Planning strategically, designing architecturally : a framework for digital library services

In an era of unprecedented technological innovation and evolving user expectations and information seeking behaviour, we are arguably now an online society, with digital services increasingly common and increasingly preferred. As a trusted information provider, libraries are in an advantageous position to respond, but this requires integrated strategic and enterprise architecture planning, for information technology (IT) has evolved from a support role to a strategic role, providing the core management systems, communication networks, and delivery channels of the modern library. Further, IT components do not function in isolation from one another, but are interdependent elements of distributed and multidimensional systems encompassing people, processes, and technologies, which must consider social, economic, legal, organisational, and ergonomic requirements and relationships, as well as being logically sound from a technical perspective. Strategic planning provides direction, while enterprise architecture strategically aligns and holistically integrates business and information system architectures. While challenging, such integrated planning should be regarded as an opportunity for the library to evolve as an enterprise in the digital age, or at minimum, to simply keep pace with societal change and alternative service providers. Without strategy, a library risks being directed by outside forces with independent motivations and inadequate understanding of its broader societal role. Without enterprise architecture, it risks technological disparity, redundancy, and obsolescence. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this conceptual paper provides an integrated framework for strategic and architectural planning of digital library services. The concept of the library as an enterprise is also introduced

Improving Knowledge Retrieval in Digital Libraries Applying Intelligent Techniques

Nowadays an enormous quantity of heterogeneous and distributed information is stored in the digital University. Exploring online collections to find knowledge relevant to a user’s interests is a challenging work. The artificial intelligence and Semantic Web provide a common framework that allows knowledge to be shared and reused in an efficient way. In this work we propose a comprehensive approach for discovering E-learning objects in large digital collections based on analysis of recorded semantic metadata in those objects and the application of expert system technologies. We have used Case Based-Reasoning methodology to develop a prototype for supporting efficient retrieval knowledge from online repositories. We suggest a conceptual architecture for a semantic search engine. OntoUS is a collaborative effort that proposes a new form of interaction between users and digital libraries, where the latter are adapted to users and their surroundings

KIIT Digital Library: An open hypermedia Application

The massive use of Web technologies has spurred a new revolution in information storing and retrieving. It has always been an issue whether to incorporate hyperlinks embedded in a document or to store them separately in a link base. Research effort has been concentrated on the development of link services that enable hypermedia functionality to be integrate into the general computing environment and allow linking from all tools on the browser or desktop. KIIT digital library is such an application that focuses mainly on architecture and protocols of Open Hypermedia Systems (OHS), providing on-line document authoring, browsing, cataloguing, searching and updating features. The WWW needs fundamentally new frameworks and concepts to support new search and indexing functionality. This is because of the frequent use of digital archives and to maintain huge amount of database and documents. These digital materials range from electronic versions of books and journals offered by traditional publishers to manuscripts, photographs, maps, sound recordings and similar materials digitized from libraries' own special collections to new electronic scholarly and scientific databases developed through the collaboration of researchers, computer and information scientists, and librarians. Metadata in catalogue systems are an indispensable tool to find information and services in networks. Technological advances provide new opportunities to facilitate the process of collecting and maintaining metadata and to facilitate using catalogue systems. The overall objective is how to make best use of catalogue systems. Information systems such as the World Wide Web, Digital Libraries, inventories of satellite images and other repositories contain more data than ever before, are globally distributed, easy to use and, therefore, become accessible to huge, heterogeneous user groups. For KIIT Digital Library, we have used Resource Development Framework (RDF) and Dublin Core (DC) standards to incorporate metadata. Overall KIIT digital library provides electronic access to information in many different forms. Recent technological advances make the storage and transmission of digital information possible. This project is to design and implement a cataloguing system of the digital library system suitable for storage, indexing, and retrieving information and providing that information across the Internet. The goal is to allow users to quickly search indices to locate segments of interests and view and manipulate these segments on their remote computers

Managing smart campus and smart libraries: a look at challenges and the way forward for libraries in developing countries

The paper focused on the challenges faced in creating and managing smart libraries in developing countries. The highlight of the paper are an overview of smart campuses and smart libraries; the justification for smart campuses and smart libraries. The key points for driving a smart campus and smart libraries include deep understanding of smart technological architecture; availability of smart devices and availability of smart platforms; The related technologies for smart libraries in smart campus include but not limited to cloud computing, radio frequency identification (RFID), mobile technology applications, internet of things (IoT) and wireless technology. Several challenges were identified such as unavailability of digital infrastructure, low level of partnership drive, lack of ict skills among library and information science professionals, high cost of maintenance and shortage of smart librarians. Provision of digital infrastructures, engaging in sustainable partnership initiatives, training and re-training of library and information science professionals, organizing of in-house training for library and information science professionals, recruitment of smart librarians, adequate funding were recommended. Keywords: Smart libraries, smart campuses, developing countries, librarie

Expert knowledge management based on ontology in a digital library

The architecture of the future Digital Libraries should be able to allow any users to access available knowledge resources from anywhere and at any time and efficient manner. Moreover to the individual user, there is a great deal of useless information in addition to the substantial amount of useful information. The goal is to investigate how to best combine Artificial Intelligent and Semantic Web technologies for semantic searching across largely distributed and heterogeneous digital libraries. The Artificial Intelligent and Semantic Web have provided both new possibilities and challenges to automatic information processing in search engine process. The major research tasks involved are to apply appropriate infrastructure for specific digital library system construction, to enrich metadata records with ontologies and enable semantic searching upon such intelligent system infrastructure. We study improving the efficiency of search methods to search a distributed data space like a Digital Library. This paper outlines the development of a CaseBased Reasoning prototype system based in an ontology for retrieval information of the Digital Library University of Seville. The results demonstrate that the used of expert system and the ontology into the retrieval process, the effectiveness of the information retrieval is enhanced

