Digital library research : current developments and trends

This column gives an overview of current trends in digital library research under the following headings: digital library architecture, systems, tools and technologies; digital content and collections; metadata; interoperability; standards; knowledge organisation systems; users and usability; legal, organisational, economic, and social issues in digital libraries

Access and usability issues of scholarly electronic publications

This chapter looks at the various access and usability issues related to scholarly information resources. It first looks at the various channels through which a user can get access to scholarly electronic publications. It then discusses the issues and studies surrounding usability. Some important parameters for measuring the usability of information access systems have been identified. Finally the chapter looks at the major problems facing the users in getting access to scholarly information through today's hybrid libraries, and mentions some possible measures to resolve these problems

What is usability in the context of the digital library and how can it be measured?

This paper reviews how usability has been defined in the context of the digital library, what methods have been applied and their applicability, and proposes an evaluation model and a suite of instruments for evaluating usability for academic digital libraries. The model examines effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, and learnability. It is found that there exists an interlocking relationship among effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. It also examines how learnability interacts with these three attributes

Collaborative design of educational digital libraries for African higher education

This thesis will develop a model that can be used to guide collaborative design of educational digital libraries that are relevant to the learning objectives and are appropriate to African Higher Education. Factors affecting connections between educational digital library capabilities, learning processes and learners’ needs in higher education will be identified and used to develop the model. These factors will be identified through qualitative studies with the key players (i.e. academics, information professionals, digital library technical designers and students). The model will be iteratively developed and later evaluated for correctness by some of the key players. So far a preliminary literature review has been done to locate related work and identify knowledge gaps. In addition, a pilot study has been carried out and identified some temporal factors that will be pursued further in the proposed study

Emergent digital services in public libraries : a domain study

Purpose: This paper explores the emergence of digital services in the public library domain via an extensive study of the websites of all Scottish public library services Design/methodology/approach: In a 4 month period all 32 of Scotland’s public library authority websites were visited by a researcher. The goal of the researcher was to record the options available from the library homepages in the following way: •Role of library in providing page content: content provider or access provider? •Was the page providing a digital service? •What was the audience for the page? Adult, child, or not specified? •Description of page content •Any noted usability issues Each site was only visited to three levels below that of the initial homepage. Findings: The study found a good standard of innovation in digital services around LMS functions, offering users the ability to keep in control of their borrowing and reserving. In addition there was a consistent set of electronic reference resources subscribed to by multiple libraries, offering high quality information both within the library and for library members from their home or workplace. Problems were found with regards to guidance on the usage of these resources, as well as confusion and inconsistency in terminology usage across different library services. Research limitations/implications: The paper examines only Scottish public library sites, thus can only claim to be representative of that country. It also can only represent the sites at the time they were examined. Practical implications: The paper should be of interest to public and other librarians interested in patterns across web sites in their sector. Originality/value: This is the first national study of Scottish public library websites and its findings should be of value as a result

Report of the Stanford Linked Data Workshop

The Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (SULAIR) with the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) conducted at week-long workshop on the prospects for a large scale, multi-national, multi-institutional prototype of a Linked Data environment for discovery of and navigation among the rapidly, chaotically expanding array of academic information resources. As preparation for the workshop, CLIR sponsored a survey by Jerry Persons, Chief Information Architect emeritus of SULAIR that was published originally for workshop participants as background to the workshop and is now publicly available. The original intention of the workshop was to devise a plan for such a prototype. However, such was the diversity of knowledge, experience, and views of the potential of Linked Data approaches that the workshop participants turned to two more fundamental goals: building common understanding and enthusiasm on the one hand and identifying opportunities and challenges to be confronted in the preparation of the intended prototype and its operation on the other. In pursuit of those objectives, the workshop participants produced:1. a value statement addressing the question of why a Linked Data approach is worth prototyping;2. a manifesto for Linked Libraries (and Museums and Archives and …);3. an outline of the phases in a life cycle of Linked Data approaches;4. a prioritized list of known issues in generating, harvesting & using Linked Data;5. a workflow with notes for converting library bibliographic records and other academic metadata to URIs;6. examples of potential “killer apps” using Linked Data: and7. a list of next steps and potential projects.This report includes a summary of the workshop agenda, a chart showing the use of Linked Data in cultural heritage venues, and short biographies and statements from each of the participants

Human computer interaction for international development: past present and future

Recent years have seen a burgeoning interest in research into the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of developing regions, particularly into how such ICTs might be appropriately designed to meet the unique user and infrastructural requirements that we encounter in these cross-cultural environments. This emerging field, known to some as HCI4D, is the product of a diverse set of origins. As such, it can often be difficult to navigate prior work, and/or to piece together a broad picture of what the field looks like as a whole. In this paper, we aim to contextualize HCI4D—to give it some historical background, to review its existing literature spanning a number of research traditions, to discuss some of its key issues arising from the work done so far, and to suggest some major research objectives for the future

Introduction : user studies for digital library development

Introductory chapter to the edited collection on user studies in digital library development. Contains a general introduction to the topic and biographical sketches of the contributors.peer-reviewe

A Novel Application: Using Mobile Technology to Connect Physical and Virtual Reference Collections

This chapter describes an innovative implementation of the use of iPad kiosks to blur the lines between physical and virtual library collections. Providence College’s Phillips Memorial Library + Commons began lending iPads to students, faculty, and staff in 2012. In addition to lending the devices, library staff dedicated time to learning about both task-based and subject-based mobile applications that would be of use to our community. A small group of library staff tested, discussed, and vetted a variety of apps that would be deployed on the iPads to be lent out. Efforts were made to promote the use and discovery of various apps on the devices through thoughtful organization of the apps on the devices themselves, programming around applications, and the creation of an online research guide designed to teach more about the apps. Despite these initiatives, assessment data from the iPad lending program collected over the course of five semesters suggests that patrons borrowing the iPads are using them primarily for accessing the Internet (Safari, Chrome, etc.), social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and consuming media (YouTube, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify, etc.). With this data in mind, library staff began to think of alternative ways to connect our patrons with useful, content-based, mobile applications. Drawing on research around the Internet of Things and the integration of digital technologies with our physical lives, the Digital Publishing Services Coordinator suggested positioning iPad kiosks strategically within the library’s physical book collection as a means to connect patrons browsing a given area of the stacks with the library’s online resources related to that subject area. The library’s Commons Technology Specialist had experience with iPad kiosks and programming the iPads as he had managed the logistics of the iPad lending program since its inception. Working collaboratively, these colleagues devised a way to image the iPads for public use and load them with subject-specific apps as well as links to library databases and open web resources. The team chose to use Scalar as the primary content management tool for kiosk content. This chapter provides details about the selection and deployment of content for the Theology Kiosk, signage and communications created to attract patrons to the kiosk, and initial data about kiosk use. The piece concludes with a review of the kiosk project and an outline of future planning related to the project (staff time, hardware and software requirements, usability testing, scaling the project, etc.)