This paper tries to contrast digital decay with paper decay, explains how digitisation further accelerates accessing information through the trio factors accessibility, ease of use and perceived utility. Also discusses related issues including proliferation of gray content on the Web

Sridhar, M. S.

English

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Digital Information Management The task of digital information management*  M. S. Sridhar@  A search for information management in quotes retrieves millions of hits in the Internet and first 20 or so hits invariably are found to be associated  with either  electronic or digital information. Digital content is all-pervasive and invading life and libraries. Most Indian S&T libraries already have about 15% of their content in digital form and it is increasing at the rate of about 5% per annum.  Paper decay vs. digital decay Over centuries paper technology has remained remarkably stable. Residual acidity and dust might have caused slow decay of paper based documents. Preservation efforts of archivists have successfully restored their contents and slowed down decay. Most of the contents of decaying paper products were recoverable. How about digital decay?  Apart from physical deterioration, obsolescence of hardware, software and storage medium and failure to save crucial format information may cause digital decay and loss of entire content of a digital document. The tapes of 1975 Viking launch mission to Mars were recently found to have deteriorated despite careful storage. The laser disc and the player used in 1986 BBC Doomsday project were long obsolete and specialist team struggled for more than an year to retrieve the data. Space shuttle’s obsolete software and storage media ( flexible floppies) have even raised the question about continuation of the present Shuttle launches. Hopefully, digital archive experts will come out with a way to preserve and save enormous digital content being generated and stored today for a distant future. Think of time capsule in microform buried in deep well some thirty years ago. Who is going to use them and do we expect appropriate microform readers to be available some fifty years later. Same thing may happen to our digital archives in less than fifty years time frame. We, yet do not have confidence to discard or destroy palm leaves or paper scripts after digitsing, but try to make a photocopy to preserve and / or use.  Abused ‘accessibility’ and visit statistics Extensive research has shown that three factors, namely, accessibility, ease of use and perceived utility, have profound effect on use of an information source. Digital technology has greatly facilitated and acted as catalyst on the trio factors. The technology (ICT) has successfully dismantled strong fences built around information sources.  Traditionally,  libraries  have  been champions of access restrictions with chained books, closed access, restricted membership and punitive measures for using books for longer than pre-decided duration. For a moment let us digress and recall that while evaluating a service organisation, ‘input’ is often used as a proxy measure of ‘output’. As examples, we may note expenditures on R&D, library and welfare services  quite  often serve as  output  measures in assessing  the  respective  system.  Exactly the same way,  in digital environment,  ‘provision for access’ is becoming a proxy measure for actual access, the access for use and the use for usefulness. Use and usefulness need to be distinguished carefully. A library may be used, but it may not be useful, another may be useful, but not used. The ideal is one which is used and useful. The same should hold good for the Internet and digital libraries also. In other words, extensive visit or use of any source of information without utility or usefulness is futile. In this way visit and access statistics in digital environment could be misleading and also abused. More than 10% bogus clicks in the present ‘pay-per-click’ model of Internet search engines is a good example for abuse. By repeated clicking on ones own site generates revenue to the company and by repeated clicking on rival’s M S Sridhar 1Digital Information Management site causes loss to them. After a prolonged legal fight, the new ‘pay-per-action’ model is being considered to replace the ‘pay-per-click’ model.  Ease of use and need for consumption skills vary widely The second factor ‘ease of use’ is a concept which is more subjective and person dependant in digital environment. It varies very  widely from accessing  specific information to a large collection of digital documents and databases. As such varied degrees of consumption skills are required to effectively access and use different sources of information. Need for information consumption skills and information literacy also vary widely among users and with respect to tools and services. Using TV does not need much of consumption skills, but using a database or a digital library does need.  Perceived utility is not real utility The third factor ‘perceived utility’ does not refer to real utility of a source of information, but what the user might guess and feel about the source of information. Generally, utility and accuracy of  computerised services are held very high. Whether a footpath astrologer or a high-tech hospital, the common man has high respect for the service delivered through a computer. In other words, it is widely believed that what comes out of a computer must be true. Hence the digital environment is already in an advantageous position as far as perceived utility of the customer is concerned. Among the factors, the accessibility and ease of use are considered to be stronger than the perceived utility, quality and amount of information expected from a source of information.  Content boom is gray literature boom Content boom in digital form is diminishing the demarcation between published and unpublished as well as published and gray literature. More and more digital content is pouring in public domain without subjecting to editorial quality control or refereeing process.  Unpublished, which was once outside the purview of libraries, has became equally important in today’s libraries. In other words, what was once considered as informal source of information (the new label is ‘tacit knowledge’) is entering organised storage and retrieval arena. Most important is that the Web itself has emerged as a large source of gray literature. Unfortunately, most of gray literature (particularly, technical reports) are even today distributed by clearing houses like NTIS (US government agency) in microform. At the same time, originating agencies have been posting many of their R & D reports on Web for free access.  With lakhs of microfiche reports in their collections, libraries are in a fix and unable to resolve the issues like whether to continue to build microfiche collection (as hard copies are expensive) or not. Inevitably some are replacing microfiche reader-printers by scanners to digitise the existing huge collections.   *Deccan Herald, 60 (199) 19 July, 2007, DH Education-pII. http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul192007/dheducation2007071813595.asp  @About the Author  Dr. M. S. Sridhar  is  a  post  graduate  in  mathematics and  business  management   and  a  doctorate  in  library   and  information science. He is in the profession for last 35 years. Since 1978 he is heading the Library and Documentation  Division of ISRO Satellite M S Sridhar 2Digital Information Management Centre,  Bangalore.  Earlier he has worked  in  the  libraries  of   National Aeronautical Laboratory  (Bangalore),  Indian  Institute  of Management (Bangalore) and University of Mysore. Dr. Sridhar has  published four  books (‘User  research:  a  review  of  information-behaviour studies in science and technology’, ‘Problems of collection development in special libraries’, ‘Information behaviour of scientists and engineers’ and ‘Use and user research with twenty case studies’) and 74 research papers, written 19 course material for BLIS and MLIS, presented over 22 papers in conferences and seminars, and contributed 5 chapters to books.  E-mail: sridharmirle@yahoo.com, mirlesridhar@gmail.com, sridhar@isac.gov.in  ; Phone: 91-80-25084451;  Fax: 91-80-25084475.  M S Sridhar 3

