Collaboration and Connection: How Foundations Partner Effectively to Address Their Community's Information Needs

Offers examples and tips for partnering with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors on community news and information projects, including finding the right partner by assessing organizational capacity, community assets, compatibility, and structure

Silver Surfers : Social Inclusion or Exclusion in a Digital World

Funded and commissioned by Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Programme, with contributions from Citizens Online and UH. This report was the output from the project.When one considers the population profile of a country, no longer is the emphasis upon mortality rates of younger people. As the years progress, enhancements to the quality of life have led to an increasingly ageing society. The emphasis globally has changed to provision for all age groups as a result. In this report, we determine how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are being introduced through programmes by a variety of agencies into the lives of one particular population group – the silver surfer. The context of this report is the United KingdomFinal Published versio

The role of stakeholders and their relationships in the sustainability of telecentres

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of stakeholders and their relationships in the sustainability of telecentres in Vietnam through the lens of stakeholder theory. Design/methodology/approach This study methodologically adopted a qualitative case study to identify stakeholders that have been involved in telecentres in Vietnam. It then categorizes those stakeholders’ salience through the lens of stakeholder identification and salience theory. Secondary data and interviews were used as data sources for the present paper. Findings The authors identify six main stakeholders that have been involved in telecentres, including the government, entrepreneurs, international donors, telecommunications providers, civil society organisations and individual community members/users. Among these stakeholders, the government, entrepreneurs and users belong to definitive stakeholders, which have the greatest impact on the sustainability of telecentres in comparison to other groups of stakeholders (e.g. dominant, dependent and dormant stakeholders). Moreover, the authors propose a model to identify the relationships of stakeholders towards the sustainability of telecentres. In particular, the authors indicate that each group of stakeholders has its own role in contributing to sustainable telecentres and they also influence others in either direct or indirect ways. Originality/value This study provides an additional approach for managers to make judgments in prioritizing the interests of some of their stakeholders while still maintaining a level of satisfaction among other stakeholders. For example, stakeholders that should be of the highest concern to the sustainability of telecentres are the government, entrepreneurs and users, while civil society organisations can be maintained in lower priority to other stakeholders. In addition, we propose the model of interactions and relationships of stakeholders, which can be seen as a starting point for a study on the roles of stakeholders in sustainability not only in telecentres, but also in other fields, such as digital transformation, cyber security and e-government.©2023 Emerald Publishing Limited. This manuscript version is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY–NC 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Building information modeling – A game changer for interoperability and a chance for digital preservation of architectural data?

Digital data associated with the architectural design-andconstruction process is an essential resource alongside -and even past- the lifecycle of the construction object it describes. Despite this, digital architectural data remains to be largely neglected in digital preservation research – and vice versa, digital preservation is so far neglected in the design-and-construction process. In the last 5 years, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has seen a growing adoption in the architecture and construction domains, marking a large step towards much needed interoperability. The open standard IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) is one way in which data is exchanged in BIM processes. This paper presents a first digital preservation based look at BIM processes, highlighting the history and adoption of the methods as well as the open file format standard IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) as one way to store and preserve BIM data

Exploring the shifting paradigms of librarian-client relationship

This paper is an attempt to explore the relationship shared by library professionals with their users. Some popular modelswere studied to understand the basics of building long term relationship. Issues regarding continuing librarian-clientrelationship are discussed along with the measures to be adopted by the libraries to gain the loyalty of their users. Indianlibrary scenario is discussed in the light of changing needs of their users

A study on ways to strengthen the skills in media and information literacy education of librarians dispatched to developing countries through the Delphi method

