The Conference on World Affairs Archive Online: Digitization and Metadata for a Digital Audio Pilot

The University of Colorado Archives holds a substantial collection of audio recordings from the Conference on World Affairs (CWA), held annually at the University since 1948. Recordings of Conference sessions from the 1950s to the present comprise approximately 8,000 hours of material on reel-to-reel, cassette, and audio-only VHS tapes. In 2009 the Archives, along with other units of the CU Libraries and the offices of the CWA, began the pilot phase of a project to digitize these materials to make them accessible to the public. Between December 2009 and March 2010, the pilot produced 80 digitized recordings, with 15 receiving full metadata provision and presentation in the CU Digital Library in time for the 2010 Conference on 05 April. This paper describes the history and significance of the Conference and the collection; the project team; the planning and funding of the pilot; physical characteristics of the collection; the digitization rationale, specifications and process; metadata design and creation; and delivery of the content to the public

Community connections, community collections: Building partner support for collaborative digitization projects

PurposeThis paper aims to explore library–community collaboration from both a theoretical and practical perspective, highlighting successful collaborative strategies and projects and illustrating important considerations for libraries that are considering community partnerships.Design/methodology/approachThis paper consists of a literature review and several “capsule” case studies of projects completed at one academic library to illustrate principles that can result in successful collaborative projects.FindingsLibrary–community collaboration presents significant benefits if the needs and priorities of all collaborating partners are taken into account. Successful projects will use the strengths of one partner to balance the weaknesses of another, will be based on shared goals, will offer credit to all partners and will result in stronger relationships for all involved.Originality/valueAlthough library–community partnerships are not uncommon, many of these partnerships are housed in public libraries or involve only large, institutional players. This paper explores several non-traditional academic library initiatives involving youth service learning and outreach to smaller community groups that might otherwise be ignored by large university libraries

The development and evaluation of an online tutorial to teach digitization and metadata indexing of library and archival resources.

Theses (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.The aim of the study was to evaluate an online tutorial designed to teach digitization and metadata indexing of library and archival resources. The online tutorial was designed according to constructivist teaching principles to promote collaborative learning. The tutorial was hosted on the OLS (Open learning System) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). The research was concerned with answering three research questions: Is the online tutorial a teaching instrument capable of teaching metadata indexing and digitization skills? Is the online tutorial an effective teaching tool? Does the use of constructivist teaching elements in the tutorial design allow for a more effective communication of knowledge and skills? A total of 10 participants registered for and took part in the online tutorial. On completion of the tutorial a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the tutorial was done. In terms of the latter a self-administered questionnaire was used as the data collection technique. The qualitative evaluation was done via an analysis of discussions on the discussion forum and e-mail correspondence between learners and the researcher during the running of the tutorial. A more quantitative analysis was then conducted of the responses to the self-administered questionnaire. The qualitative and quantitative analysis identified significant issues that affected the running of the online tutorial. The main issues included problems relating to Internet access to the online tutorial, participation of learners on the tutorial and the functioning of the online learning environment. The analysis of the results of the evaluation provided answers for the three research questions. The analysis found that the online tutorial was able to teach metadata indexing and digitization skills. This was based on completed work that was submitted by participants and responses participants gave to questions on the postcourse questionnaire. However, the amount of work submitted by all participants for the metadata indexing and digitization exercises was generally low. The online tutorial was able to conduct effective teaching at certain times in the tutorial. However, there were a number of issues that disrupted the functioning of the online tutorial and this limited the effectiveness of teaching on the tutorial. The use of constructivist teaching elements in the tutorial design was unable to enable effective communication of knowledge and skills and the promotion of constructivist learning on the tutorial. This goal was hampered by various problems associated with the hosting of the online tutorial and Internet connectivity to the OLS site. Various suggestions for further research were made

A Survey of Digital Library Aggregation Services

This report provides an overview of a diverse set of more than thirty digital library aggregation services, organizes them into functional clusters, and then evaluates them more fully from the perspective of an informed user. Most of the services under review rely wholly or partially on the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), although some of them predate its inception and a few use predominantly Z39.50 protocols. In the opening section of this report, each service is annotated with its organizational affiliation, subject coverage, function, audience, status, and size. Critical issues surrounding each of these elements are presented in order to provide the reader with an appreciation of the nuances inherent in seemingly straightforward factual information, such as audience or size. Each service is then grouped into one of five functional clusters: • open access e-print archives and servers; • cross-archive search services and aggregators; • from digital collections to digital library environments; • from peer-reviewed referratories to portal services; • specialized search engines

