Research Trends & Emerging Technologies for Genealogists

This study examines current research methods utilized by genealogists, and seeks to discover the impact of emerging tools and technologies on their information seeking needs and behaviors. When it became clear that there is a shortage of scholarly studies identifying the use of newer technologies (i.e. blogs, social media, and apps), an original survey for genealogists was created. Over four hundred genealogists were surveyed regarding their use of both traditional research methods (methods that have existed for many decades) and Internet/electronic resources, in order to demonstrate which new trends are emerging. The data from the survey might lessen the gap in current scholarly research. Technology is constantly changing, and the findings show which trends are currently being utilized the most by genealogists. The results indicate that genealogists are definitely using more technology to research their family trees. In fact, they adapt fairly quickly to new methods, relying heavily on technology and the Internet to conduct research and share information. Due to the ease of using technology, fewer and fewer genealogists rely on in-house visits to repositories to access original documents. The research concludes with a discussion on where the use of technology for genealogical research is headed, and what genealogists hope to accomplish by using new tools and technologies

Digital library research : current developments and trends

This column gives an overview of current trends in digital library research under the following headings: digital library architecture, systems, tools and technologies; digital content and collections; metadata; interoperability; standards; knowledge organisation systems; users and usability; legal, organisational, economic, and social issues in digital libraries

Current Trends in Educational Research in Europe

The author deals with the “issue of the impact of educational research on educational policy and practice with special regard to teacher education” and asks how “educational research is to be defined concerning its content, method and objective.” Since “in respect of these three features, one has to draw a line from normative foundations of philosophical or religious nature and individual experience, on the one hand, to the modem approaches, both of quantitative and qualitative character, on the other”, he says, he first gives an historical overview over the development of educational history in Europe. After discussing a “considerable diversity” of educational research within the international spectrum and analyzing “organisational patterns and issues” as well as “typological and methodological issues” he finally points out the “impact of educational research on decision-making”. (DIPF/ ssch