Slash crawl

Over the next week or so we'll be running a test crawl to get ready for the New Zealand Web Harvest 2010. The engineers at the Internet Archive call this a "slash crawl" or "slash page crawl" because we only harvest the "slash page" or "home page" of each host (and the robot.txt file too).

Why do we do this? There are a few reasons:

1. Testing the harvest hardware and software to make sure it's ready for the "production crawl" starting on May 12.
2. Testing our list of known hosts (the "seed list") to make sure they all have a web server running on them.
3. Gathering information (including IP addresses and redirects) that will help us identify machines that are home to a lot of websites so that we don't put them under too much strain during the production crawl
   

Webmasters can recognise our harvester by it's user agent: NLNZHarvester2010.

Remember, it is less than two weeks to the production harvest, so you're going to start hearing a bit more from us. Please send us feedback if you have any questions or concerns, and keep those nominations rolling in.

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

Introducing The Source


Users’ trust in information resources in the web environment: A status report

From the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) information environment repository website

This study has three aims:

• to provide an overview of the ways in which trust is either assessed or asserted in relation to the use and provision of resources in the Web environment for research and learning
• to assess what solutions might be worth further investigation and whether establishing ways to assert trust in academic information resources could assist the development of information literacy
• to help increase understanding of how perceptions of trust influence the behaviour of information users
  

Library Card Act

From the School Library Journal website

New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg recently signed into law the Library Card Act, which requires that his city's Department of Education supply library card applications and information about how to obtain a card to students entering kindergarten, sixth grade, ninth grade, or when transferring into a new school.


Accessing the collection of a large public library: an analysis of OPAC use

From the LIBRES Research Electronic Journal website

Despite widespread use of internet search engines, the online catalogue is still the main pathway to the collection of a particular library. The use of internet search engines does, however, have implications for user expectations around the online catalogue, and search strategies when using the online catalogue. There is much research on online catalogue use that predates search engine use, and there is a need for more up-to-date research, particularly on the use of online catalogues in public libraries.
This paper reports on an analysis of transaction logs of end users of the online catalogue of a large public library in Australia, the State Library of Victoria. It compares searches over four years, taking into account the search settings and search strategies and looking at search success, including the reasons for search failure. The paper also introduces the concept of abandonment rates to online catalogue search, defining a metric that adds to the useful information that can be determined from transaction logs. The paper uses the findings as the basis for its concluding recommendations for how public library users can be assisted to find what they are looking for on the library catalogue.


Milwaukee library proposal calls for fewer but larger libraries, mixed uses

From the JS (Journal Sentinel) Online website

More than half of Milwaukee's city libraries would be dramatically reshaped by a 10-year, $18.1 million plan to merge some neighbourhood libraries into regional centres and move others into buildings shared with housing, stores or hotels.
Struggling with increasingly tight operating budgets, Milwaukee Public Library officials are trying to avoid rising maintenance costs by replacing aging facilities with a new array of libraries more in tune with a digital world. But, they will have to overcome scepticism from residents and some aldermen, who cherish the network of 13 libraries, spaced no more than three miles apart.

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

Introducing The Source

Copyright and wrong

From the Economist website

Why the rules on copyright need to return to their roots.


Digital reading spaces: How expert readers handle books, the web and electronic paper

From the First Monday website

This paper focuses on changing reading characteristics and presents a study among a group of expert readers. Considering technological bases of reading and applying corporeal and material perspectives, this study examines manners in which proficient readers handle printed and digital texts, attempting to explain differences in digital and paper-based reading. This paper reflects on how long-form text can be productively transferred into the digital reading space.

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

Introducing The Source

The Digital Information Seeker: Report of findings from selected OCLC, RIN and JISC user behaviour projects (Note: PDF)

From the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) website

There are numerous user studies published in the literature and available on the web. In the interest of analysing and synthesising several user behaviour studies conducted in the US and the UK, twelve studies were identified. These twelve selected studies were commissioned and/or supported by non- profit organisations and government agencies; therefore, they have little dependence upon the outcomes of the studies. The studies were reviewed by two researchers who analysed the findings, compared their analyses, and identified the overlapping and contradictory findings. This report is not intended to be the definitive work on user behaviour studies, but rather to provide a synthesised document to make it easier for information professionals to better understand the information-seeking behaviours of the libraries’ intended users and to review the issues associated with the development of information services and systems that will best meet these users’ needs.
A description of the key findings reported in each of the selected studies is included in this document. After this, the common findings of the studies as well as contradictory findings are discussed. The report ends with the identification of issues that librarians must address in order to meet the needs of diverse user groups. Some suggestions for further research and development are included.


