During the course of study in LSC 508: Introduction to Information Science and Technology at the URI Graduate School for Library and Information Science (GSLIS), students are asked to research, read, and annotate ten or fifteen current articles on issues and challenges relating to information technology. In the course of each year approximately 800 (60 students x 13.3 records avg.) of these annotations are generated. They are drawn from a variety of sources, and represent the interests and investigations of approximately sixty graduate students.
These annotations will be entered as records in a database maintained and managed by graduate students at the GLSIS. Similar tasks are already required of GSLIS graduate assistants. Because LSC 508 is a required course offered in each of the three semesters, it may be feasible at some point to include the maintenance and management of the database as part of the course of study. Students would work in teams, each team working on the database for a specified length of time. Hands-on database management would be a valuable learning experience. Students, in addition to data entry, may be challenged to make improvements in the design and function of the database so that over time the database evolves in visual appeal and efficiency.
The database, which in five years will include about 4000 annotations, will be a valuable resource for students, faculty, and researchers affiliated with the URI community. It will provide a relational, eclectic, and easily searchable database on a wide variety of topics and issues in information science and technology. A link to the database will be provided on the Resources page of the GSLIS website.
Microsoft Access 2003 is being used to construct the database. Properties indicate that after entering seven records in one table and generating a report and forms for those records the database is using 1.10MB of storage. It is estimated that a student's complete file (avg. size = 13.3 records) would require at least 2MB. After five years and 4000 records, the storage requirements for the database will far exceed the capacity of the author's home computer and require about 1.5 gigabytes. This is not taking into account the projected multiple tables or additional database objects and pages. In addition, access to the database will be severely restricted unless attached to a secure web server. For these reasons it is recommended that the database have its own database server working in conjunction with the GSLIS web server at the University of Rhode Island. Situated at the the University, the database will have the advantage of being under the protection of University security protocols. Data entry, maintenance and management will be convenient, and access will be improved by the GSLIS web server handling client connections. User ID and password will be required.
Reports and forms submitted with this report were generated by Annotation Table 1, the prime table in the Evolving GSLIS Annotations Database (EGAD). All forms and reports are in 'justified' format. Annotation Table 1 has fourteen fields. The Access form for entering data into Annotation Table 1 is constructed so as to mirror as much as possible the APA style formats required for the LSC 508 assignments. All fields required for both print and electronic sources are included (for journal articles only). Constructing the forms in this way help facilitate the transfer of data to and from the forms and the LSC 508 annotation assignments. The fourteen fields in Annotation Table 1 are as follows:
ID AutoNumber Author Last Name Text 60 Author Intials Text 30 Date Text 7 Title Text 255 Type Text 30 Journal Text 60 Vol/Num Text 15 Pages Text 12 Electronic Retrieval Date Text 25 Source Text 50 Link Hyperlink Subject Text 255 Abstract Memo
Although it is projected that additional tables will be added to the database such as an Author Table and a Journal Table so that relational data can be retrieved through queries, there are still a number of ways to use the database 'as is' with Annotation Table 1. By using Access's filter function in the Subject field, for instance, one may perform a subject search. The filter allows retrieval of only those records with the chosen subject designation. The filter function may be applied in this way to any field. One may perform an Author search, a Journal search, etc.
By using the Find function, it's possible to conduct word and phrase searches in any field or in the entire file. Word and phrase searches in the Abstract field, for instance, provide a valuable search option for locating relevant articles.