Planning the digital library development between tradition and innovation

Libraries, archives and museums are centuries old institutions which have been committed to physical, concepual and long term access to the artefacts of human knowledge, as books, objects, documents. These cultural institutions are now confronting with enormous challenges brought about by the shift of these artifacts from analog to digital format. It is not only a problem of dealing with technologies, or simply with a different support of information. Digital objects and resources, physical represented by digit, have different properties than information stored in stone, papyrus, paper. Since the vision of digital library, by Vannevar Bush, the functionalities requested to a digital library are more than a simple library. The new role of digital library is providing an information space which facilitates communication, resources sharing and knowledge creatio

A search engine for 3D models of museum artefacts

The National Museum of Ireland has about 5 million artifacts distributed across different physical locations. Essentially this means that only small fraction of these are accessible to the public at any time. Digital Libraries support the 3D browsing and retrieval of cultural museum artefacts and offer a potential solution to this problem. This paper describes a final year project where the objective was to build a search engine that: (1) could operate over a digital library storing digitized 3D model representations of objects, and (2) could be integrated with the existing DigiFact system architecture based in CDVP at DCU

RFID-Based Digital Board Game Platforms

This paper presents digital board games built upon RFID-based platforms. The platforms consist of RFID tag-embedded physical objects and RFID reader boards. A library is built upon the platforms for recognizing data, locations, and movements of the physical game objects. Three kinds of game prototypes are designed and developed for use in young children's edutainment. The user tests prove that a natural type of interactivity can be achieved for digital board games, and it can contribute to establishing paradigms for next-generation edutainment

The MGDO software library for data analysis in Ge neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments

The GERDA and Majorana experiments will search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of germanium-76 using isotopically enriched high-purity germanium detectors. Although the experiments differ in conceptual design, they share many aspects in common, and in particular will employ similar data analysis techniques. The collaborations are jointly developing a C++ software library, MGDO, which contains a set of data objects and interfaces to encapsulate, store and manage physical quantities of interest, such as waveforms and high-purity germanium detector geometries. These data objects define a common format for persistent data, whether it is generated by Monte Carlo simulations or an experimental apparatus, to reduce code duplication and to ease the exchange of information between detector systems. MGDO also includes general-purpose analysis tools that can be used for the processing of measured or simulated digital signals. The MGDO design is based on the Object-Oriented programming paradigm and is very flexible, allowing for easy extension and customization of the components. The tools provided by the MGDO libraries are used by both GERDA and Majorana.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, proceedings for TAUP201

eContent in a Flash: Delivering Digital Resources to Patrons Using NFC Technology

Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is a short-range, wireless communication technology that transfers data between two chips while they remain in close proximity with one another. We applied NFC technology across the library and campus in a variety of contexts to promote digital resources, collections, and services. Our @FIULibraries: Tap, Scan, Read project marries digital resources with physical objects, allowing library users to access digital materials and information in a flash. The project has evolved into a multifaceted endeavor that includes smart posters, e-resource cards, a course reserves binder, library displays, and wayfinding tools. Project details are available in our @FIULibraries: Tap, Scan, Read LibGuide (https://libguides.fiu.edu/nfc). With the tap of an NFC-equipped device, students can access an ebook, watch a video, or contact a librarian instantly! To enhance usability, we integrated QR codes and short URLs into the materials, which works seamlessly alongside the newer NFC technology. Thanks to the use of NFC technology, usage of our library’s resources and services in the areas incorporating this technology skyrocketed, increasing circulation and use of both our physical and digital resources. This parallels current industry trends, which encourage increased development, including an expansion of NFC capabilities throughout the Apple ecosystem. Objectives: (1) explain what Near Field Communication (NFC) technology is, (2) provide instructions on how to create NFC-enabled library resources and services, (3) demonstrate an application of NFC technology in the library setting, and (4) discuss the impact of NFC technology on usage of library resources and services

High-Throughput Workflow for Computer-Assisted Human Parsing of Biological Specimen Label Data

4th International Conference on Open RepositoriesThis presentation was part of the session : Conference PostersHundreds of thousands of specimens in herbaria and natural history museums worldwide are potential candidates for digitization, making them more accessible to researchers. An herbarium contains collections of preserved plant specimens created for scientific use. Herbarium specimens are ideal natural history objects for digitization, as the plants are pressed flat and dried, and mounted on individual sheets of paper, creating a nearly two-dimensional object. Building digital repositories of herbarium specimens can increase use and exposure of the collections while simultaneously reducing physical handling. As important as the digitized specimens are, the data contained on the associated specimen labels provide critical information about each specimen (e.g., scientific name, geographic location of specimen, etc.). The volume and heterogeneity of these printed label data present challenges in transforming them into meaningful digital form to support research. The Apiary Project is addressing these challenges by exploring and developing transformation processes in a systematic workflow that yields high-quality machine-processable label data in a cost- and time-efficient manner. The University of North Texas's Texas Center for Digital Knowledge (TxCDK) and the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), with funding from an Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant, are conducting fundamental research with the goal of identifying how human intelligence can be combined with machine processes for effective and efficient transformation of specimen label information. The results of this research will yield a new workflow model for effective and efficient label data transformation, correction, and enhancement.Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Leadership Gran

A Collaborative Approach to Designing Digital Exhibits at the University of Dayton

n August 2021, the Marian Library at the University of Dayton physically welcomed public visitors back for the first time since March 2020 with the opening of the exhibit Journeys of Faith: Shrines, Souvenirs and Catholic Tourism. Catholic shrines and festivals attract millions of visitors each year, ranging from pilgrims on spiritual journeys to casual tourists. The exhibit, featuring items from the Marian Library and the US Catholic Special Collection, explored the motivations for Catholic travel; what visitors do at these sites; and the souvenirs they bring back — from handcrafted devotional objects to quirky mementos. After the physical exhibit opened, a team from across the University Libraries developed a companion digital exhibit while also outlining a process for these types of collaborative digital projects in the future