WEB PRESENCE AND STRUCTURE EVALUATION OF THE EUROPEAN NATIONAL LIBRARIES’ WEBSITES: A STUDY

The purpose of this study is to evaluate European national libraries’ websites on the basis of webometrics. It also analyze the structure of the selected European national libraries’ websites on the basis of number of checkpoints. On the basis of number of web indicators such as number of webpages, in-links, rich content files, publications in Google Scholar and WISER, web presence of the selected European national libraries’ websites were examined. For collection of webometrics data Google search engine and Check PageRank tool were used. To evaluate structure’s attributes, a checklist was drafted which is based on published literature and guidelines. This paper highlights that most of the European national libraries have sound web presence having large number of webpages, in-links and rich content files. It also reveals that most of the European national libraries’ websites have users’ friendly structure except few national libraries’ websites. Therefore, there is a need to conduct regular observation to find out the utility of website among users’ group

WEB PRESENCE AND STRUCTURE EVALUATION OF THE EUROPEAN NATIONAL LIBRARIES’ WEBSITES: A STUDY

The purpose of this study is to evaluate European national libraries’ websites on the basis of webometrics. It also analyze the structure of the selected European national libraries’ websites on the basis of number of checkpoints. On the basis of number of web indicators such as number of webpages, in-links, rich content files, publications in Google Scholar and WISER, web presence of the selected European national libraries’ websites were examined. For collection of webometrics data Google search engine and Check PageRank tool were used. To evaluate structure’s attributes, a checklist was drafted which is based on published literature and guidelines. This paper highlights that most of the European national libraries have sound web presence having large number of webpages, in-links and rich content files. It also reveals that most of the European national libraries’ websites have users’ friendly structure except few national libraries’ websites. Therefore, there is a need to conduct regular observation to find out the utility of website among users’ group

The development of an inclusive model to construct teacher’s professional knowledge: pedagogic content knowledge for sound-based music as a new subject area

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.This paper outlines a systematic process for developing the different knowledge domains required for teaching sound-based (electroacoustic) music as a new subject area. As a new area within the discipline of music, teachers are novices to the field. This requires epistemological deconstruction of what knowledge teachers need in this new field. Then the analysis outlines how to develop teachers’ new knowledge; which can be constructed as: subject content knowledge (SCK), pedagogic content knowledge (PCK) and technology pedagogic content knowledge (TPACK). This epistemological analysis informed our creation of teaching materials that develop these different knowledge domains and take account of the complex interplay between them. This process was demonstrated through the ElectroAcoustic Resource Site Projects to: build first subject content knowledge; then create teacher’s packs to build pedagogic content knowledge; and a bespoke CPD programme to embed their inter-relationships and build technology pedagogic content knowledge. Most importantly, creating the teacher’s packs employed a user-centred design approach, putting teachers and pupils in the centre of the development process, thereby giving them voice. Voice is an integral part of empowerment in our model, which is conceptualised as practicing ‘communicative action’ (Habermas 1984) and disrupts the hegemonic grip of the academic curriculum dominated by the tradition music canon. This paper adds to the knowledge-base regarding how to develop the different domains required for teaching a new subject. We argue that sound-based music is accessible to all teachers and learners, thereby increasing inclusivity. This in turn can radically disrupt ways of teaching music in schools and the model created provides the necessary scaffolding for a paradigm shift in music teaching on an international level

Web Accessibility Among the Countries of the European Union: a Comparative Study

In a short period of time, the World Wide Web (the Web) has had a huge impact on our society and lives. The Web provides access to news, email, online purchasing, fun activities, etc. However, the Web is often a barrier to access to information and services for some groups of disabled users. To support the accessibility of web sites, different accessibility guidelines and standards have been introduced for the last ten years. Unfortunately, web developers often lack sufficient knowledge to meet these guidelines. To assure and certify the fulfilment of web accessibility guidelines, various automatic accessibility evaluation tools have been developed. In this paper, a comparative study of the web accessibility of official websites from countries of the European Union is presented. Two automatic evaluation tools have been used to perform the comparison: the W3C Markup Validation Service to check the source code of the web pages, and eXaminator to test the accessibility.Partly supported by the EU Tempus Project ERAMIS 159025-TEMPUS-1-2009-1-FR-TEMPUSJPCR

Structure Analysis of the National Libraries’ Websites of the World

The present study examines various features of structure of the national libraries’ websites of the world. National library of a specific subject are exempted from the study. The study evaluates all the national libraries’ website, which are in English or have a comprehensive English version, on the basis of designed checklist. The checklist is drafted on the basis of published literature and guidelines. The author highlighted that most of the selected features were found missing on the sampled websites of national libraries under study. The author also recommends that structure of the website is equally important and access of uploaded information on the website highly depends on the technical structure of the website. Therefore, there is a need to improve the structure of the website on the light of the suggested suggestion under study

