Embracing changes in technology: a case study of the University of KwaZulu-Natal libraries.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban.The involvement of current technological advancements in an academic library has influenced changes in collecting, storing, and managing information. The study investigated changes in technology and to what extent staff are embracing the ever-changing technologies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Libraries. Academic libraries have been around for many years, they are as old as the academic institutions they serve, and are traditionally considered collections of information sources and storehouses of books. Today the idea of the library as just a ‘storehouse of books’ has changed, and people now generally understand that the library plays an essential role in making the successful research output of an academic institution possible. Technology has changed the expectations of library users; people of today expect to be able to find and access information from wherever they are. The ever-changing technological environment has meant that academic libraries must adapt to the demands of the users in an attempt to create services that enrich user experience and meet the strategic goals of their institution. The study adopted a qualitative research approach and purposive sampling technique. Sixteen participants, which included top management, middle management and senior/ professional librarians participated in the semi-structured, in-depth interviews, recorded on audio. The data collected were analysed using thematic analysis. The key findings were that staff were resistant toward changes in technology, and that contributed to the challenges faced by management. It was found that management wants to remain relevant to the current technological hike. Therefore, it is crucial that UKZN Libraries embraces the changes that come with technology to remain relevant to the ever-changing needs of its users

Accessing and using complex multimedia documents in a digital library

Dans le cadre de trois projets européens, notre équipe a mis au point un modèle de données et un langage de requête pour bibliothèques numériques supportant l'identification, la structuration, les métadonnées, la réutilisation, et la découverte des ressources numériques. Le modèle proposé est inspiré par le Web et il est formalisé comme une théorie du premier ordre, dont certains modèles correspondent à la notion de bibliothèque numérique. En outre, une traduction complète du modèle en RDF et du langage de requêtes en SPARQL a également été proposée pour démontrer son adéquation à des applications pratiques. Le choix de RDF est dû au fait qu il est un langage de représentation généralement accepté dans le cadre des bibliothèques numériques et du Web sémantique. L objectif de cette thèse était double: concevoir et mettre en œuvre une forme simplifiée de système de gestion de bibliothèques numériques, d une part, et contribuer à l enrichissement du modèle, d autre part. Pour atteindre cet objectif nous avons développé un prototype d un système de bibliothèque numérique utilisant un stockage RDF pour faciliter la gestion interne des métadonnées. Le prototype permet aux utilisateurs de gérer et d interroger les métadonnées des ressources numériques ou non-numériques dans le système en utilisant des URIs pour identifier les ressources, un ensemble de prédicats pour la description de ressources, et des requêtes conjonctives simples pour la découverte de connaissances dans le système. Le prototype est mis en œuvre en utilisant les technologies Java et l environnement de Google Web Toolkit dont l'architecture du système se compose d'une couche de stockage, d une couche de métier logique, d une couche de service, et d une interface utilisateur. Pendant la thèse, le prototype a été construit, testé et débogué localement, puis déployé sur Google App Engine. Dans l avenir, il peut être étendu pour devenir un système complet de gestion de bibliothèques numériques. Par ailleurs, la thèse présente également notre contribution à la génération de contenu par réutilisation de ressources. Il s agit d un travail théorique dont le but est d enrichir le modèle en lui ajoutant un service important, à savoir la possibilité de création de nouvelles ressources à partir de celles stockées dans le système. L incorporation de ce service dans le système sera effectuée ultérieurement.In the context of three European projects, our research team has developed a data model and query language for digital libraries supporting identification, structuring, metadata, and discovery and reuse of digital resources. The model is inspired by the Web and it is formalized as a first-order theory, certain models of which correspond to the notion of digital library. In addition, a full translation of the model to RDF and of the query language to SPARQL has been proposed to demonstrate the feasibility of the model and its suitability for practical applications. The choice of RDF is due to the fact that it is a generally accepted representation language in the context of digital libraries and the Semantic Web. One of the major aims of the thesis was to design and actually implement a simplified form of a digital library management system based on the theoretical model. To obtain this, we have developed a prototype based on RDF and SPARQL, which uses a RDF store to facilitate internal management of metadata. The prototype allows users to manage and query metadata of digital or non-digital resources in the system, using URIs as resource identifiers, a set of predicates to model descriptions of resources, and simple conjunctive queries to discover knowledge in the system. The prototype is implemented by using Java technologies and the Google Web Toolkit framework whose system architecture consists of a storage layer, a business logic layer, a service layer and a user interface. During the thesis work, the prototype was built, tested, and debugged locally and then deployed on Google App Engine. In the future, it will be expanded to become a full fledged digital library management system. Moreover, the thesis also presents our contribution to content generation by reuse. This is mostly theoretical work whose purpose is to enrich the model and query language by providing an important community service. The incorporation of this service in the implemented system is left to future work.PARIS11-SCD-Bib. électronique (914719901) / SudocSudocFranceF