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the shelf as a library
Electricka's Resource Shelf is the virtual analog of a traditional library;
it's a
modern electronic update of the traditional library that has been with us
for well over a hundred years.
Keep in mind that the traditional library has served us well and will
continue to serve for the foreseeable future. Many libraries are
state-of-the-art systems for locating and exploring arts resources.
Libraries will undoubtedly continue to improve and evolve as technology
advances.
Electricka's Resource Shelf is not a replacement for a traditional
library, nor will it ever be. Comparing it to a library is only gives us a
way to explain it in terms that are recognizable.
the role of the Catalog and the Resource reviews
The Shelf is organized into two parts: 1) the Catalog, and 2) Resource Reviews:
the catalog
The Catalog serves the same purpose as a conventional card catalog of
the kind you find in a traditional library. As with a traditional library,
it contains citations to holdings on the Shelf; but the catalog and the
holdings are electronic. Each citation in the Catalog:
- Describes either a traditional, physical arts-related resource or reference, an arts-related web site, or both.
- Contains an assessment or evaluation of the cited item and a link to
a relevant web site, if one exists.
The Catalog is implemented in the form of a
searchable and sortable table that lists scores of off-line and online arts-related
reference works and other resources. Each table entry (citation) displays
the name of an arts resource or reference; it cites the resource's type,
gives a synopsis of the nature of the resource, what kind of information
it offers, and how to access it. The
table allows you to easily and quickly find, sort, print, and otherwise arrange
citations for analysis.
Citations describe a variety of traditional and electronic
arts-related resources, including web sites and physical facilities such
as libraries, bookstores, museums, and other physical repositories. If a
web site is relevant to a physical resource or is itself a resource,
links in the citation can take you directly to it. Visitors are free to
follow these links to remote web sites without leaving the
Catalog.
- The Catalog is the electronic homolog of a traditional library's card catalog.
- Citations in the Catalog are the electronic homolog of 3X5 cards
in a traditional library card catalog.
- The arts resources described in the citations are the electronic homolog of a
library's holdings.
- Other web sites you can reach from the Shelf and physical
repositories you can visit in the "real world" are the electronic
homologs of a traditional library's holdings.
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resource reviews
Resource Reviews is a collection of in-depth reviews of selected arts-related
resources. Each Review contains amplifying information that explains a
single resource—a description of its nature or
contents, an evaluation, the history of the sponsoring organization
(if any), key figures, awards given or received, products or services
produced, bibliographies, biographies, links to related web sites, etc. Each Review is contained on a page at Electricka's web site, a page
dedicated to the Review. All Resource Review pages are co-located in a
single section of Electricka's web site.
Reviews contain links to the arts resources they describe. Since both
the Catalog and Reviews contain links to other web sites, together they
replace the typical "links to other web sites" pages you find at many
other web sites.
- Resource Reviews are electronic homologs of a traditional
library's holdings.
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about Holdings
Resource Reviews are a very small portion of the Shelf's holdings. The
Shelf also "holds" electronic references to other web sites and to
physical arts resources and repositories:
- Other web sites listed in the Catalog are the electronic homolog of
a traditional library's holdings. They and the information they contain
are themselves electronic arts-related resources and references.
- Holdings in traditional libraries, bookstores, and other physical
repositories that are cited in the Catalog and in the Reviews are the
electronic homolog of traditional arts-related repositories. Why?
Because the Catalog is the means by which you find out what they are and
reach them.
The Catalog is a list of electronic citations that contain links to
other web sites and lists of information about . Each citation in Electricka's Resource Shelf:
- Describes either a traditional arts-related resource or reference work
or an arts-related web site, or both.
- Contains an assessment or evaluation of the cited item and a link to
the relevant web site, if one exists.
Only arts-related resources, references, and web sites are on
Electricka's Resource Shelf, and only those Electricka believes to be worthy
of your attention.
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about the library Cart
This picture of a library
cart filled with books is Electricka's symbol for the service provided by
the Shelf, which delivers arts-related holdings cited in the Catalog and
Reviews to visitors.
- Electricka's Library Cart is the electronic homolog of the library
cart a traditional librarian uses to shunt books between the library's
shelves, where the holdings are stored, and the Front Desk, where the
library's patrons sign out books.
- The Cart also is the electronic homolog of the process by which
traditional libraries sometimes borrow books cited in a card catalog
from the holdings of another library and deliver them to patrons at the
Front Desk.
The presence of the Cart on a page means that there
could be a reason for you to access the Resource Shelf because of something
you're exploring on the page where the icon appears. It also gives you a way
to quickly and easily access the Catalog, the Reviews, and the pages that
explain the Shelf.
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