JISC

Figures showing everyday use of a university library are the unlikely stars of a JISC-funded competition showcasing innovative approaches to presenting library data.

The winning entrant, an undergraduate computer scientist, created an imaginative ‘book galaxy’ showing books as stars in the galaxy of library resources accessed by University of Huddersfield students and staff - scroll down this page to see it.

Alex Parker’s space-age entry presents library data in three different ‘galaxy’ views where library books are represented as moving stars that change speed and location according to how popular they are within a given course.  They also join together in constellations to show books on connected topic, while orbited by meteors representing the courses of the students using those books.I had an idea that if you linked similar books together in a 'web' and did that for every book in the library interesting patterns would emerge.

JISC’s MOSAIC (‘making our shared activity count’) project is investigating the possibilities for data showing user activity, such as book circulation, in UK university libraries. 

Balviar Notay, JISC programme manager said: "JISC has funded this innovative research to really probe how we analyse and exploit library data.  It's exciting to see the potential of this data and how it could provide library users with a new personalized way of browsing the shelves.” 

Starry-eyed Alex, a University of Southampton student, admits that he was “amazed” to hear the news of his winning entry.  He explains: “The main reason I entered this competition is that I think that doing a keyword search and presenting lists of books to users is not always the best way to find what you want in a library, especially if you're not sure what you're looking for.  I had an idea that if you linked similar books together in a 'web' and did that for every book in the library interesting patterns would emerge.

“I hope to see the ideas presented in my application applied to library search systems as an alternative to keyword searches, but not as a replacement,” he concluded.

Other entries include an application which suggests a subject course based on the books you’ve enjoyed reading, a facility for sharing your reading list with others, and way of finding out which books students on a given course have taken out, as well as how much they’ve saved by using the library rather than buying them.

The judges were looking for applications that demonstrated ease of use, usefulness, potential and coolness.  Judge Ken Chad commented: “I had an enjoyable couple of hours with these applications; it warmed my heart to see them.”   He explained that all of the entries exceeded expectations in terms in terms of quality and imagination. 

Book galaxy

Move your mouse around the galaxy to see the titles. Blue dots are books, yellow dots are courses. If nothing is appearing, you might not have Java installed. Download Java

To sign up for the final MOSAIC event at the University of Wolverhampton on Wednesday 18 November 2009, which will feature all of the competition applications, email david.kay@sero.co.uk   Full details

Explore the book galaxy

Find out about the competition and the other entries

Find out more information about the MOSAIC project