Social networking and open educational resources: updating quality assurance for e-learning excellence

Quality assurance approaches in higher education are well-established, but it is important to develop methods which are applicable to the domain of e-learning. The E-xcellence methodology (EADTU, 2009a) was therefore designed to assess the quality of e-learning in distance learning and blended learning contexts. The methodology is based around a set of benchmarks, supported by a practitioner handbook and a web-based ‘QuickScan’ self-evaluation tool. Experience shows that the E-xcellence methodology is particularly valuable for the process of improvement through collaborative internal review. E-learning has evolved since the E-xcellence methodology was first developed. In particular, there is increasing awareness and use of open education resources (OERs) and social networking. However, these aspects were not explicit in the original E-xcellence resources. The E-xcellence Next project was therefore established to update the resources, incorporating these developments. To begin this process, a consultation was carried out among E-xcellence Next project members, followed by a participatory workshop on the themes of social networking and OERs. The E-xcellence resources were also used in a series of self-evaluation seminars held at European higher education institutions. Experience and feedback from these activities has been used to update the manual, the benchmarks and the QuickScan tool. The result is a set of quality assurance resources which encompass social networking, OERs and other recent developments in e-learning

Combining Multiple Web Accessibility Evaluation Reports using Semantic Web Technologies

This paper describes a process for automatic combination of testing reports for the accessibility of Web applications, obtained by different testing tools and applying different standards on Web accessibility. Interoperability is guaranteed using semantic Web technologies, which allow describing the reports by RDF (Resource Description Framework) triples. The reports refer to elements of a knowledge base consisting of vocabularies, ontologies and rules of inference, in which the conceptual relations between accessibility standards, as WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) or Section 508 among others, are formalized previously. A software prototype that uses the Apache Jena framework for implementing the process is presented

Data sources for rescuing the rich heritage of Mediterranean historical surface climate data

10.1002/gdj3.4Availability of long-term and high-quality instrumental climate records is still insufficient and the rich heritage of meteorological surface observations is largely underexploited in many parts of the world. This is particularly striking over the Greater Mediterranean region (GMR), where meteorological observations have been taken since the 18th century at some locations. The lack of high quality and long series here is despite this region being regarded as a climate change hot spot. This article mainly assesses relevant sources containing Mediterranean historical climate data and metadata either from online repositories worldwide or physical archives, with the emphasis here on the rich holdings kept at French archives. A particular case study is the data rescue (DARE) program undertaken by the Algerian National Meteorological Service, as well as some of the past and ongoing projects and initiatives aimed at enhancing climate data availability and accessibility over the GMR. Our findings point to the high potential for undertaking DARE activities over the GMR and the need for bringing longer and higher quality climate time series to support a diverse number of scientific and technical assessments and policies

E-Government Accessibility Research Trends in Developing Countries

E-government has increasingly been adopted globally by governments in order to enhance the provision of services to citizens and promote inclusive governance. It is perceived that E-government has the potential to significantly improve government-citizen interaction by providing equal access to government services for all citizens. Lack of equal access to E-government services has emerged as one major setback of E-government in achieving its objectives. Studies in E-government have documented how E-government can act as a tool for exclusion particularly for persons with disabilities (PWDs) an already marginalized group if accessibility barriers are not addressed. Developing countries however, have received little attention in this regard which calls for a greater concern; since 80% of the world’s disabled population reside here. Few studies that have been conducted in the developing countries fail to integrate PWDs into the digital society. This calls for the need to examine how researchers conduct studies on E-government accessibility towards PWDs, the research approach they adopt and the understanding they gain of the phenomenon. This paper present findings based on systematic literature review with the purpose of identifying key research foci, methodologies and theoretical perspectives used when studying E- government accessibility for PWDs particularly in developing countries

Comparison of consumer attitudes between Cyprus and Latvia: An evaluation of effect of setting on consumer preferences in the water industry

This is the post-print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from th link below - Copyright @ SpringerModels approaching consumer expectations of their water supplier from a risk perspective suggest that consumers primarily and overwhelmingly want safe drinking water supply. In this study consumer preferences in the water sector are investigated in two contrasting case studies: Cyprus, where there have been significant quantity and continuity of supply issues, and Riga, where there have been water quality issues. While water quality is undoubtedly the main priority of water consumers in Riga, in Cyprus consumers indicate that they prioritise a more reliable service even though many are sufficiently dissatisfied with water quality that they do not drink the tap water. The analysis of consumer attitudes in the two case studies suggests that when water supply is unreliable, reliability takes precedence; once it is reliable quality issues come to the fore.This research was carried out as part of Work Area 6 of the TECHNEAU project, an integrated project funded under FP6 of the European Commission, grant number: 018320