Synchronization and Multiple Group Server Support for Kepler

In the last decade literally thousands of digital libraries have emerged but one of the biggest obstacles for dissemination of information to a user community is that many digital libraries use different, proprietary technologies that inhibit interoperability. Kepler framework addresses interoperability and gives publication control to individual publishers. In Kepler, OAI-PMH is used to support personal data providers or archivelets . . In our vision, individual publishers can be integrated with an institutional repository like Dspace by means of a Kepler Group Digital Library (GDL). The GDL aggregates metadata and full text from archivelets and can act as an OAI-compliant data provider for institutional repositories. The basic Kepler architecture and it working have been reported in earlier papers. In this paper we discuss the three main features that we have recently added to the Kepler framework: mobility support for users to switch transparently between traditional archivelet s to on-server archivelets, the ability of users to work with multiple GDLs, and flexibility to individual publishers to build an OAI-PMH compliant repository without getting attached to a GDL

Challenges in distributed information search in a semantic digital library

Nowadays an enormous quantity of heterogeneous and distributed information is stored in the current digital libraries. Access to these collections poses a serious challenge, however, because present search techniques based on manually annotated metadata and linear replay of material selected by the user do not scale effectively or efficiently to large collections. The artificial intelligent and semantic Web provides a common framework that allows knowledge to be shared and reused. In this paper we propose a comprehensive approach for discovering information objects in large digital collections based on analysis of recorded semantic metadata in those objects and the application of expert system technologies. We suggest a conceptual architecture for a semantic and intelligent search engine. OntoFAMA is a collaborative effort that proposes a new form of interaction between people and Digital Library, where the latter is adapted to individuals and their surroundings. We have used Case Based-Reasoning methodology to develop a prototype for supporting efficient retrieval knowledge from digital library of Seville University

Publishing E-resources of Digital Institutional Repository as Linked Open Data: an experimental study

Linked open data (LOD) is an essential component in semantic web architecture and is becoming increasingly important over time due to its ability to share and re-use structured data which is both human and computer readable over the web. Currently, many libraries, archives, museums etc. are using open source digital library software to manage and preserve their digital collections. They may also intend to publish their e-resources as “Linked Open Datasets” for further usage. LOD enables the libraries or information centers to publish and share the structured metadata that is generated and maintained with their own bibliographic and authority data in such a way that the other libraries and general community across the world can consume, interact, enrich and share. In this context, the key issue is to convert the library bibliographic data which is commonly known as metadata into LOD dataset. The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodology and technical aspects to design and publish a structured LOD dataset of bibliographic information from a digital repository developed with DSpace digital library software so that other libraries can link their repositories with these LOD for providing additional relevant resources to their end-users. The paper shows the process of integration and configuration of Apache Jena Fuseki (a tool for SPARQL Endpoint interface) with DSpace for converting metadata into Resource Description Framework (RDF) triple model and make them available in various RDF formats. It also discusses a model for building a LOD framework to convert and store RDF graph and RDF triple. Finally, it tests the accessibility of the inked open dataset by querying RDF data through a SPARQL endpoint interface

Keeping An Old Library New: Academic Libraries in the 21st Century

When the Van Wylen Library opened in January of 1988, it was a beautiful state-of -the-art academic library. Designed by Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott of Boston, it was awarded the Award of Excellence for Library Architecture from the American Institute of Architects. It had moved to an automated library information system (ILS) including an online catalog, the year it opened and was designed based on the latest technology of the time. We all know, what has happened in the 25 years since. The age of digital information has hurtled us down a path of change, so revolutionary, so fast that many have predicted that libraries will cease to exit. While the reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated, academic libraries have changed dramatically in the past 25 years. This presentation gives an overview of the physical, technological and social changes that have kept the Van Wylen Library an exceptional academic library in the 21st century

An electronic architecture for mediating digital information in a hallway fac̦ade

Ubiquitous computing requires integration of physical space with digital information. This presents the challenges of integrating electronics, physical space, software and the interaction tools which can effectively communicate with the audience. Many research groups have embraced different techniques depending on location, context, space, and availability of necessary skills to make the world around us as an interface to the digital world. Encouraged by early successes and fostered by project undertaken by tangible visualization group. We introduce an architecture of Blades and Tiles for the development and realization of interactive wall surfaces. It provides an inexpensive, open-ended platform for constructing large-scale tangible and embedded interfaces. In this paper, we propose tiles built using inexpensive pegboards and a gateway for each of these tiles to provide access to digital information. The paper describes the architecture using a corridor fa\c{c}ade application. The corridor fa\c{c}ade uses full-spectrum LEDs, physical labels and stencils, and capacitive touch sensors to provide mediated representation, monitoring and querying of physical and digital content. Example contents include the physical and online status of people and the activity and dynamics of online research content repositories. Several complementary devices such as Microsoft PixelSense and smartdevices can support additional user interaction with the system. This enables interested people in synergistic physical environments to observe, explore, understand, and engage in ongoing activities and relationships. This paper describes the hardware architecture and software libraries employed and how they are used in our research center hallway and academic semester projects