First, if this is obviously the wrong place for me to post this, forgive me and correct me - I do talk about ‘tools’ but I do mean for this to be at a conceptual level… I just need to start somewhere a little bit concrete before the mush dribbles out of my ears.
Context
I’ve been looking at all the stuff that needs a librarian to sort out, and being the only available person, I have been thinking about how to do it and what “tools” I need.
By tools, I am not looking for specific technical recommendations, but rather approach, methods, and particularly where JD Index shines and, perhaps where it lacks. Reference management in papers is an obvious case where a dedicated tool might be called for.
Given the context of an individual knowledge worker engaged in reading, writing, researching, developing materials for work, and concerned with managing sources and resources.
Note that whilst I’ve simplified by talking of papers, I am very liberal in my interpretation of ’source’ including traditional books and papers, web-articles, narrative interviews, session notes, podcasts, 17th century Japanese poets, conversations, notes from reflections, my journals, and so on - whilst many of these are not ‘cited’ in a traditional sense in my practice I like to be able to trace back to context and build on it.
Just to start getting a head around it I’ve produced a list of tools that i associate with Libraries (excluding membership and borrowing stuff.)
Reference Catalogue
- Nature: A reference catalogue is a comprehensive listing of all materials available in a personal collection, providing bibliographic information about each item.
- Primary Question Answered: “What resources do I have in my collection, and where can I find them?”
- Use Case: Helps maintain an organized overview of all owned resources, making it easier to discover and access materials when needed.
Resource Library
- Nature: A resource library is a curated collection of various digital resources, such as ebooks, articles, videos, and other media, organized for easy access and use.
- Primary Question Answered: “What digital resources do I have available for my work, and how are they organized?”
- Use Case: Provides a centralized repository for all digital assets, allowing for efficient retrieval and use in research, writing, and other projects.
Reference Manager
- Nature: A reference manager is a software tool designed to collect, organize, and manage bibliographic references and citations.
- Primary Question Answered: “How can I organize my references and citations for easy use in my writing and research?”
- Use Case: Facilitates the management of bibliographic data, enabling easy citation and bibliography creation in various writing projects, while also storing and organizing digital copies of resources.
Library Index
- Nature: A library index is a tool that helps locate specific information within a single work or a collection of works.
- Primary Questions Answered: “Where can I find specific information or topics within this book or document?”
- Use Case: Useful for quickly navigating large texts to find particular terms, topics, or subjects without reading the entire document.
Summary of context
For an individual managing their own digital resources, each tool addresses specific organizational needs:
- Reference Catalogue: Provides an overview of all resources in the personal collection.
- Resource Library: Organizes and stores various digital assets for easy access and use.
- Library Index: Helps locate specific information within individual documents.
- Reference Manager: Manages bibliographic references and supports citation needs in writing and research.
Questions
- What do you encompass exclusively in the JD Index?
- What functions do you combine?
- What don’t you find to be of help?
- In what cases is a JD Index the wrong approach?
- What have I missed / should I be thinking about?