Contexts and Contributions: Building the Distributed Library

This report updates and expands on A Survey of Digital Library Aggregation Services, originally commissioned by the DLF as an internal report in summer 2003, and released to the public later that year. It highlights major developments affecting the ecosystem of scholarly communications and digital libraries since the last survey and provides an analysis of OAI implementation demographics, based on a comparative review of repository registries and cross-archive search services. Secondly, it reviews the state-of-practice for a cohort of digital library aggregation services, grouping them in the context of the problem space to which they most closely adhere. Based in part on responses collected in fall 2005 from an online survey distributed to the original core services, the report investigates the purpose, function and challenges of next-generation aggregation services. On a case-by-case basis, the advances in each service are of interest in isolation from each other, but the report also attempts to situate these services in a larger context and to understand how they fit into a multi-dimensional and interdependent ecosystem supporting the worldwide community of scholars. Finally, the report summarizes the contributions of these services thus far and identifies obstacles requiring further attention to realize the goal of an open, distributed digital library system

Western States Dublin Core Metadata Best Practices, version 1.2

Funded by a grant awarded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in the fall of 2001, the University of Denver (Denver, Colorado) spearheaded a multi-state collaborative initiative to create a virtual collection of widely dispersed digital resources on the topic, Western trails. As part of this initiative, 23 institutions in four Western states were awarded mini-grants to create digital content and metadata for resources related to Western trails. In addition to creation of a virtual collection of digital resources, another significant component of this multi-state initiative was development of a set of Dublin-Core based best practices by representatives from cultural heritage institutions beyond the original four participating states. Accordingly, in March 2002, 18 representatives from eight Western states met in Denver, Colorado to begin exploring issues associated with application of Dublin Core to digital objects by cultural heritage institutions. This group, the Western States Digital Standards Group (WSDSG) Metadata Working Group, formed two task forces to develop guidelines for the Dublin Core metadata. The WSDSG Metadata Working Group met again in Topeka, Kansas in July 2002 to finalize the guidelines and determine the remaining components of a best practices document. In November 2002 the resultant WSDSG Guidelines for the Dublin Core Elements were posted on the Colorado Digitization Program (CDP) and the Western Trails project website. In January 2003, the WSDSG Best Practices document will be released. This Best Practices document is based upon and supercedes the CDP’s General Guidelines for Descriptive Metadata Creation and Metadata

Data Ecosystems for Sustainable Development: An Assessment of Six Pilot Countries

A data revolution for sustainable development is underway, reshaping how knowledge is produced and used, policy is formulated, and governance is redefined and enacted around the world. At its core, it is about people—as users, producers, beneficiaries, and owners of data—who must be at the centre of accountability and participatory mechanisms for the 2030 Agenda and in turn be closely involved in the delivery of the new development agenda. To this end, UNDP has sought to facilitate interactions, synergies and partnerships among different stakeholders, governments, civil society, international development organizations and the private sector that are grounded in perspectives of, and meaningful participation from, people. UNDP particularly seeks to ensure that development experience from the grassroots informs global discussions, and that the data revolution is actionable at the national level.While significant strides have been made with respect to upgrading data and statistical systems since the adoption of the MDGs, the 2030 Agenda encompasses a far broader ambition requiring better, more timely and reliable data on a wider variety of indicators. Thus its adoption by countries around the world necessitates an even more significant increase in the data that is available to, and used by, governments, civil society, the private sector, academia and international organizations to begin tracking progress towards the achievement of the SDGs.This synthesis report presents the findings of six pilot case studies assessing the readiness of national data ecosystems to harness the data revolution for the implementation and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda. This assessment focuses on the legal and policy frameworks and capacities for official statistics; entry points for action and obstacles for multi-stakeholder engagement on data for SDG implementation and monitoring; innovation and new technologies for plugging data gaps; and the infrastructure requirements for improved collection, dissemination and use of data for sustainable development

AXMEDIS 2008

The AXMEDIS International Conference series aims to explore all subjects and topics related to cross-media and digital-media content production, processing, management, standards, representation, sharing, protection and rights management, to address the latest developments and future trends of the technologies and their applications, impacts and exploitation. The AXMEDIS events offer venues for exchanging concepts, requirements, prototypes, research ideas, and findings which could contribute to academic research and also benefit business and industrial communities. In the Internet as well as in the digital era, cross-media production and distribution represent key developments and innovations that are fostered by emergent technologies to ensure better value for money while optimising productivity and market coverage

Guide to Options for ETD Programs

Dr. Martin Halbert of the University of North Texas documents the spectrum of ETD program implementation and offers guidance for academic decision-makers who are either creating or modifying ETD programs. Dr. Halbert identifies and offers in-depth analysis regarding the five key decisions that ETD programs must make. He also provides a literature review of publications, standards and reports that have been produced to date, and relates these to the key decisions