The Development and Usage of the Greenstone Digital Library Software

The Greenstone software has helped spread the practical impact of digital library technology throughout the world-particularly in developing countries. This article reviews the project’s origins, usage, and the development of support mechanisms for Greenstone users. We begin with a brief summary of salient aspects of this open source software package and its user population. Next we describe how its international, humanitarian focus arose. We then review the special requirements imposed by the conditions that prevail in developing courtiers. Finally we discuss efforts to establish regional support organizations for Greenstone in India and Africa

Greenstone Digital Library Software (GSDL): A Tutorial

This tutorial describes how to build your own digital library using the Greenstone Digital Library (GSDL) Software -- a comprehensive, open-source system for constructing, presenting, and maintaining digital collections. Collections can be built and rebuilt automatically in GSDL. The collections are easily maintainable and include effective full-text searching and metadata-based browsing facilities that are attractive and easy to use. Browsing utilizes hierarchical structures that are created automatically from metadata associated with the source documents. Collections can include text, pictures, audio, and video, using an easy to use tool called the Collector. Documents in the collection can be in any language. Even the GSDL interface is available in many languages including Chinese and Arabic. The system is extensible and customizable i.e. software "plugins" can accommodate different documents and metadata types according to user requirement

Experiences in deploying metadata analysis tools for institutional repositories

Current institutional repository software provides few tools to help metadata librarians understand and analyze their collections. In this article, we compare and contrast metadata analysis tools that were developed simultaneously, but independently, at two New Zealand institutions during a period of national investment in research repositories: the Metadata Analysis Tool (MAT) at The University of Waikato, and the Kiwi Research Information Service (KRIS) at the National Library of New Zealand. The tools have many similarities: they are convenient, online, on-demand services that harvest metadata using OAI-PMH; they were developed in response to feedback from repository administrators; and they both help pinpoint specific metadata errors as well as generating summary statistics. They also have significant differences: one is a dedicated tool wheres the other is part of a wider access tool; one gives a holistic view of the metadata whereas the other looks for specific problems; one seeks patterns in the data values whereas the other checks that those values conform to metadata standards. Both tools work in a complementary manner to existing Web-based administration tools. We have observed that discovery and correction of metadata errors can be quickly achieved by switching Web browser views from the analysis tool to the repository interface, and back. We summarize the findings from both tools' deployment into a checklist of requirements for metadata analysis tools

Experiences in deploying metadata analysis tools for institutional repositories

Current institutional repository software provides few tools to help metadata librarians understand and analyze their collections. In this article, we compare and contrast metadata analysis tools that were developed simultaneously, but independently, at two New Zealand institutions during a period of national investment in research repositories: the Metadata Analysis Tool (MAT) at The University of Waikato, and the Kiwi Research Information Service (KRIS) at the National Library of New Zealand. The tools have many similarities: they are convenient, online, on-demand services that harvest metadata using OAI-PMH; they were developed in response to feedback from repository administrators; and they both help pinpoint specific metadata errors as well as generating summary statistics. They also have significant differences: one is a dedicated tool wheres the other is part of a wider access tool; one gives a holistic view of the metadata whereas the other looks for specific problems; one seeks patterns in the data values whereas the other checks that those values conform to metadata standards. Both tools work in a complementary manner to existing Web-based administration tools. We have observed that discovery and correction of metadata errors can be quickly achieved by switching Web browser views from the analysis tool to the repository interface, and back. We summarize the findings from both tools' deployment into a checklist of requirements for metadata analysis tools

Greenstone: Uso actual en Argentina

This paper presents the characteristics and history of the software Greenstone to create and manage digital libraries, initially developed by the University of Waikato, New Zealand in 1997. First, the user community is described at a global level, focusing on the current use that the software has achieved in Argentina: the number of implementations available, their evolution, the type, size and variety of the existing developments, as well as their application to the management of digital repositories of science and technology in the field of scientific, technological and higher education institutions in Argentina. Secondly, the actions carried out after the creation of the National Center for the Promotion of Greenstone in Argentina in 2009 are detailed. Data collected from surveys made it possible to observe that the predominant reasons for choosing this platform were, among others, its ease of installation and configuration, its low level of technological requirements, the general scarcity of human resources dedicated to this activity, and the complexity of the alternative software existing at that time. Throughout these 8 years, both the digital repositories and the systems that support them evolved drastically, modifying the current scenario. In parallel, in 2016 the new major version of Greenstone implemented a complete re-engineering of the software to adapt it to the technologies in use: XML, XSLT, Web-services and Java. As a consequence of this, the local development community poses new challenges for the migration of digital libraries and repositories implemented with previous versions

