Public Libraries: techno trends and collective memory

By public library I mean here a library providing some kind of universal access to its assets, one whose readership isn’t exclusively tied and restricted to a particular organization – including the generally called public libraries, but also many specialized libraries, such as the academic of the open kind. Despite all efforts, public libraries continue to face strong barriers to their participation in the information society. Participants of the World Meeting on the Future of the ISIS Software recognized that “the ISIS Software Family has a unique technological concept and developmental mission to cope with Information Storage and Retrieval Systems (ISRS), particularly for developing countries where the technology is widely known and used; that the ISIS Software Family has now fully embraced the Free and Open Source Software approach and the support of UNICODE structures to be fully open and multilingual” (Rio Declaration 2008), restating thus the persistent relevance of this software family. OSS (Coar 2006) is defined as software whose source code is freely available, therefore allowing for free inspection and/or utilization, i.e., it is available for study and use by everyone without any payment or any other barrier to access. the lack of technical skill in libraries, a situation that libraries share with much of the public and cultural sectors. The study of OSS ILS, and of the their adaptation to the needs of specific public libraries may be the solution to this. Library Management Systems) that enhances digital archive interoperability between a diverse range of libraries

Organizational challenges of the semantic web in digital libraries

The Semantic Web initiative holds large promises for the future. There is, however, a considerable gap in Semantic Web research between the contributions in the technological field and the research done in the organizational field. This paper examines, from a socio-technical point of view the impact of Semantic Web technology on the strategic, organizational and technological levels. Building on a comprehensive case study at the National Library in Norway our findings indicate that the highest impact will be at the organizational level. The reason is mainly because inter-organizational and cross-organizational structures have to be established to address the problems of ontology engineering, and a development framework for ontology engineering in digital libraries must be examined

Nebraska Libraries

Editor\u27s Message — Willa Bitney-Garay Lincoln Central Library Planning: Needs, Considerations, and Trends — Pat Leach Mid-Plains Community College Learning Commons: Transforming Libraries and Beyond —Sky Seery When the Future Is Present: Developing a Virtual Learning Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries — Andrew J. Cano Treasurer\u27s Annual Report — Christa (Burns) Porter Technical Services Round Table —The Future of Library Catalogs: What Will Linked Data Look Like? — Emily Dust Nimsakont Book Review: Man & Wife by Katie Chase — Jennifer Gravley NLA\u27s Goals for the Future — Angela Kroeger Build-a-Paper: Old Tools With a new Twist — Emily McIllec

Nebraska Libraries

Editor\u27s Message — Willa Bitney-Garay Lincoln Central Library Planning: Needs, Considerations, and Trends — Pat Leach Mid-Plains Community College Learning Commons: Transforming Libraries and Beyond —Sky Seery When the Future Is Present: Developing a Virtual Learning Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries — Andrew J. Cano Treasurer\u27s Annual Report — Christa (Burns) Porter Technical Services Round Table —The Future of Library Catalogs: What Will Linked Data Look Like? — Emily Dust Nimsakont Book Review: Man & Wife by Katie Chase — Jennifer Gravley NLA\u27s Goals for the Future — Angela Kroeger Build-a-Paper: Old Tools With a new Twist — Emily McIllec

Me duele la biblioteca

Children in many cases do not yet visit libraries but should become library users in the near future. They are growing up in a highly technical environment in which information needs are increasingly being met directly online through different devices and without visiting libraries (even virtually). This article warns about the need to be aware of this situation in order to build a library model than can remain useful over time

Library Cultures of Data Curation: Adventures in Astronomy

University libraries are partnering with disciplinary data producers to provide long-term digital curation of research datasets. Managing dataset producer expectations and guiding future development of library services requires understanding the decisions libraries make about curatorial activities, why they make these decisions, and the effects on future data reuse. We present a study, comprising interviews (n=43) and ethnographic observation, of two university libraries who partnered with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) collaboration to curate a significant astronomy dataset. The two libraries made different choices of the materials to curate and associated services, which resulted in different reuse possibilities. Each of the libraries offered partial solutions to the SDSS leaders’ objectives. The libraries’ approaches to curation diverged due to contextual factors, notably the extant infrastructure at their disposal (including technical infrastructure, staff expertise, values and internal culture, and organizational structure). The Data Transfer Process case offers lessons in understanding how libraries choose curation paths and how these choices influence possibilities for data reuse. Outcomes may not match data producers’ initial expectations but may create opportunities for reusing data in unexpected and beneficial ways

Organisational challenges of the semantic web in digital libraries: A Norwegian case study

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2009 Emerald Group Publishing LimitedPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine from a socio-technical point of view the impact of semantic web technology on the strategic, organisational and technological levels. The semantic web initiative holds great promise for the future for digital libraries. There is, however, a considerable gap in semantic web research between the contributions in the technological field and research in the organisational field. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive case study of the National Library of Norway (NL) is conducted, building on two major sources of information: the documentation of the digitising project of the NL; and interviews with nine different stakeholders at three levels of NL's organisation during June to August 2007. Top managers are interviewed on strategy, middle managers and librarians are interviewed regarding organisational issues and ICT professionals are interviewed on technology issues. Findings – The findings indicate that the highest impact will be at the organisational level. This is mainly because inter-organisational and cross-organisational structures have to be established to address the problems of ontology engineering, and a development framework for ontology engineering in digital libraries must be examined. Originality/value – ICT professionals and library practitioners should be more mindful of organisational issues when planning and executing semantic web projects in digital libraries. In particular, practitioners should be aware that the ontology engineering process and the semantic meta-data production will affect the entire organisation. For public digital libraries this probably will also call for a more open policy towards user groups to properly manage the process of ontology engineering

Purdue Libraries Publishing Services: The Domino Effect of Repository-Based Publishing, Outreach, and Promotion

Technical reports have always posed problems for libraries and librarians. They are often bibliographically inconsistent, difficult to source, and published to varying standards of quality. In some fields, these reports are also large in number and central in importance. In many cases, technical reports are just one of many collections that are tied to a particular research center or group. These research centers or groups may also produce data papers, hosted conference proceedings, and other report series, which may also suffer from many of the same issues facing technical reports. In several situations these research centers and groups are unaware of the publishing solutions offered by their own libraries and librarians, in many cases from a minimal to no additional costs. This breakout session will discuss a case study of how the Purdue Libraries Publishing Services division has found innovative ways to face the problems of the Joint Transportation Research Program’s technical reports and their other affiliated collections. This session will also discuss how these innovative solutions for technical reports created a domino effect for future promotion and outreach of the repository by the participating research centers and groups by the deposit of additional content and the hosting repository designation for the Purdue e-Pubs repository for the Purdue Road School Annual Conference. Audience members can expect to hear about the challenges of repository-based publishing of technical reports in the digital age, and the opportunities that exist for improving discoverability and dissemination in the networked environment through promotion and outreach