|
Abstract : |
If order-making in the large is part of the institutional mission of libraries, then order-making in the small ? the informal work of annotating and organizing materials collected in service of particular, day-to-day work or pleasure ? is part of the business of library patrons. This paper focuses on just such activities, activities that stem from readers ? engagements with texts, and possibly with each other, against a backdrop of real-world settings and practices. I hesitate to call digital library patrons users, since that?s the word we computer scientists tend to use to hide the characteristics of what we hope is a diverse population. 1 This paper describes three very different communities who might take advantage of new digital resources, including short accounts of technologies I and others have developed to support their activities as they use formal collections and more ad hoc resources. In fact, what I hope to do is to advocate annotation as a key function to what Patrick Bazin (1996) refers to as a reading machine. But first, I?d like to clarify what I mean when I say ?annotation.? In Robert McCrum?s (1994) account of the annotations Graham Greene?s biographers found as they looked through the books in his personal library, he writes: ?Many writers have left much larger collections, but what is different about [Graham] Greene?s library is the wealth of personal annotation, reflecting a long and crowded life of writing, politics, travel, and friendship. Scattered along the margins and jotted on the flyleaves and endpapers of these books are thousands of meticulous handwritten notes and comments. ? (p 46). Four properties of this account of annotation stand out. First, Graham Greene?s annotations are personal, with no expectation of an audience beyond himself. Second, they are literally on the pages of the book, and as such have become part of his library. Third, they?ve crossed from a 1. Jonathan Grudin (1989) presents a particularly compelling account of why we, as system developers, should be very aware of how we use the term ?user.?, |
