The Source: news about digital libraries and library innovations from around the web

Introducing The Source

XML-based Office Document Standards (Note: PDF)

From the JISC website

Government agencies and the public sector in general are increasingly being required to provide easy access to electronic documents to all stakeholders, while at the same time not requiring them to purchase a particular software product in order to view or edit these documents. In effect, this means that achieving interoperability through the tacit acceptance of proprietary office file formats is becoming less acceptable.

The requirement to provide long term availability and archiving of documents is also encouraging a move away from proprietary file formats. There is an urgent need for co-ordinated, strategically informed action over the next five years. JISC and the wider further and higher education community, as part of the public sector, will be required to address these issues with respect to how they deal with the publication and transfer of electronic documents and files.
See also Mike's post - "Standard Fare - ODF, OOXML, and the future of New Zealand"


What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education (Note: PDF)

From the JISC website

Within 15 years the Web has grown into a global information space with more than a billion users. Currently, it is both returning to its roots as a read/write tool and also entering a new, more social and participatory phase - a new, ‘improved’ Web version 2.0. This report establishes that Web 2.0 is more than a set of ‘cool’ and new technologies and services and investigates the substance behind the hyperbole to report on the implications for the UK Higher and Further Education sector, with a special focus on collection and preservation activities within libraries.


Setting the Foundations of Digital Libraries

From D-Lib Magazine, March/April 2007

This article presents the core parts of 'The Digital Library Manifesto'. The Manifesto was produced by members of the DELOS Network of Excellence on Digital Libraries to be used as a springboard for future foundational research and development in the domain of Digital Libraries.


Enhancing Digital Information Access in Public Libraries (Note: PDF)

From the E-LIS website

The purpose of this article is to explore the impact of public digital library resources on urban residents, to elucidate the current usage patterns of public digital library resources/services and levels of satisfaction with the resources/content in urban digital libraries and make recommendations as to steps that would improve service to this population.


Interactive Content and convergence: implications for the Information Society (Note: PDF)

From the European Commission website

Europe’s economy is beginning to reap the benefits of ever-more interlinked and interoperable online technologies, but many obstacles remain to be overcome.


Credibility of Content and the Future of Research, Learning, and Publishing in the Digital Environment

From the Journal of Electronic Publishing, Winter 2007

Publishers and librarians need to understand the ways in which this generation of learners finds and evaluates information, and the environments in which these students work. Through a focus on these issues, we can begin to reconceive the role of information professionals in this new environment and the implications for scholarly communication and publishing.