Language switching in a digital library; does it make a difference if the default language is set to Maori?

In this paper we investigate the effect of default interface language on usage patterns of the Niupepa digital library (a collection of historic Māori language newspapers), by switching the default interface language between Māori and English in alternate weeks. Transaction analysis of the Niupepa collection logs indicates that changing default language affects the length of user sessions and the number of actions within sessions, and that the English language interface was used most frequently

Indigenous Language Usage in a Digital Library: He Hautoa Kia Ora Tonu Ai.

The research described in this thesis examines indigenous language usage in a digital library environment that has been accessed via the Internet. By examining discretionary use of the Māori Niupepa and Hawaiian Nūpepa digital libraries this research investigates how indigenous languages were used in these electronic environments in 2005. The results provide encouragement and optimism to people who are striving to retain, revitalise and develop the use of indigenous languages in information technologies. The Transaction Log Analysis (TLA) methods used in this research serve as an example of how web logs can be used to provide significant information about language usage in a bilingual online information system. Combining the TLA with user feedback has provided insights into how and why clients use indigenous languages in their information retrieval activities. These insights in turn, show good practice that is relevant not only to those working with indigenous languages, indigenous peoples or multilingual environments, but to all information technology designers who strive for universal usability. This thesis begins by describing the importance of using indigenous languages in electronic environments and suggests that digital libraries can provide an environment to support and encourage the use of such languages. TLA is explained in the context of this study and is then used to analyse aspects of te reo Māori usage in the Niupepa digital library environment in 2005. TLA also indicates that te reo Māori was used by international clients and this usage differed to te reo Māori usage by national (Aotearoa) clients. Findings further reveal that the default language setting of the Niupepa digital library had a considerable impact on te reo Māori usage. When the default language was set to te reo Māori not only were there more requests in te reo Māori but there was also a higher usage of te reo Māori in the information retrieval activities. TLA of the Hawaiian Nūpepa digital library indicated that the Hawaiian language was also used in a digital library. These results confirm that indigenous languages were used in digital library environments. Feedback from clients suggests reasons why indigenous languages were used in this environment. These reasons include the indigenous language content of the digital library, the indigenous language default language setting of the digital library and a stated desire by the clients to use the indigenous language. The key findings raise some interface design issues and support the claim that digital libraries can provide an environment to support the use of indigenous languages

The unseen and unacceptable face of digital libraries

The social and organisational aspects of digital libraries (DLs) are often overlooked, but this paper reviews how they can affect users' awareness and acceptance of DLs. An analysis of research conducted within two contrasting domains (clinical and academic) is presented which highlights issues of user interactions, work practices and organisational social structures. The combined study comprises an analysis of 98 in-depth interviews and focus groups with lecturers, librarians and hospital clinicians. The importance of current and past roles of the library, and how users interacted with it, are revealed. Web-based DLs, while alleviating most library resource and interaction problems, require a change in librarians' and DL designers' roles and interaction patterns if they are to be implemented acceptably and effectively. Without this role change, users will at best be unaware of these digital resources and at worst feel threatened by them. The findings of this paper highlight the importance of DL design and implementation of the social context and supporting user communication (i.e., collaboration and consultation) in information searching and usage activities. © Springer-Verlag 2004

Library log analysis and its implications for studying online information seeking behavior of cultural groups

Log analysis, as one of the less overtly intrusive ways to study information seeking behavior online, has been used to closely monitor patterns of user system usage looking at activities and actions since the 1980s (Villén-Rueda et al., 2007). However, to date there have been limited studies discussing its usage in respect of information seeking behaviors of cultural groups in the academic library context. With the growth in international student numbers, the increasing remote use of the library service and a globally connected digital environment, the particular needs and behaviors of different cultural groups, when studying in different settings, merits far greater attention. This paper uses a library log analysis in order to explore international Chinese users' usage of an academic library in the UK and discusses the implication of it as a research method in Library and Information Studies (LIS) research, reflecting on the potential for greater analysis of different cultural groups. The findings demonstrate that log analysis can be used as a method to better understand particular cultural groups information seeking behaviors; it also discusses the limitations of log analysis and gives suggestions for future research work

Digital Literacy Skills as Determinants of Library Use by Undergraduate Students of Private Universities in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study examined digital literacy skills as determinants of library usage among undergraduates in two Private Universities in Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive and non-experimental survey research design which involved the use of questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The targeted population of the study comprised of 8020 users who are undergraduates of the Ajayi Crowther University Library and Lead City University Library, while 481 respondents formed the sample using the sample size at confidence level of 95% and P=0.5. The data was collected via questionnaire and was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The First, and second research questions were analysed using descriptive statistics, while the research hypothesis was analysed using correlation analysis. Findings of the study revealed that most of the undergraduates can use technology competently to interpret and understand digital content. Secondly, majority of the undergraduates frequently update their digital skills to decrease their inability of accessing online materials which helps in increasing their digital knowledge. Thirdly, current and relevant information resources provided by the library encouraged the undergraduates to use the library. The study established that digital literacy skills had significant effect on library usage among undergraduates of private Universities in Oyo State. The study recommended that undergraduates should consider the university library as a place where they can actively engage themselves and enhance their knowledge as this would turn them into active Library users

Inheriting library cards to Babel and Alexandria: Contemporary metaphors for the digital library

