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Digital Developments in the Refugee Documentation Centre
Zoe Melling, RDC Librarian
Eight months on from the launch of our new Electronic and Digital Library last September, the system is now well established in the RDC and should be familiar to users of our services. There’s been an excellent response to our comprehensive end user training programme, with more than 40 sessions held to date, both in the RDC and offsite. Ongoing training is available for all asylum agencies included in our client base, and can be tailored to suit individual user needs.
Established as part of the Asylum and Immigration Strategic Integration Programme (AISIP), the integrated Library and Document Management System was designed to meet COI needs for key agencies involved in the asylum process. The system provides a common interface for online access to the RDC Library catalogue and digital collections, including full text COI documents, anonymised RDC query responses, serial contents and case law digests. Legal Aid Board employees including RLS staff also have access to the LAB library collection of materials, focusing on civil law in Ireland. Logging in to the E-Library allows users to renew items, recommend items to order, submit queries and request interlibrary loans. The system also includes a staff client containing acquisitions, cataloguing and circulation modules, which has allowed us to streamline work processes in the library. The previous Lotus Notes based LMS and COI database were discontinued in April.
The Electronic and Digital Library is still under development, and work is ongoing to update content, standardise subject categories and tidy up any anomalies in existing catalogue records. An in-house subject structure has been developed to enable easier browsing of the COI and Query Response collections in the Digital Library, and the International Thesaurus of Refugee Terminology is being used for subject classification of corresponding catalogue records. Work to create a common subject taxonomy for country folders in the COI collection has just been completed and documents relating to subsidiary protection are now being added in anticipation of future COI needs after the introduction of the proposed single procedure. Our Query Response collection is also being updated, with the subject structure mirroring that of the COI folders. A Legal Materials collection was established earlier this year, and includes case law summaries.
Further enhancements planned for 2008 include the implementation of a portal solution called EPS/Rooms which will allow greater customisation of the E-Library home page, and consolidated access to a variety of electronic resources, including external COI sources such as Refworld and Ecoi.net. Subject-based virtual ‘rooms’ of content from a range of sources can be created to suit user needs, and we welcome suggestions for possible content and layout. The new interface will include an enhanced search facility with federated, “fuzzy” and faceted search functions. Federated search is the simultaneous search of multiple online databases, allowing results to be displayed in a unified interface. “Fuzzy” search logic helps avoid limitations of search results due to misspellings of queries, with exact matches ranked higher in the results list. Faceted search technology provides an intuitive way to refine search results by category, by “drilling down” into hierarchical results lists. Additional end user training will be provided when the new portal is implemented.
Contact us
Please let us know if you have any queries, suggestions, or problems relating to the E-Library, or if you wish to book a training session.
Email: Refugee_Documentation_Centre@legalaidboard.ie
Telephone: (01) 477 6250 (General number for RDC and LAB Library)
Fax: (01) 661 3113
Postal Address:
Refugee Documentation Centre
Montague Court
7-11 Montague Street
Dublin 2
You may also contact me directly at zxmelling@legalaidboard.ie
Ph: (01) 4776214
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