The Impact of the internet on institutions in the future (Note: PDF)

From the Pew Internet & American Life Project website

By an overwhelming margin, technology experts and stakeholders participating in a survey fielded by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center believe that innovative forms of online cooperation could result in more efficient and responsive for-profit firms, non-profit organizations, and government agencies by the year 2020.
While their overall assessment anticipates that humans’ use of the internet will prompt institutional change, many elaborated with written explanations that expressed significant concerns over organisation’s resistance to change. They cited fears that bureaucracies of all stripes – especially government agencies – can resist outside encouragement to evolve. Some wrote that the level of change will affect different kinds of institutions at different times. The consensus among them was that businesses will transform themselves much more quickly than public and non-profit agencies.


State Of America’s Libraries Report 2010 (Note: PDF)

From the American Library Association website

The library situation in America described using the title of a book that doesn’t turn out very well. A couple of paragraphs into the summary, we learn that the “perfect storm” for libraries, especially public libraries, is forming. Research from the ALA and the University of Maryland shows that the storm consists of “growing community demand for library services and shrinking resources to meet that demand. While library use soars, a majority of states are reporting cuts in funding to public libraries and to the state library agencies that support them. Not only are these cuts issues for the public, library admin, librarians, and staff but also for the companies who supply libraries with a variety of tools and services. What does the “perfect storm” mean to their bottom lines and what are they doing or going to do about it?


Reading in an age of change

From the Overland website

Margaret Simons, award-winning freelance journalist, author of books, essays and articles, and a part-time lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology, discusses text in the electronic world.


Reading in a time of change (Note: Video)

From the Australian Policy Online website

The way we read is changing more profoundly now than at any time since the invention of movable type. E-books, electronic ink, digital readers; the book is reinventing itself at a dizzying rate. But what does the future hold for readers, for publishers and for writers?
In this inaugural Meanland event (a collaboration between literary journals Meanjin and Overland), Marieke Hardy, Sherman Young, (and in Part 2) Margaret Simons and Peter Craven discuss the impact of new technology, economic change and shifting notions of intellectual property on reading and writing in Australia. Hosted by Meanjin editor, Sophie Cunningham.

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

Introducing The Source

Making the most of Social Media: 7 lessons from successful cities (Note: PDF)

From the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government website

The report is written for local governments - cities, counties, townships and their affiliates - that are beginning to experiment with social media and would like to get more out of them. More than two dozen early adopters were interviewed for this report, and their experiences offer some lessons to local governments about what sorts of tools social media offer, how to integrate them into a busy office, and how to use them creatively to be more effective.
The report includes a brief discussion of the growth of Social Media over the past several years, including the challenges associated with adopting them for public use - legal, practical and political.


Profile of the Conservation and Preservation Department of the National Library of Scotland

From The Scotsman newspaper website

Hidden away under Edinburgh, a dedicated band of experts are working their magic to ensure that our literary heritage, like J. M Barrie's ‘Peter Pan’, never grows old.


The digital world of young children: emergent literacy (Note: PDF)

From the Pearson Foundation website

This research paper aims to better understand the ways in which young people’s learning and expression are being shaped by mobile and digital technologies. Authored by early childhood education experts, the paper examines the latest research on the ways in which young children make use of increasingly personalised and mobile media – including cell phones, television, video games, smart devices, and computers. The report focuses on the impact of these new ways of learning and also highlights the degree to which these emergent literacies are rooted in young people’s use of common-place mobile devices – especially in developing and least-developed nations.
The research reveals that:

• Opportunities to engage with digital media increasingly prevail through the use of mobile devices – and in developing countries access to mobile devices is more commonplace than access to other technologies
• Developmental milestones are changing as young people’s access to mobile and digital technology grows
• Digital media positively impacts children’s opinion of learning, providing engagement opportunities not always seen with print materials
  

This study also confirms the need to continue delivering educational programmes to teachers and children who otherwise would not have access to these kinds of educational opportunities.


Encouraging digital access to culture (Note: PDF)

From the Department for Culture, Media and Sport website

This UK guide is intended as best practice advice for the cultural sector to develop new ways of using emerging technologies to share digital content and find new ways to engage with wider audiences.


Publishers & Librarians: Two cultures, one goal

From the Library Journal website

For two professions so committed to meeting the needs of readers, publishers and librarians have distinct cultures. Put simply, one culture is all about developing and selling books; the other is about sharing them and fostering a culture of reading. But there's another basic difference, too. Publishers work closely with authors and use sales figures to tell them what readers want, interpreting those figures like tea leaves. Librarians work closely with readers, using them as informants to help them select books that will satisfy the diverse tastes of a community.


The opportunity of devolved governance for museums, libraries and archives

From the MLA (Museums, Libraries & Archives) website

This paper is intended to act as a think piece to stimulate debate around the concept of devolved governance for museums, libraries and archives. It outlines the range of devolution models that MLA (Museums, Libraries & Archives) considers applicable to museums, libraries and archives and the potential it considers such models to offer for the sector. The central problem it seeks to explore is how, in the long term, local authorities can seek to shape, improve and sustain cultural service delivery - with less.