Librarians have been consciously adopting metaphors to describe library concepts since the nineteenth century, helping us to structure our understanding of new technologies. We have drawn extensively on these figurative frameworks to explore issues surrounding the digital library, yet very little has been written to date which interrogates how these metaphors have developed over the years. Previous studies have explored library metaphors, using either textual analysis or ethnographic methods to investigate their usage. However, this is to our knowledge the first study to use bibliographic data, corpus analysis, qualitative sentiment weighting and close reading to study particular metaphors in detail. It draws on a corpus of over 450 articles to study the use of the metaphors of the Library of Alexandria and Babel, concluding that both have been extremely useful as framing metaphors for the digital library. However, their longstanding use has seen them become stretched as metaphors, meaning that the field’s figurative framework now fails to represent the changing technologies which underpin contemporary digital libraries

Le indagini sull’utilizzo delle risorse elettroniche remote della Biblioteca dell’Universitá di Milano-Bicocca

Electronic resources are a growing property in academic library systems. The “hybrid” model is characterized by a strong presence of digital resources and services joining or substituting books, paper journals and the traditional methods of bibliographic research. The shift from a traditional to a hybrid library system requires important financial investments, so the analysis and the monitoring of the service supply has a particular meaning in this sense. The Library Management performed two surveys on electronic resource usage and evaluation after the experience of scholars and academic researchers. The article presents the results and analysis for the years 2001 and 2002

Utilization of Alkin-WP-Based Digital Library Evaluation Software as Evaluation Tool of Digital Library Effectiveness

One source of learning in universities is a digital library. In the era of industry 4.0, most universities have implemented digital libraries in supporting the learning process. However, the reality shows that digital library management is still ineffective. Therefore, the implementation of digital libraries needs to be evaluated for determining the digital library effectiveness used as learning resources in supporting the learning process in universities. Many evaluation tools are used to evaluate the effectiveness of digital libraries but have not provided accurate recommendation results to support decision-making. This research presents an innovation in the form of an evaluation tool that can be used to evaluate the digital library effectiveness in universities. That evaluation tool is called the Alkin-WP-based digital library evaluation software. This software is a desktop platform that contains aspects of measuring the digital library effectiveness by referring to the components of the Alkin evaluation model and the WP (Weighted Product) method. This research aimed to show the effectiveness level of the utilization of Alkin-WP-based digital library evaluation software. This research method was R & D (Research & Development) which refers to the ten development stages of the Borg and Gall model. In this research, development was focused only on a few stages, included: usage trials, final product revision, dissemination, and implementation. The subjects involved in assessing the implementation/utilization of the Alkin-WP-based digital library evaluation software were 35 people, in the usage trials were six people, in product revision were three people, and at the stage of dissemination were 15 people. The tools used to collect data were questionnaires and interview guidelines. The data analysis technique used was descriptive quantitative. The effectiveness level of utilizing the Alkin-WP-based digital library evaluation software was 88.34%. It showed that the evaluation software had effective. The impact of this research results on the scientific field of educational evaluation is being able to show the existence of a new evaluation tool based on educational evaluation and artificial intelligence. That evaluation tool can easier for library heads to make policies for revamping digital library services based on accurate recommendations. Doi: 10.28991/esj-2021-01308 Full Text: PD

Library Website Visits and Enrollment Trends

Objective – Measures of trends in Iowa State University library website visits per student/faculty/staff headcount show decreased use. Analysis was conducted to test for a relationship between this decrease and decreasing graduate/undergraduate enrollment ratios and decreasing visits to a popular digital collection. The purpose was to measure the influence of these factors and to produce an adjusted measure of trend which accounts for these factors.Methods – Website transaction log data and enrollment data were modelled with Box and Jenkins time series analysis methods (regression with ARMA errors).Results – A declining graduate to undergraduate enrollment ratio at Iowa State University explained 23% of the innovation variance of library website visits per headcount over the study period, while visits to a popular digital collection also declined, explaining 34% of the innovation variance. Rolling windows analysis showed that the effect of the graduate/undergraduate ratio increased over the study period, while the effect of digital collection visits decreased. In addition, estimates of website usage by graduate students and undergraduates, after accounting for other factors, matched estimates from a survey.Conclusion – A rolling windows metric of mean change adjusted for changes in demographics and other factors allows for a fairer comparison of year-to-year website usage, while also measuring the change in influence of these factors. Adjusting for these influences provides a baseline for studying the effect of interventions, such as website design changes. Box-Jenkins methods of analysis for time series data can provide a more accurate measure than ordinary regression, demonstrated by estimating undergraduate and graduate website usage to corroborate survey data. While overall website usage is decreasing, it is not clear it is decreasing for all groups. Inferences were made about demographic groups with data that is not tied to individuals, thus alleviating privacy concerns

Pattern of internet usage at the rural library among rural youth in Malaysia

The main aim of this study is to identify the pattern of Internet usage at the rural library among rural youths in Malaysia (aged between 15 to 40 years old). As a developing country, the internet usage among rural youths is a crucial issue in terms of the digital divide between rural and urban youths. The study was quantitative in nature, and via a multi-stage simple-random sampling, a total of 400 rural library users from four selected districts had been selected as the respondents. The SPSS software was used to run a proper analysis. The results showed that the mean score recorded for internet usage among the rural youths was 91.12 minutes and the majority of them were aged below 20 years old. Remarkably, the local development is seen as the motivation for the rural youths, yet it is probably the least manageable. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are presented in the conclusion