The task of digital information management

E-LIS repository

Digital Information Management 
The task of digital information management*
 
 
M. S. Sridhar@
 
 
A search for information management in quotes retrieves millions of hits in the Internet and first 
20 or so hits invariably are found to be associated  with either  electronic or digital information. 
Digital content is all-pervasive and invading life and libraries. Most Indian S&T libraries already 
have about 15% of their content in digital form and it is increasing at the rate of about 5% per 
annum. 
 
Paper decay vs. digital decay 
Over centuries paper technology has remained remarkably stable. Residual acidity and dust 
might have caused slow decay of paper based documents. Preservation efforts of archivists have 
successfully restored their contents and slowed down decay. Most of the contents of decaying 
paper products were recoverable. How about digital decay?  Apart from physical deterioration, 
obsolescence of hardware, software and storage medium and failure to save crucial format 
information may cause digital decay and loss of entire content of a digital document. The tapes 
of 1975 Viking launch mission to Mars were recently found to have deteriorated despite careful 
storage. The laser disc and the player used in 1986 BBC Doomsday project were long obsolete 
and specialist team struggled for more than an year to retrieve the data. Space shuttle’s obsolete 
software and storage media ( flexible floppies) have even raised the question about continuation 
of the present Shuttle launches. Hopefully, digital archive experts will come out with a way to 
preserve and save enormous digital content being generated and stored today for a distant future. 
Think of time capsule in microform buried in deep well some thirty years ago. Who is going to 
use them and do we expect appropriate microform readers to be available some fifty years later. 
Same thing may happen to our digital archives in less than fifty years time frame. We, yet do not 
have confidence to discard or destroy palm leaves or paper scripts after digitsing, but try to make 
a photocopy to preserve and / or use. 
 
