The IMLS4W Contextual Browser

This web site is a demonstation of the possibilities of linking existing resources into the context of time, place, person, and topic.

Learning in Context

When setting out to learn about a new topic, a well-tested practice is to follow the traditional “5Ws and the H”: Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?, and How? – and to use the corresponding specialized library resources: biographical dictionaries, subject catalogs, chronologies, and gazetteers. The digital environment is still weak in providing an effective counterpart of the traditional reference library.

Demonstration Project

The purpose of this project is to show how existing and emerging standards and protocols can be used or adapted to support learners with respect to What? Where? When? and Who? A client interface with links to existing specialized resources is being created for teachers seeking additional resources to supplement textbooks; and for contextualizing objects in library and museum collections by identifying the objects in other collections that are most closely related. This project should increase the ability of libraries and museums to support a nation of learners and pave the way for a greater return on the large investment made in library and museum collections.

Information on using this web site

• User Guide
• Source Information

For more information about this project see:

• Support for the Learner: What, Where, When, and Who

This project builds on Going Places in the Catalog: Improved Geographic Access
Principal Investigators: Michael Buckland; Fredric Gey, and Ray R. Larson.
Others: Linda Cathryn Muehlinghaus, Vivien Petras, Kim Carl, and Jeanette Zerneke.

Funded in part by an Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant for Libraries, award number LG-02-04-0041-04, Oct 2004 - Sept 2006. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expresssed in this web site do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.