Contextualized Digital Library Evaluation: The Perseus Digital Library within Theological Research

As the development of digital libraries increases, the growth has been accompanied by a refinement of evaluation criteria and methods. Evaluators are increasingly aware that the context of digital library usage (the social, cultural, academic, and institutional environments of the users) is an essential consideration of effective assessment. This article evaluates the Perseus Digital Library through the needs and objectives of a specific learning community – those engaged in theological research. After a review of relevant literature, a rationale is given for ranking ten key facets of digital library evaluation by order of importance. These criteria are then applied to the Perseus Digital Library, contextualized through the particular prism of theological research

Evaluating the task-technology fit of e-readers in the South African secondary school environment

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the task-technology fit of e-book readers in the South African secondary school environment. Many information system performance models put a large focus on the user’s intention to use the system. For educational e-book reader evaluations this is different, as learners are not always given a choice between e-books and printed books. A case study of the EduReader, a popular South African e-reader used in secondary schools, was presented to highlight the current technology characteristics of this e-reader. Learners who use the e-book reader in South African schools were interviewed. The interview data and the case study were used to identify the task requirements of secondary school learners and the technology characteristics of the EduReader e-reader. Task requirements were identified from interview transcripts using process and descriptive coding across the data set. The resulting model shows a set of the technology characteristics of the EduReader e-reader and the task requirements of its users, identifying the gaps in the e-book reader’s technology characteristics. A model was presented that shows the fit between task requirements and technology characteristics as a precursor of e-book utilisation in South African secondary schools. This model can be reused by researchers in a generic fashion to determine the task-technology fit of other e-book readers in South African secondary schools. As a practical contribution this dissertation presented a set of task-technology fit guidelines in the form of 30 true/false statements that e-book developers/designers can apply when developing an e-book reader for the South African secondary educational sector. The guidelines are categorised per task requirement identified in this dissertation and developers can exclude sections which are not applicable to the application they develop.Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2018.TM2019InformaticsMComUnrestricte

A biblioteca escolar e a organização de repositórios digitais : proposta modelar para uma escola do ensino básico e secundário

Dissertação de Mestrado em Gestão da Informação e Bibliotecas Escolares apresentada à Universidade AbertaO objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar uma proposta de modelo de repositório digital de recursos educativos, no contexto de uma biblioteca escolar do ensino básico e secundário. Seguindo uma abordagem metodológica de investigação-ação, analisamos o processo de criação e organização de um protótipo de repositório digital, integrado no conjunto de outros serviços de informação da biblioteca, como o catálogo bibliográfico em linha e ferramentas da Web 2.0. Para além de se contextualizarem os procedimentos envolvidos, desde a fase de instalação e parametrização da plataforma DSpace até à definição de políticas de validação e controlo da qualidade dos conteúdos depositados, são também caracterizados os hábitos e perceções de professores e alunos quanto ao acesso e uso de tecnologias digitais e recursos de informação nas atividades de ensino e aprendizagem. Com os resultados desta investigação, os serviços de informação da biblioteca escolar são reequacionados no sentido de melhor corresponderem à necessidade de captura, organização e preservação de objetos em formato digital, num quadro de incentivo à partilha e reutilização de recursos educativos, formação de comunidades de prática e desenvolvimento de competências de literacia da informação.The objective of this work is to propose a model of a digital educational resources repository, in the context of a school library. Following an Action-Research methodological approach, it explores the possibility of articulating digital repositories with other information management and dissemination services in the digital environment, such as the online public access catalog and some Web 2.0 tools. In addition to contextualize the inherent procedures to the creation and development of a digital repository prototype, from the installation and customization of the DSpace platform to the definition of validation and quality control policies, habits and perceptions of teachers and students are featured in regarding the access and use of digital technologies and learning resources. With the results of this investigation, the information services of the school library are redefined to better meet the requirements of capture, organization and preservation of digital documents, promoting the reuse and sharing of educational resources, the creation of communities of practice and the development of information literacy skills

Data Sharing and Secondary Use of Scientific Data: Experiences of Ecologists

In recent years, scientific disciplines related to global, environmental problem solving have been a special target of data sharing efforts. Yet, very little research exists to guide the organization of scientific data sources or to understand the technical and social infrastructures needed to support the secondary use of data. Ecology is one of the disciplines that contributes to our knowledge of the natural world, but several factors complicate the sharing and reuse of ecological data. I conducted in-depth interviews to investigate the experiences of ecologists who used data they did not collect themselves in order to understand how they overcome these challenges. My findings extend our knowledge of information reuse, and they have implications for the design of digital libraries, for the development of standards, and for the creation of data sharing policies and programs. Fieldwork performs an important function in shaping ecologists' formal and informal knowledge, which carries over to their reuse of data. The informal knowledge ecologists acquire as collectors of their own data in the field or laboratory plays the most important role in their reuse of data. The secondary use of data on a large scale requires a greater emphasis on standardization, peer review, and quality control, which alters the extent of reliance on informal knowledge. However, a formal system offers only some of the information that scientists require to reuse data, and there is a danger in thinking that informal knowledge is easily replaced and is no longer necessary or important. My study shows how social exchange is an integral part of all scientific understanding. Standard research methods, metadata standards, and common storage formats make it possible to integrate data on a large scale, but this power comes from leaving out information that is necessary to secondary data use. Ecology teaches us that there are multiple sides to issues of trust, standards, understanding, and judgments about data quality. To be effective vehicles of data sharing, digital libraries and data repositories must capture public and private knowledge and must find ways to document the implicit knowledge that ecologists recognize and can articulate.Ph.D.Information and Library StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39373/2/ann_zimmerman_dissertation_2003.pd