Re-designing Greenstone for Seniors

The golden generation have a wealth of experience and knowledge from throughout their lifetimes that younger generations wish to retain. In our technology filled world an obvious means of collecting this information is electronically. Digital library col- lections are increasingly used by libraries and large institutions to record their large amounts of information but they can also be used for personal collections. Seniors are often willing and keen to impart their years of experience upon people of the younger generation but time is not always on their side as they grow older. Throughout a lifetime a person could collect large amounts of papers, diaries, pho- tos and media but the time it takes to organise these documents can be long and exhausting and the person's health is not always at its best in old age. Greenstone is a suite of software for creating digital libraries, which are organised collections of documents. Greenstone has the ability to distribute collections either using a server or CD-ROM, and provides advanced searching and organization tools. While Greenstone is a versatile and useful tool in creating digital collections, its in- terface is not designed for senior users. Seniors are commonly perceived to have more physical and mental disadvantages as they get older. These disadvantages can dramatically affect how usable seniors find a piece of software. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how usable the current Greenstone interface is for use by seniors and to re-design the interface so that Greenstone may be more easily used by senior users. This thesis focuses upon what types of documents and descriptive data seniors would like to include in a collection about their life. This is to ascertain exactly what parts of the interface must be improved when it comes to metadata and classifiers. The results of this investigation also helped in the creation of a customised metadata set for senior users use

Use of the FAO-UNESCO Learning Module on Digitisation and Digital Libraries

The FAO and UNESCO, two United Nations specialized agencies, have developed a computerized self-learning module on Digitization and Digital Libraries. This paper will summarize the objectives of this project as reported by the sponsors, describe the module, and present the author's experience of testing it in a course on digital libraries in the M.Sc. programme in Information Science at the University of Madras

A location-based audio book reader

The ability to display text on mobile devices has been progressively improved during the last decade with the growth in use of mobile devices. Recently, the e-book reader has been incorporated into travel tourism. In this project we design, implement and evaluate a location-based mobile e-book reader that provides users with both text and audio information. This project has two goals. The first goal is to build a rich location-based travel information provider system as a standalone mobile application without using web browsing functions. The second goal is to provide a communication between the mobile application and a digital library of e-book collections. Experimental results show that the mobile application, during elected events, has provided a special e-book reading experience to participants. The majority of participants liked the system especially with regards to interface design and functionality. Over half the participants felt the location-based audio e-book reader system was usable and interesting while traveling

Using a digital library as a Māori language learning resource: Issues and possibilities

The development of electronic language learning resources, founded on digital library technology, is a capability that, to date, is largely unrealised. The Flexible Language Acquisition (FLAX) project is a digital library initiative at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. The current FLAX activities provide practice for students who are learning English as an additional language. The prospect of extending this resource to include te reo Māori is as exciting as it is groundbreaking. The outcomes of this research inform the issues and possibilities involved in creating such resources. The World Wide Web has allowed an everyday access to the Internet, but finding and retrieving pertinent information is often a convoluted and time-consuming exercise. The normal outcome is that users are unable to take full advantage of the available resources. Digital libraries have an unprecedented power in terms of organising and storing vast amounts of information and, with built-in retrieval functionality, serve as ideal repositories. The ability to focus the information within these repositories is extremely significant because there is no longer the chaff that normally results from Internet searches. Purposeful learning activities can be presented exploiting an assortment of media and drawing on stored information that can be assembled in a range of formats. Such capacity, flexibility and diversity is normally only encountered at traditional, physical libraries. The research includes an overview of digital libraries and some of the language learning resources that are currently available on the Internet. Since the target language is te reo Māori, a critical review on the features of kaupapa Māori theory, pedagogy and Māori pedagogy is undertaken. Using the concepts discussed in this review, the language learning activities associated with the FLAX project are analysed to determine their suitability for learning te reo Māori. Further feedback was provided by a sample group following their testing of a selection of activities that were based on text written in te reo Māori. The analysis suggests the current range of FLAX activities have more benefit to students as tools that allow practice of the learning that has been delivered in face-to-face classroom settings, rather than as a standalone language learning resource. In their present form, the main benefits of the activities predominantly rest in the way they were performed rather than in the activities themselves. Furthermore, commentary from the testing group regarded the activities as more beneficial for practicing sentence structures, grammar and punctuation, rather than actual language learning. The group generally agreed, however, that combining the activities with methods of oral and aural transmission, in te reo Māori, would certainly result in more effective language learning outcomes. The legitimacy of digital library-based language learning activities lies in designs that promote learner-centred interaction that is consistent with best practice communicative learning theory. When the target language is te reo Māori, it is of the utmost importance that the activities are tailored to embrace a Māori world view in ways that promote the learning rather than the activity or the content