Integrating distributed expertise:
The Subject Guide of the Physics Virtual Library ViFaPhys

Detlef Görlitz
University of Hamburg
goerlitz_AT_physnet.uni-hamburg.de

Abstract:

Providing access to information resources relevant to physicists, the Subject Guide of the Physics Vitual Library ViFaPhys contains collections of information and information resources. The contents of the Subject Guide are displayed in a clearly organised, well-structured way, sorted by subject and by resource type.
High quality of provided information is ensured by

• intellectual selection of resources on the basis of stated criteria,
• evaluation and characterisation of resources by selected experts,
• automated and intellectual checks of the included sources and their descriptions.

Thus, integration of experts is crucial for getting the Subject Guide's quality: Especially scientists are qualified to judge the relevance of a resource and to evaluate its content.
How this integration of distributed expertise is organised by the Special Interest Group 'Information' of the German Physical Society DPG will be shown in this presentation.
The Physics Virtual Library ViFaPhys is a project funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) DFG and coordinated by the TIB, the German National Library of Science and Technology.

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