Discovery Directory
A well-developed discovery directory is an effective and efficient path to information on a subject. E-MAPS recommends simple discovery directories that provide three levels of information: (1) introduction, (2) basic references, (3) supplementary references. The library science link below is to extracts from Library Research Models: A Guide to Classification, Cataloguing, and Computers, by Thomas Mann, that explain the reasons for E-MAPS' approach to discovery directories. The improvised explosive device (IEDs), cultural operations, and computerized geographic information links below are to three sites that use the introduction, basic references, and supplementary references format. Because the primary purpose of the sites is to illustrate E-MAPS' approach to discovery directories, not all the tabs on the discovery directories lead to documents. The Joint Electronic Library (JEL) link is to the PowerPoint slide on the Joint Staff's Joint Electronic Library that lists all the Joint Publications (JP) and provides hyperlinks to them.
Library Science
Improvised Explosive Devices
(IEDs)
Cultural
Operations
Computerized
Geographic Information
Joint Electronic Library (JEL)
Supplemental Information. This section of the E-MAPS website has several purposes:
(1) Provide
concepts and methods from library science that explain the habits of
people performing research whether through a website, portal or in a
library.
(2) Provide an example format for a website or portal that is based on library science Principle of Least Effort
(i.e., an information seeker will (a) tend to use the most convenient
search method, (b) use the least exacting mode available and (c) stop
searching as soon as minimally acceptable results are found.)
This holds true regardless of the seeker’s proficiency as a searcher or
his/her level of subject expertise. Because of this principle, web
sites and portals need to be designed so that the most important or the
most basic information is the first information discovered by people
looking for it.
(3) Provide references on select subjects important to the military services.
(4) Provide a
link to the Joint Electronic Library (JEL), important military content
displayed in a format that is easy to navigate (i.e., is aligned with
the Principle of Least Effort).