated information 1% Too little information 37% Couldn’t find information Too much 42% information 1% Irrelevant information 13% • • • (42%) Too little info (37%) Mistook it for OPAC, wanted non-Singapore, non-history information Wanted more history content Reasons for dissatisfaction amongst users of Info. Xpress

User Needs Assessment (1998)

Objectives & Audience • • • Singapore history Online encyclopedia Support National Education Promote Singapore & Southeast Asia collections Pictures included

Objectives & Audience • Students of NE – 11 to 16 • Teachers of NE, history, • • social science Singaporeana researchers Hobbyist & history buffs Tourists, online tourist Societies, organisations

User Needs Assessment (2004) • Total surveyed : 117 (135) • National Education teachers • • for ages 11 – 16 36% had 1 - 3 years, 25% 4 – 10, 30% more than 10 All but 1 used the internet 1. Types of resources used 2. Types of collections/experts used 3. Portal preferences

Resources Used Categories Sources of Information Traditional materials Text Book History aids Books Newspaper articles Magazine articles Non-traditional materials Photos & images Items & artefacts Web portals Multimedia Activities Heritage tours Exhibition & displays Drama & Games

Resources Used - Results • News articles, photos & • • artefacts – classroom work & project work Limited use of the web portals Valued activities – history outings

Resources Used - Recommendations • Incorporate images and news • • articles Have tools to appropriate information for teaching & presentation Include virtual tours of historical sites

Collections/Experts Used - Results • Personal collections cf • • curriculum pack & school library Library inaccessible, Internet accessible Consult colleagues rather than librarians

Collections/Experts Used - Recommendations • Incorporate tools to • • appropriate info, create personal folders Allow content sharing, community building Allow for personalisation

Portal Preferences • Encyclopedia, 43% ranked 1 • • • for service desired Ask-a-Librarian services, 30% ranked 9 th Content – for data with little published information Payment 63% $1 – 5 (50% pay 0 for personal collections, though 31% pay between $ 1 - $20)

Singapore Infopedia (2005) • Launched in 2005 • Part of Singapore Pages • 1, 000 articles = 100 - 300 • documents a year Nature, Architecture, Cultural, Arts, Commerce, Politics

Framework

Framework Content functions Metadata Content management tools Content Fig. 1. 1. Singapore Infopedia (2004) – Contents manager (prototype)

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