Exploring Library 2.0 on the Social Web

Library 2.0 literature has described many of the possibilities Web 2.0 technologies offer libraries. Case studies have assessed local use, but no studies have measured the Library 2.0 phenomenon by searching public social networking sites. This study used library-specific terms to search public social networking sites, blog search engines, and social bookmarking sites for activity associated with librarians and library users. Blog search data about the recentness of activity or the popularity of a blog post indicate Library 2.0 technology has many early adopters but provide less evidence of sustained use. The results follow a curve resembling the 80 / 20 rule and also resemble Chris Anderson’s “long tail” effect, in which very few authors create the vast amount of content. These exploratory results can be used as a starting point for future studies. Librarians who use tags to describe Web-based content might use these findings to select more effective tags. Librarians implementing a blog or a social networking presence might use this study to balance the benefits with the amount of work required to maintain an up-to-date presence

Assessment of Nigerian University Library Web Sites/Web Pages

Academic libraries, the world over, have designed and developed Web sites to advertise their resources and services to the outside world. In line with this, many universities in Nigeria have provided their library with a Web site while more are developing Web sites for their library to meet the new information superhighway’s challenges. However, in-depth studies on the assessment of these Web sites have not been undertaken and the studies have been especially neglected or ignored by the Nigeria researcher. The available existing study only focused on the rating of the Web sites on the basis of the number of hits. In view of this, there is a necessity to research the aspects of in-depth assessment of selected academic library Web sites in Nigeria, especially in view of the accelerating rate of university establishment in the country. This study is an attempt to fill this currently identified gap. Hence, the study assessed the university library Web sites in selected university libraries in Nigeria. The study uses content analysis as the research design. A total of 30 Nigerian university library Web sites were selected from the three categories to represent 110 universities in Nigeria using a purposely stratified sampling technique with a checklist as the research instrument. The criteria for the checklist were drawn on an assessment of library Web sites for Web 2.0 tools, access to electronic materials, and links to the National University Commission (NUC) virtual library. Four research questions were developed and answered and the result revealed low level of the integration of Web 2.0 in most of the universities’ Web sites. The study concluded that the use of the current web development technologies for deploying mainstream web information services is not widespread as web information services are yet to take off widely in academic libraries as regards to web 2.0, electronic resources and links to NUC virtual library. The majority of university libraries are found to be working in the conventional library settings and the diffusion rate of web information services is relatively low. Based on the conclusions, the study recommends that Web 2.0 tools should be used as part of the accreditation criterion for university libraries and that the NUC should embark on a national university virtual campaign. Additionally, librarians need to adapt to the revolutionary changes in technology that lead to changes in scholarly communication. Further studies can be conducted as to the choice of libraries in integrating Web 2.0 tools

Web 2.0 use in academic libraries of top ranked Asian universities

Purpose This paper aims to explore recent trends of how Web 2.0 applications were used in 75 academic libraries in Asia through their library websites. Design/methodology/approach The Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2016 was considered for this study and out of 200 top universities ranked, 75 universities were selected for data collection. Using a multi-method approach, this study evaluated key design elements, library service platforms and website content of each academic library website, examining their site features, Web 2.0 types and applications. The criteria for selecting the websites were first the website was in English and second had Web 2.0 applications integrated into the main website. For the ranking of websites, a library web service index was developed, benchmarking from these groups – resource discovery tools, Web 2.0 applications, e-resources, mobile applications, library guides, digital reference services and digital inclusion – as indicators. Findings The authors found that over two-thirds of Asian university libraries have deployed one or more Web 2.0 applications, though their popularity and implementation vary greatly. Most widely used Web 2.0 applications are Facebook (61.3 per cent), RSS (53.3 per cent), Twitter (46.7 per cent) and YouTube (37.3 per cent). Instant messaging (5.3 per cent) and podcasting (4 per cent) were least applied. With an average of 44 per cent, the diffusion rate of Web information is moderately high among the majority of the Asian university libraries. Originality/value Many studies explored Web 2.0 applications from developed countries. However, this study attempts evaluating the use of Web 2.0 applications through content, sites and features of academic libraries in Asia, from developing countries perspective

Web interfaces to support children's information-seeking activities

Children are making greater and greater use of the Web for educational and entertainment purposes both at school and at home. The past few years have seen the widespread entry of the Internet into schools and classrooms around the world. Since its entrance into the classroom, the Internet has come to be used increasingly as an information resource for class projects. The use of the Internet as an educational resource has spawned interest among researchers from a variety of disciplines (education, library science, human-computer interaction, and so forth) in exploring ways to improve the design of Web sites intended to support children in their information-seeking activities. This research has included: conducting usability studies with children, conducting focus groups with children, and actively involving children as team members in the design of interfaces for Web-based tools intended for their use. This presentation will examine selected Web sites designed specifically to meet the information needs of children, communicate research findings related to the effectiveness of such Web sites, and suggest recommendations for improvements based upon those findings. The Web sites examined will include Yahooligans! and NASA Kids, among others

