Experiencing the academic library in the Digital Age: From information seeking and user experience to human information interaction

The Digital Age, marked by the prevalent usage of digital technologies and explosion of digital information, has changed the way we communicate and interact with information, and prompts us to think about how it is influencing and transforming user experience with and within academic libraries. For academic libraries whilst their relationships with users may have shifted so too have their audiences. Internationalisation in higher education (HE) institutions has brought greater student diversity and requirements that should be understood to improve student experience and satisfaction. At the heart of HE, academic libraries serve a significant role in students’ learning and researching and their experience in the academic library constitutes an essential part of the learning experience. Within an interpretive paradigm, this thesis explores how international Chinese students experience the UK academic library in the Digital Age. Mixed methods research was conducted with a largely qualitative stance to explore the complexity of library user experience and to investigate library service delivery in order to enhance the future library user experience design. Library log analysis investigated what students do in the academic library through looking into their information seeking behaviour; cognitive mapping and semi-structured interviews were used to examine how students think and feel about the academic library by probing into their user experience. Demonstrating the complexity and multi-layered characteristics of context, this thesis proposed separating contexts to analyse and understand students’ library experience in distinct contexts. The findings developed an original framework theory of ‘context-perception-sense-making’ to depict a holistic picture of students’ library experience, identifying two vital elements, context and perception, which trigger, shape and alter students’ library experience. This thesis brings together the essential components of information seeking behaviour and user experience into the context of the academic library and defines students’ relationships with and within the library in new ways

Toward implementing equality, diversity, and inclusion for virtual conferences within the LIS professions

Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) has gained increased attention within the library and information professions, becoming an important aspect of the ethical framework and strategic planning of several professional bodies. This paper uses a data-driven analysis of material from the iSchools conferences (iConferences) as a case study to examine how we might facilitate EDI in practice and engage more effectively with our communities in a virtual context with the move to more online conferences. Our findings identify both positive and negative aspects about the use of online conference platforms and raise concerns over the possibility that virtual conferences may increase unconscious bias and assumptions that could impact adversely on those already disadvantaged. Transparency and communication are key to identifying and addressing any barriers to equality and so online conferences need to ensure clarity and transparency concerning privacy, content, and process, and to demonstrate awareness of the diverse backgrounds of their community members

Localizing Chinese Digital Humanities within the Globalized Community

Our research communities are developing against a background of a globalized, and multilingual world with all the affordances of the Internet. Within the digital humanities there are distinct regional variations in approaches and objects of study. Nevertheless, in the development of our field, despite these differences, there are many similarities in approach and techniques. Geographical and linguistic variations, however, mean that each area develops its own ‘flavour’ of digital humanities practice. Globally, there is a preponderance of and bias towards the English language and we need to question the need for a single centralized structure, perhaps in favour of more regional and localized organization. This paper raises questions about the place of mainland China within the now globalized DH community and how to find the distinct voice for and flavour of DH practice there. What is the story that mainland China can relate to the global DH community

Digital storytelling in DH practice to encourage civil participation and reconstruction of the historical narrative

Since the 1990s digital storytelling, as an extension of the traditional narrative theory set against the backdrop of the “digital turn” (Noiret, 2018), has received significant attention in several fields that are concerned with human expression and experience, such as media research, public history, and education. Digital storytelling, understood here as a movement or method for creating, expressing, and sharing information using digital tools and new media forms, has been viewed as a “democratization of culture” (Clarke & Adam, 2011). It draws attention away from the mainstream and gives a voice to the marginalized, the minority, the overlooked and forgotten. Effective storytelling is based on the full participation of the both speaker and listener, providing a means of expression that can resonate both cognitively and emotionally (Chaitin, 2003). Despite ongoing discourse and practice in literary, education, and media research, its theory construction and practice in DH projects is still at an exploratory stage. This presentation examines how digital storytelling has been used as a critical research method in the DH project A Journey from Wukang Road at Shanghai Library. Taking the site of Wukang Road and its associated buildings as the framework, this project uses knowledge organization methods and linked data to extract the relevant narrative elements and related details about people, events, activities, and historical changes from the appropriate library collection resources (including newspapers, old photos, books, maps, videos, etc.). In this way, the project reconstructs and restores the historical evolution of Wukang Road over more than 100 years by using the memories of the people connected with it (Xia et al., 2021). By organizing cultural resources based on their narrative elements, the evolutionary history can be reconstructed and decolonized with a more complete and clear storyline. It also engages citizens by having them upload photos and personal accounts of their memories and experiences of the road, restoring a rich picture of diverse voices from the community, challenging the established historiography and sociopolitical bias in the sources (Noble, 2018). Using digital storytelling as a primary research method unlocks the diverse possibilities for reconstructing its history and the expression of existing narrative materials to meet the needs of different aims, contexts, and communities. It also supports inference from the resources to supplement and discover “new” knowledge that was always there but never before included in the story. Through the process of collecting, organizing, storing, linking, and displaying historical and cultural information, including the voices of the people, with the support of digital tools, this project is in essence a process of attaching consciousness and various perspectives on the past, retelling the story by rebuilding the complete picture. Digital storytelling in this DH project emphasizes "reconstruction", a way to integrate, relate, and restore existing resources with the affordances of digital tools, thereby encouraging diverse expression, sharing, and even stimulating civil creativity. It is also collective behavior that discusses the perspectives on history and arouses public engagement, particularly in consideration of Shanghai cultural identity in this former home to the colonial powers

Reconstruction of cultural memory through digital storytelling: A case study of Shanghai Memory project

This article analyses how digital storytelling (DS) is applied to a digital humanities (DH) research project. It considers the purpose of storytelling and illustrates its use to help to democratize the wider project by including diverse voices and helping to reconstruct cultural memory. How can DS be used as a critical research method to help develop a robust methodology in DH research, particularly for organizing historical and cultural resources to form a story world and addressing biases in the established archival collections? This initiative is the latest phase of the Shanghai Memory project, adding an important additional dimension to the established showcase, A Journey from Wukang Road. Wukang Road, with many historical buildings going back to the colonial era, has important cultural significance as part of the former French Concession. Originally known as Rue de Ferguson, the name was changed in 1943, at the time of the Japanese occupation, seemingly as part of anti-colonial sentiment while China was being encouraged to resist her occupiers. Participation in the storytelling project is facilitated by user generated content and promotion in the Shanghai Library. The aim is to present a clearer storyline about the evolution of Wukang Road, explore its historical context, use the stories and reflections of the ordinary people to balance that of the elites, importantly encouraging inclusion of the vernacular Shanghainese dialect as part of wider movements to protect local languages