Integrating Digital Resources into a Traditional University Research Library

We describe the ongoing Electronic Library Project at the University of South Carolina. The goal of this project is the integration of digital resources within a traditional university research library. The first step was the development of an Electronic Science Library (ESL), followed by an Electronic Academic Library (EAL) which includes non-science subjects. We discuss the structure of these libraries and comment on our experiences with their implementation and use. The prototype implementation used static web pages, a technology which we knew would not scale up well. This implementation is being replaced by a database system using SQL Server and Active Server Pages. Future plans are briefly discussed

Colecciones digitales a partir de recursos de Open Access en las unidades de información de las Instituciones de Educación Superior

The university libraries evolve in the activities they carry out, most of these changes are generated by the use of ICT, one of these processes is the development of collections. In this context, university libraries and information professionals face new challenges, integrating digital resources into collections. An alternative to achieve access to electronic resources, without consuming part of the budget of the library, is the integration of Open Access documents. The main objective of this research was to demonstrate the situation of the repositories of public Higher Education Institutions, considering them as a resource that favors the use of digital collections, taking into account the process of traditional collections development; positioning libraries in their communities and collaborating to fulfill the essential functions of universities (teaching, research and dissemination of culture). The results were generated from the qualitative descriptive analysis in which the characteristics are considered from a comparison matrix, defined by the Fushimi Model versus the IFLA Model, among the platforms developed in OA (Redalyc, SciELO, Latindex and GREDOS). The analytical method was applied to the results obtained, which allowed defining if they meet the requirements that are foreseen; as the comparative method, where they are confronted establishing similarities and differences, through the Fushimi Model versus the IFLA Model. With this research it is possible to establish and apply criteria that allow the evaluation of digital collections

Colecciones digitales a partir de recursos de Open Access en las unidades de información de las Instituciones de Educación Superior

The university libraries evolve in the activities they carry out, most of these changes are generated by the use of ICT, one of these processes is the development of collections. In this context, university libraries and information professionals face new challenges, integrating digital resources into collections. An alternative to achieve access to electronic resources, without consuming part of the budget of the library, is the integration of Open Access documents. The main objective of this research was to demonstrate the situation of the repositories of public Higher Education Institutions, considering them as a resource that favors the use of digital collections, taking into account the process of traditional collections development; positioning libraries in their communities and collaborating to fulfill the essential functions of universities (teaching, research and dissemination of culture). The results were generated from the qualitative descriptive analysis in which the characteristics are considered from a comparison matrix, defined by the Fushimi Model versus the IFLA Model, among the platforms developed in OA (Redalyc, SciELO, Latindex and GREDOS). The analytical method was applied to the results obtained, which allowed defining if they meet the requirements that are foreseen; as the comparative method, where they are confronted establishing similarities and differences, through the Fushimi Model versus the IFLA Model. With this research it is possible to establish and apply criteria that allow the evaluation of digital collections

Integrating Information Literacy into the Virtual University: A Course Model

published or submitted for publicatio

Supporting the N Gen learner by integrating e-resources within a university VLE

E-learning has become an integral part of many students learning experience. Over the last three years the availability of e-books and e-journals has increased dramatically and in many higher education libraries there has been a steady movement from print to electronic materials. At Bournemouth University over 50% of the total Library budget is now spent on electronic resources. In some Schools within the University it is in the region of 70 %. The ways in which students are using the resources are changing. In 2005, the number of electronic downloads from databases, e-books and e-journals, far exceeded the number of books borrowed. Statistics gathered from the Athens authentication service make it clear that many students access the resources remotely, and some rarely visit the Library. In 2005 Bournemouth University decided to implement a single VLE across the University and following many discussions and an extensive tendering process Blackboard was selected. The aim was to approach the potential of Blackboard from the perspective of our learners and so chose the unit of study as our standard for integration, which is the equivalent of a course in Blackboard. Thus the focus was on providing the materials where they would be most accessible to the students. The first phase of the implementation, involving the roll-out of the Blackboard to four Schools, presented an opportunity to review the Library provision and identify what could be done better at the unit level. There were several areas which had presented challenges for some time, namely the provision of reading lists, management of the Short Loan Collection and the storage of past exam papers. Implementing Blackboard gave us an ideal opportunity to address these problems. This paper will look at what has been done in these areas, and how the use of Blackboard can be tied in with the information skills sessions already being delivered by the Library Subject Teams and materials already available on the Library web page. It will also consider the second phase of the implementation and the opportunities it will present

INSPIRAL: investigating portals for information resources and learning. Final project report

INSPIRAL's aims were to identify and analyse, from the perspective of the UK HE learner, the nontechnical, institutional and end-user issues with regard to linking VLEs and digital libraries, and to make recommendations for JISC strategic planning and investment. INSPIRAL's objectives -To identify key stakeholders with regard to the linkage of VLEs, MLEs and digital libraries -To identify key stakeholder forum points and dissemination routes -To identify the relevant issues, according to the stakeholders and to previous research, pertaining to the interaction (both possible and potential) between VLEs/MLEs and digital libraries -To critically analyse identified issues, based on stakeholder experience and practice; output of previous and current projects; and prior and current research -To report back to JISC and to the stakeholder communities, with results situated firmly within the context of JISC's strategic aims and objectives

Digital archiving of manuscripts and other heritage items for conservation and information retrieval

Expression of cultural heritage looking from the informatics angle falls into text, images, video and sound categories. ICT can be used to conserve all these heritage items like; the text information consisting of palm leaf manuscripts, stone tablets, handwritten paper documents, old printed records, books, microfilms, fiche etc, images including paintings, drawings, photographs and the like, sound items which includes musical concerts, poetry recitations, chanting of mantras, talks of important persons etc, and video items like archival films historical importance. To retrieve required information from such a large mass of materials in different formats and to transmit them across space and time, there are several limitations. Digital technology allows hitherto unavailable facilities for durable storage and speedy and efficient transmission / retrieval of information contained in all the above formats. Hypertext and hypermedia features of digital media enable integrating text with graphics, sound, video and animation. This paper discusses the international and national efforts for digitizing heritage items, digital archiving solutions available, the possibilities of the media, and the need to follow standards prescribed by organizations like UNESCO to enable easy exchange and pooling of information and documents generated in digital archiving systems at national and international level. The need to develop language technology for local scripts for organizing and preserving our cultural heritage is also stressed

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