Forced Migration Online

WEB CATALOGUE:  RESOURCE DISCOVERY GUIDELINES

I. Introduction:

In order to be able to offer a tool like the Forced Migration Online Web Catalogue, it is first necessary to locate relevant and appropriate resources to include in the collection.  Moreover, ensuring that the collection remains fresh and current over time requires keeping up with web-related developments in the forced migration field.  The art of resource discovery, then, involves both the identification of existing resources and the monitoring of new additions to the web.  The latter exercise is often referred to as "current awareness."

This document sets out various strategies for identifying ("discovering") both new and existing resources for possible inclusion in the Web Catalogue.  Emphasis should be placed on "possible" – the objective during resource discovery is simply to locate relevant resources and bookmark them for further review during the selection stage (see "Selection Procedure" below).

Prior to embarking on resource discovery, it is important to become familiar with the Web Catalogue Selection Policy. This document reviews the scope of the collection and the types of resources that tend to be included.  This will help you to determine which web sites can serve as starting points for your searches.  Keep in mind that each Web Catalogue editor will have a different subject/geographic area to focus on, so it is important to be clear about your own scope in order to minimize overlap with others.

II. Strategies:

1.       Visit Known Sites

-          Begin by visiting a site that you know focuses on your subject or geographic area.

-          Systematically explore all of the site's sub-sections and note any resources that are provided (refer to Annex 1 in the Web Catalogue: Selection Policy for a list of resource types).

-          Bookmark any that look like promising candidates or that will require further exploration at a later stage.

-          Most sites tend to include links to related organizations or services.  Use these link lists as mechanisms for discovering other relevant sites.  Repeat the steps indicated above.

Example:

2.       Visit Sites that Update Frequently

-          Once you have compiled a list of known sites in your area, note which among them are frequent updaters.  Bookmark their "What's New" sections and arrange to return to them on a regular basis in order to identify new resources that have become available.

-          Not every site has a "What's New" section.  Often, though, new additions are highlighted on homepages. 

Examples:

3.       Visit Subject/Geographic Gateway Sites

-          Gateway sites are also referred to as directories, guides or metasites.  Like the Internet Catalogue, they provide access to a wide variety of URLs; often the links are annotated to give users some idea of what they can expect to find upon following the link.  In addition, the links are usually selected by subject or geographic experts.  These services can help you identify new web sites to explore for possible resources. 

-          The World Wide Web Virtual Library network was one of the first clearinghouses to establish gateway sites; the main directory is available at http://vlib.org.  The virtual library most closely associated with forced migration is the World Wide Web Virtual Library on Migration and Ethnic Relations.  Region-specific gateways are also available for Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia/Eastern Europe.

-          Examples of gateways are included in the table below. 

Examples of gateways:

4.       Sign up for Subject/Geographic-Specific Mailing Lists

-          Use one of the following directories to identify relevant mailing lists in your subject/geographic area.  These are useful resources because they allow you to post particular questions to a group of people with similar interests and expertise.  Therefore, it is likely that someone will be able to provide an answer.  In addition, list members may post announcements of new resources that can be included in the catalogue.

-          Some lists do not get very much traffic and therefore may prove not to be very useful; unfortunately, the only way to determine this is to sign up and trial the list for a short period of time.

Examples:

5.       Sign up for Alert Services

-          Many sites offer an e-mail alert service of one kind or another.  For example, gateway sites described above will send out messages to users to inform them about significant updates that have been to made.  This is a useful and easy way to keep track of new additions to the web.

-          Similar e-mail services are often provided by newsletters and news services.

Examples: 

6.       Make Use of Current Awareness Services

-          These services announce new web sites.  Some are selective and provide descriptions of sites, while others present more comprehensive listings.

Examples:

7.       Browse Relevant Publications

-          Today, it is de rigueur for newsletters, newspapers, journal articles, bibliographies and so forth – whether in print or electronic form - to reference URLs.  It is therefore important for editors to read/browse through publications relevant to their subject/geographic areas on a regular basis as a means of keeping informed not only about developments in the field but also about prospective resources. 

-          Refer to the full-text journals and newsletters that have been catalogued in the Web Catalogue here.

Examples of individual titles:

8.       Conduct Web Searches

-          For subject/geographic areas that are not well covered by the above-mentioned services, it may be necessary to conduct web searches to locate relevant sites. 

-          There are various strategies one can employ to do this.  The first is to try a comprehensive search engine like Google or Altavista.  For subject-specific resources, search on the principal keywords associated with the topic.  For example, >>psychosocial OR "psycho social" OR PTSD OR "post traumatic stress disorder" AND displacement<<.  For geographic-specific resources, search on a keyword unique to the field of forced migration and the name of the country or nationality group.  For example, >>refugees AND "sri lanka"<<. 

-          Compare results found by using a more focused search engine, for example, one that only indexes Sri Lanka-specific sites, e.g., http://infolanka.com.  In this case, it is only necessary to search on the term >>refugees<< since "Sri Lanka" is understood.

-          Search Engines Worldwide is a directory that lists geographic-specific search engines: http://www.twics.com/~takakuwa/search/search.html

-          Note that despite their claims to comprehensiveness, search engines do not index the entire web.  One recent article reported that Google, which has the largest web index, still "captures only 42 percent of indexable Web pages" (out of roughly 3 billion pages)!

III. Selection Procedure:

1.       After you have located Internet resources and bookmarked them, return to them at a later stage to review them in more depth. 

2.       To determine whether or not they should be included in the Web Catalogue, go through the following steps:

·         First, make sure the resource falls within the scope of the collection (refer to Part 1 of the Web Catalogue Selection Policy to refresh your memory).  If it is not relevant, then do not include it!

·         Second, consider overlap with other information services:  Is the resource well-covered by other gateways or comprehensive web sites?  For example, there is no need to catalogue the press release collections of humanitarian organizations because they most likely are already accessible via Reliefweb or AlertNet. 

·         Third, search the Web Catalogue collection to see if the specific resource is already catalogued or if there are already several other resources included that do the same thing.  The aim is to avoid duplication and limit redundancy to the extent possible.

·         Finally, if the resource has satisfied the above conditions, proceed with a review of it using the "selection criteria" in the Web Catalogue Selection Policy as a guide.  Consider the content of the resource, its form and integrity.

3.       If you decide that the resource should be included in the catalogue, then proceed to the cataloguing stage.  This process is described in the Web Catalogue's Cataloguing Guidelines.