U.S. academic libraries: understanding their web presence and their relationship with economic indicators

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-1001-0The main goal of this research is to analyze the web structure and performance of units and services belonging to U.S. academic libraries in order to check their suitability for webometric studies. Our objectives include studying their possible correlation with economic data and assessing their use for complementary evaluation purposes. We conducted a survey of library homepages, institutional repositories, digital collections, and online catalogs (a total of 374 URLs) belonging to the 100 U.S. universities with the highest total expenditures in academic libraries according to data provided by the National Center for Education Statistics. Several data points were taken and analyzed, including web variables (page count, external links, and visits) and economic variables (total expenditures, expenditures on printed and electronic books, and physical visits). The results indicate that the variety of URL syntaxes is wide, diverse and complex, which produces a misrepresentation of academic libraries’ web resources and reduces the accuracy of web analysis. On the other hand, institutional and web data indicators are not highly correlated. Better results are obtained by correlating total library expenditures with URL mentions measured by Google (r = 0.546) and visits measured by Compete (r = 0.573), respectively. Because correlation values obtained are not highly significant, we estimate such correlations will increase if users can avoid linkage problems (due to the complexity of URLs) and gain direct access to log files (for more accurate data about visits).Orduña Malea, E.; Regazzi, JJ. (2014). U.S. academic libraries: understanding their web presence and their relationship with economic indicators. Scientometrics. 98(1):315-336. doi:10.1007/s11192-013-1001-0S315336981Adecannby, J. (2011). 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Search engine results over time—A case study on search engine stability”. Cybermetrics, 2/3. Retrieved February 18, 2013 from http://www.cindoc.csic.es/cybermetrics/articles/v2i1p1.html.Bar-Ilan, J. (2001). Data collection methods on the Web for informetric purposes: A review and analysis. Scientometrics, 50(1), 7–32.Bermejo, F. (2007). The internet audience: Constitution & measurement. New York: Peter Lang Pub Incorporated.Buigues-Garcia, M., & Gimenez-Chornet, V. (2012). Impact of Web 2.0 on national libraries. International Journal of Information Management, 32(1), 3–10.Chu, H., He, S., & Thelwall, M. (2002). Library and information science schools in Canada and USA: A Webometric perspective. Journal of education for Library and Information Science, 43(2), 110–125.Chua, Alton, Y. K., & Goh, D. H. (2010). A study of Web 2.0 applications in library websites. Library and Information Science Research, 32(3), 203–211.Gallego, I., García, I.-M., & Rodríguez, L. (2009). 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How Well Do Ontario Library Web Sites Meet New Accessibility Requirements?

New changes to Ontario law will require library web sites to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). This study evaluates 64 Ontario university, college, and public library web sites to see how well they comply with WCAG 2.0 guidelines at present. An average of 14.75 accessibility problems were found per web page. The most common problems included invalid html, poor color contrast, incorrect form controls and labels, missing alt text, bad link text, improper use of headings, using html to format pages, using absolute units of measure, and issues with tables and embedded objects

Users' trust in information resources in the Web environment: a status report

This study has three aims; to provide an overview of the ways in which trust is either assessed or asserted in relation to the use and provision of resources in the Web environment for research and learning; to assess what solutions might be worth further investigation and whether establishing ways to assert trust in academic information resources could assist the development of information literacy; to help increase understanding of how perceptions of trust influence the behaviour of information users

Electronic Publishing: Research Issues for Academic Librarians and Users

published or submitted for publicatio

Using Google Analytics Data to Expand Discovery and Use of Digital Archival Content

This article presents opportunities for the use of Google Analytics, a popular and freely available web analytics tool, to inform decision making for digital archivists managing online digital archives content. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of Google Analytics data to increase the visibility and discoverability of content. The article describes the use of Google Analytics to support fruitful digital outreach programs, to guide metadata creation for enhancing access, and to measure user demand to aid selection for digitization. Valuable reports, features, and tools in Google Analytics are identified and the use of these tools to gather meaningful data is explained

Internet Filters: A Public Policy Report (Second edition; fully revised and updated)

No sooner was the Internet upon us than anxiety arose over the ease of accessing pornography and other controversial content. In response, entrepreneurs soon developed filtering products. By the end of the decade, a new industry had emerged to create and market Internet filters....Yet filters were highly imprecise from the beginning. The sheer size of the Internet meant that identifying potentially offensive content had to be done mechanically, by matching "key" words and phrases; hence, the blocking of Web sites for "Middlesex County," or words such as "magna cum laude". Internet filters are crude and error-prone because they categorize expression without regard to its context, meaning, and value. Yet these sweeping censorship tools are now widely used in companies, homes, schools, and libraries. Internet filters remain a pressing public policy issue to all those concerned about free expression, education, culture, and democracy. This fully revised and updated report surveys tests and studies of Internet filtering products from the mid-1990s through 2006. It provides an essential resource for the ongoing debate