Abused ‘accessibility’ and visit statistics 
Extensive research has shown that three factors, namely, accessibility, ease of use and perceived 
utility, have profound effect on use of an information source. Digital technology has greatly 
facilitated and acted as catalyst on the trio factors. The technology (ICT) has successfully 
dismantled strong fences built around information sources.  Traditionally,  libraries  have  been 
champions of access restrictions with chained books, closed access, restricted membership and 
punitive measures for using books for longer than pre-decided duration. For a moment let us 
digress and recall that while evaluating a service organisation, ‘input’ is often used as a proxy 
measure of ‘output’. As examples, we may note expenditures on R&D, library and welfare 
services  quite  often serve as  output  measures in assessing  the  respective  system.  Exactly the 
same way,  in digital environment,  ‘provision for access’ is becoming a proxy measure for 
actual access, the access for use and the use for usefulness. Use and usefulness need to be 
distinguished carefully. A library may be used, but it may not be useful, another may be useful, 
but not used. The ideal is one which is used and useful. The same should hold good for the 
Internet and digital libraries also. In other words, extensive visit or use of any source of 
information without utility or usefulness is futile. In this way visit and access statistics in digital 
environment could be misleading and also abused. More than 10% bogus clicks in the present 
‘pay-per-click’ model of Internet search engines is a good example for abuse. By repeated 
clicking on ones own site generates revenue to the company and by repeated clicking on rival’s 
M S Sridhar 1
Digital Information Management 
site causes loss to them. After a prolonged legal fight, the new ‘pay-per-action’ model is being 
considered to replace the ‘pay-per-click’ model. 
 
Ease of use and need for consumption skills vary widely 
The second factor ‘ease of use’ is a concept which is more subjective and person dependant in 
digital environment. It varies very  widely from accessing  specific information to a large 
collection of digital documents and databases. As such varied degrees of consumption skills are 
required to effectively access and use different sources of information. Need for information 
consumption skills and information literacy also vary widely among users and with respect to 
tools and services. Using TV does not need much of consumption skills, but using a database or 
a digital library does need. 
 
Perceived utility is not real utility 
The third factor ‘perceived utility’ does not refer to real utility of a source of information, but 
what the user might guess and feel about the source of information. Generally, utility and 
accuracy of  computerised services are held very high. Whether a footpath astrologer or a high-
tech hospital, the common man has high respect for the service delivered through a computer. In 
other words, it is widely believed that what comes out of a computer must be true. Hence the 
digital environment is already in an advantageous position as far as perceived utility of the 
customer is concerned. Among the factors, the accessibility and ease of use are considered to be 
stronger than the perceived utility, quality and amount of information expected from a source of 
information. 
 
Content boom is gray literature boom 
Content boom in digital form is diminishing the demarcation between published and unpublished 
as well as published and gray literature. More and more digital content is pouring in public 
domain without subjecting to editorial quality control or refereeing process.  Unpublished, which 
was once outside the purview of libraries, has became equally important in today’s libraries. In 
other words, what was once considered as informal source of information (the new label is ‘tacit 
knowledge’) is entering organised storage and retrieval arena. Most important is that the Web 
itself has emerged as a large source of gray literature. Unfortunately, most of gray literature 
(particularly, technical reports) are even today distributed by clearing houses like NTIS (US 
government agency) in microform. At the same time, originating agencies have been posting 
many of their R & D reports on Web for free access.  With lakhs of microfiche reports in their 
collections, libraries are in a fix and unable to resolve the issues like whether to continue to build 
microfiche collection (as hard copies are expensive) or not. Inevitably some are replacing 
microfiche reader-printers by scanners to digitise the existing huge collections. 
 
 
*Deccan Herald, 60 (199) 19 July, 2007, DH Education-pII. 
http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul192007/dheducation2007071813595.asp
 
 
@About the Author  
Dr. M. S. Sridhar  is  a  post  graduate  in  mathematics and  business  
management   and  a  doctorate  in  library   and  information 
science. He is in the profession for last 35 years. Since 1978 he is 
heading the Library and Documentation  Division of ISRO Satellite 
M S Sridhar 2
Digital Information Management 
Centre,  Bangalore.  Earlier he has worked  in  the  libraries  of   National Aeronautical 
Laboratory  (Bangalore),  Indian  Institute  of Management (Bangalore) and University of 
Mysore. Dr. Sridhar has  published four  books (‘User  research:  a  review  of  information-
behaviour studies in science and technology’, ‘Problems of collection development in special 
libraries’, ‘Information behaviour of scientists and engineers’ and ‘Use and user research with 
twenty case studies’) and 74 research papers, written 19 course material for BLIS and MLIS, 
presented over 22 papers in conferences and seminars, and contributed 5 chapters to books.  E-
mail: sridharmirle@yahoo.com, mirlesridhar@gmail.com, sridhar@isac.gov.in  ; Phone: 91-80-
25084451;  Fax: 91-80-25084475. 
 
M S Sridhar 3


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The task of digital information management

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