Table of Contents
The purpose of this essay is to describe how facets and terms work in MyLibrary. After reading this, you should have an idea of how to proceed in classifying your content as you implement MyLibrary at your institution.
In its previous incarnation, v.2, MyLibrary had three groupings or categories into which information resources could be placed [1]:
Ready reference shelf
Databases
Etexts and ejournals
This was based on the way resources tended to be grouped or categorized in the electronic resources gateways of the time.
When Notre Dame librarians looked at MyLibrary as a possible vehicle for implementing the redesigned library website, a common reaction was that the "three piles" model was too restrictive. "Databases" ended up being a miscellaneous category for resources that didn't fit easily into either of the other categories. The categories were hard coded into the software and could not be easily changed.
When the MyLibrary software was rewritten as part the Notre Dame Libraries' website redesign, in place of the three fixed categories, a completely generalized system of classification was implemented: the Facet and Term system.
In MyLibrary v.3, Facets are seen as categories and Terms as instances of the category. For example, if "Subjects" were established as a MyLibrary facet, possible terms for that facet might be: "Biology," "Chemistry," or "Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering." If "Formats" were set up as a MyLibrary facet, possible terms might be: "Sound recordings," "Maps," "Microforms."
This Facet/Term approach is powerful and flexible. Using facets and terms, you can classify almost anything you would want to include in MyLibrary, for example Librarians or Services.
At Notre Dame we've found ways to use facets and terms that aren't immediately apparent. We've created a facet called "Access" that describes whether a resource is licensed, free, or installed on a particular workstation. A facet called "Flags" (the word "Flags" is used in the "on/off" computer sense) lets us create terms that can be used to identify all the resources with a particular condition for some special treatment in MyLibrary. We've used this facet to identify cross reference records in MyLibrary that provide access to variant titles, and also to identify records for customized MetaLib QuickSearches appearing on various subject pages, to allow specialized placement of the QuickSearches on those pages.
Unlike some other classification systems, which have multiple layers of hierarchy; e.g. Plants → Trees → Oaks → White oak, the Facet/Term system only has those two levels. However with the use of inverted phrases one can achieve a sort of three-level hierarchy at the cost of using some slightly stilted language. For example:
| Facet | Languages |
|---|---|
| Term | German |
| Term | Greek, Ancient |
| Term | Greek, Koine |
| Term | Greek, Modern |
| Term | Hebrew |
The power and flexibility of the Facet/Term system in MyLibrary comes at a cost. Rather than assigning terms from a system-provided thesaurus, you will need to create your own facets and terms, or adopt existing an existing vocabulary.
To create Facets and Terms for your MyLibrary implementation, you will need to know who your users are and how they look for and use information. Are they chiefly undergraduates who will need guidance as to what resources they should be using first? Some way to identify and clearly designate resources as "Core" or "Best place to start your research" may be helpful to that group. Are they graduate students and faculty who are familiar with the literature in their area and mainly need easy, direct access to it? Listing resources by topic, format, etc. as well as alphabetically may be important for them. Most likely you will need to provide for a variety of users.
As you set up your facet and term structure, terminology will be critical. Will the term "Index" or "Database" mean anything to your students? Card sorting, described elsewhere in this manual, can be a useful tool for finding out what terms make sense to your users.
At Notre Dame, for the most part, we based the terms in the "Subjects" facet on departmental names, as we believed our users are more likely to be familiar with those terms.
In addition to knowing your users, you will need to know your content--the resources you will be making available through MyLibrary. While users will typically begin their search looking for information using a topical approach, topic is not the only useful approach to resources. Other types of information users might look for might include:
type of reference tool (e.g. dictionary)
newspapers published in a particular country (format or genre, place)
language of the material
genre: drama or poem
Some facets and terms will be suggested by the nature of the resources you will be adding to MyLibrary. For example:
What the resource is about; e.g. topic or subject. For example:
| Facet: | Subjects |
| Term: | Biology |
| Term: | Chemistry |
Physical characteristics or format of the resource. For example:
| Facet: | Formats |
| Term: | Audio recordings |
| Term: | Photographs and images |
| Term: | Video recordings |
Type of reference tool. For example:
| Facet: | Reference tools |
| Term: | Bibliographies |
| Term: | Dictionaries |
| Term: | Encyclopedias |
Type of content. For example:
| Facet: | Genre |
| Term: | Drama |
| Term: | Poetry |
| Term: | Tests |
Language of the resource. For example:
| Facet: | Languages |
| Term: | English |
| Term: | French |
| Term: | German |
Audience for the resource. For example:
| Facet: | Audience |
| Term: | Children |
| Term: | Faculty |
| Term: | Undergraduate students |
Several things to consider as you create your vocabulary:
Facets should be distinct and unambiguous. Writing definitions for each facet will help. Plan on testing your vocabulary. It should be obvious which terms go with which facet. It is probably clear that the term "Biology" belongs under the facet "Subject," but it may not be as clear whether the term "Conference proceedings" belongs in the facet "Format" or "Genre" or something else entirely. Time spent up front clarifying these issues will save time and prevent confusion later.
Principle of warrant. Unless your MyLibrary implementation is intended to be comprehensive there is no need for your vocabulary to cover all possible cases. If your literature collection is primarily in European languages, there is no need for the term "Quechua" in your "Languages" facet. It is easy to add terms later as needed.
Think about how you plan to apply the vocabulary terms to resources. A number of electronic resources combine elements of very different print resources. Will you want to assign terms to a resource for each aspect of a resource (includes a dictionary, directory, biographies, index, etc.) or find a term that applies to the resource as a whole? Experience has led us from the former practice to the latter.
Document your decisions
Set up a process to consider and implement changes to the vocabulary.
As previously mentioned, the MyLibrary Facet/Term approach is powerful and flexible. Using it makes it possible to organize resources and use them in a variety of ways. For example, the vocabulary (and software) can be used to create web pages, printed guides, or channels to a campus portal application.
As another example, if you assigned the facet/term combinations:
Language::French
Resource type::Dictionary
Subject::Medieval studies
to resources in your MyLibrary implementation, you could use MyLibrary to make these pages:
all Dictionaries, subdivided by language
all French dictionaries
all French language resources
a Medieval Studies page with a section for dictionaries
Using Facets and Terms effectively requires careful analysis, knowledge of your users and your content, persistence and, perhaps most importantly, plenty of communication and cooperation with other library staff.
If these requirements are met, the results should be well worth the effort.
[1] MyLibrary v.2 had additional categories for other types of resources; e.g. "Librarians," "Quicksearches," "Library links."