Advances in technology and communication have brought various opportunities, conveniences, and benefits to human society. With the development of information and communication technology around the world, people can connect with each other in real time, regardless of location. Globalization is also accelerating the movement of people and goods. By making the flow of people, capital, information, and goods relatively free from border restrictions, globalization and informatization have fundamentally changed education. The educational paradigm is shifting in various directions. First, the role of non-formal education has become more prominent as education centered on knowledge acquisition, which was appropriate in the era of the Industrial Revolution, has transformed to a pattern in which learners mostly learn on their own. Second, governments and international organizations including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have been stressing that the acquisition and use of information and communication technology (ICT) is an essential condition for people to lead prosperous lives. Third, education policies and curricula developed by countries, which used to target only the domestic education system, are now beginning to address the effects of globalization on education, global citizenship, and digital citizenship. Along with this paradigm shift, the role of the library, which has traditionally been the center of education, society, and culture in the local community, is expanding. Libraries are representative non-formal educational institutions and local cultural venues that provide information, education, and culture services to their users. The composition and needs of libraries vary from country to country. Many developing countries has a history of colonial rule, and as their network infrastructure transforms in a leapfrogging manner directly into wireless internet, they suffer from the rapid widening of inequality in education and access to information. The purpose of this study is to understand the general impacts of this trend and to suggest ways to improve the media information literacy (MIL) competencies of residents in developing countries through the educational role that librarians can play, especially through librarians dispatched to developing countries. To this end, the relationship between library official development assistance (ODA), education in international development cooperation, and library MIL education were VI examined, and existing approaches for strengthening MIL education competency were analyzed through a literature review. In addition, the contents of current library MIL education were derived by analyzing government materials and summarizing the tasks requested for dispatched librarians to developing countries. After that, in-depth interviews were conducted with librarians dispatched to libraries in developing countries to understand the status of librarians’ work and library education programs in developing countries. In addition, through a Delphi survey with various experts, such as teachers who performed MILeducation, professors specializing in MIL, public officers, training experts in developing countries, and dispatched librarians, a few suggestions on ways to strengthen the competencies of librarians in developing countries for MIL were obtained. The study found that major factors hindering the strengthening of MIL education competencies in libraries in developing countries include the lack of professional human resources to carry out library ODA projects, understanding in ODA in the library field, and publicity for libraries’ role in sustainable education. There is also a need in developing MIL training materials and teaching methods. In conclusion, to build dispatched librarians’ MIL education knowledge and skills, it is necessary to conduct more research on the MIL education function of libraries and librarians and develop corresponding teaching methods and textbooks. In addition, various forms of MIL education training should be provided to dispatched librarians to enable them to work together consistently and continuously. Understanding the situation of recipient countries and organizations, their cultural environment, conditions, and customs, and their MIL environment are critical for the effective dispatch of librarians. To support smooth and sustainable education through libraries in the future, the need for building productive collaborative partnerships with various institutions is stressed. Among the functions that dispatched librarians perform in libraries in developing countries, improving users’ MIL competencies, providing information access rights, and supporting users’ non-formal learning are important roles that modern society requires libraries to perform. In addition, non-formal education is the most suitable form of education for MIL education, and MIL is a fundamental competency in modern society. If dispatched librarians and librarians in recipient countries can cooperate organically through activities in educational support, cultural program development, and MIL competency improvement, library ODA can head to a new direction that substantially contributes to the well-being of people in both donor and recipient countries

Planning for the Lifecycle Management and Long-Term Preservation of Research Data: A Federated Approach

Outcomes of the grant are archived here.The “data deluge” is a recent but increasingly well-understood phenomenon of scientific and social inquiry. Large-scale research instruments extend our observational power by many orders of magnitude but at the same time generate massive amounts of data. Researchers work feverishly to document and preserve changing or disappearing habitats, cultures, languages, and artifacts resulting in volumes of media in various formats. New software tools mine a growing universe of historical and modern texts and connect the dots in our semantic environment. Libraries, archives, and museums undertake digitization programs creating broad access to unique cultural heritage resources for research. Global-scale research collaborations with hundreds or thousands of participants, drive the creation of massive amounts of data, most of which cannot be recreated if lost. The University of Kansas (KU) Libraries in collaboration with two partners, the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) and the Great Plains Network (GPN), received an IMLS National Leadership Grant designed to leverage collective strengths and create a proposal for a scalable and federated approach to the lifecycle management of research data based on the needs of GPN and GWLA member institutions.Institute for Museum and Library Services LG-51-12-0695-1