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

Introducing The Source

2008 Global Student E-book Survey

From the ebrary® website

ebrary®, a leading provider of e-content services and technology, recently announced that the results of its first "2008 Global Student E-book Survey" completed by nearly 6,500 students throughout the world, representing approximately 400 individual institutions, are now publicly available. Anyone interested may register for a digital copy.
Designed by more than 150 college and university librarians throughout the world, the wide-scale survey explores students’ usage and perceptions of e-books.


Omeka 0.9.2

From the Omeka website

Omeka is a web platform for publishing collections and exhibitions online. Designed for cultural institutions, enthusiasts, and educators, Omeka is easy to install and modify and facilitates community-building around collections and exhibits. Omeka is free and open source.


The right to information: reviewing Queensland’s Freedom of Information Act (Note: PDF)

From the Queensland Freedom of Information website

Chaired by barrister, author and former journalist, David Solomon, the panel makes 141 recommendations that are "not merely an upgrade of the legislation, but a new model... a radically different but more effective legislative architecture for FOI". The Queensland review could be a model for changes in other states and the Commonwealth.


Convenience Trumps Quality: How Digital Natives Use Information

From the FUMSI website

It has been seven years since Marc Prensky launched the concept of digital natives (the post-www generations) and digital immigrants (everyone else!) on the world. His definitions and terms have come in for scrutiny and debate since then, but they are an undeniably powerful metaphor for the change which all too evidently surrounds us. The most important point in his argument is that we are not witnessing a simple ratcheting up of incremental change but have reached a point of discontinuity marked by fundamental change. Digital natives are, quite simply, different people.


Scholarly Publishing Re-invented: Real Costs and Real Freedoms

From the Journal of Electronic Publishing website

Ever-increasing journal subscription prices continue to stress the academic community in both economic and intellectual terms. Deploying newly available tools and approaches to article production in a collaborative manner offer dramatic reductions in cost, up to two orders of magnitude. This level of cost saving practically mandates a re-thinking of the entire business model for scholarly publishing. Open access—providing content globally at no cost—should be both economically viable and sustainable.