Sharper investment for changing times: Getting more out of Museums, Libraries and Archives

From the MLA (Museums, Libraries & Archives) website

Museums, libraries and archives are an extraordinary and popular resource. We want them to thrive for the public they serve. But the country needs to climb out of the worst recession since the 1930s, while handling inevitable spending restrictions in public services. How can the sector help this climb, and deliver increasingly more in value than it takes in funding, from central and local government? Critically, changes in the service need to be designed for changing public need, not be driven by short-term budget cuts.
This prospectus proposes ambitious but realistic solutions, based on long-term partnership between local government, central government, and museums, libraries and archives themselves, each responsible for their side of a bargain where:

• museums, libraries and archives work to make a wider public impact as efficiently as possible, concentrating less on sustaining costly buildings and storing unseen objects, and more on opening up fantastic collections of books, records and iconic artefacts for learning and enjoyment
• local government utilise the value of museum, library and archive services for wider purposes, innovating and integrating with other services, working across boundaries, and working with public and private partners
• national government ensure the longer term funding and statutory framework in which councils, museums, libraries and archives can have the freedom, flexibility and stability to plan for far reaching change
  

The ambition is that the public – user, visitor, consumer and tourist – are in charge; able to enjoy and learn from quality collections, seamless services, and personalised help and information, whether in welcoming buildings or online.

New Zealand whole of domain web harvest: 12 - 25 May 2010

The Library has announced the dates for the 2010 New Zealand whole of domain web harvest: 12 - 25 May 2010.

In January this year we released an Options Paper, seeking feedback on several issues that arose during the first whole of domain web harvest in 2008. Our sincere thanks to those who took the time to respond. The following decisions have been made:

Notification period

• The harvest is scheduled to begin on 12 May 2010. There will be a five-week notification period
• The Library will use several channels to communicate about the harvest, including its corporate website, the LibraryTechNZ blog, a Twitter account (coming today or tomorrow), various mailing lists and forums, and media releases.

Robots.txt

• In 2008 the Library made the decision to ignore the robots.txt convention.
• For the 2010 harvest, where a robots.txt file exists the harvester will honour robots.txt except when downloading images and other elements that are embedded in other web pages.
• Website owners can set specific rules for the Library’s harvester, which will have the user agent string: NLNZHarvester2010
• If you have a very restrictive robots.txt file in place already, we would appreciate it if you could provide a more permissive rule for NLNZHarvester2010 to help us capture a complete copy of your website

Location of harvester

• After consultation with New Zealand telecom vendors we have decided to run the harvest from the United States using the Internet Archive’s hardware and network infrastructure, as we did in 2008.

More information and a copy of the full Summary of Submissions is available on the Web Harvest 2010 page on our website. This will be the home for all information for website owners and administrators.

If you want to nominate a website for inclusion in the harvest, use our Nomination Form. You can also use that form to send us a site map.

If you have questions or feedback, please use this Feedback Form. Of course, if you leave comments here we'll do our best to answer them, but using the form helps us get the question to the right person who'll give you the best answer fastest.

Correction: I mistyped in my first edition of this post. The harvest starts on 12 May, not 9 May.

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

Introducing The Source

Using cloud services for library IT infrastructure

From the Code4Lib Journal website

Cloud computing comes in several different forms and this article documents how service, platform, and infrastructure forms of cloud computing have been used to serve library needs. Following an overview of these uses the article discusses the experience of one library in migrating IT infrastructure to a cloud environment and concludes with a model for assessing cloud computing.


Building Britain's digital future

From the official site of the Prime Minister's office

A transcript of a speech by the Prime Minister on building Britain's digital future, delivered on 22 March 2010.


Ensuring perpetual access: Establishing a federated strategy on perpetual access and hosting of electronic resources for Germany (Note: PDF)

From the Priority Initiative "Digital Information" by the Alliance of German Science Organisations website

The study, now available in English, was commissioned by the Alliance of German Science Organisations to help develop a strategy to address the challenges of perpetual access and hosting of electronic resources. It was requested to focus primarily on commercial e-journals and retro-digitised material.
Although developed for Germany, there is substantial discussion and recommendations around the issues of perpetual access, licensing of e-journals, archiving, and sustainability of hosting and access services for these materials, which will be of interest to an international audience.
Contents include:

• Discussion, definition, and glossary of terms
• Review of relevant international activity
• Review of the current and future desired positions in Germany
• Gap analysis
• A series of use cases
• Scenarios, potential solutions, and recommendations
  

Opportunity for all: How the American public benefits from internet access at U.S. libraries (Note: PDF)

From the University of Washington U.S. IMPACT Studies website

This report is based on the first, large-scale study of who uses public computers and internet access in public libraries, the ways library patrons use this free technology service, why they use it, and how it affects their lives.
The use of library technology had significant impact in four critical areas: employment, education, health, and making community connections. In the last 12 months:

• 40% of library computer users (an estimated 30 million people) received help with career needs. Among these users, 75% reported they searched for a job online. Half of these users filled out an online application or submitted a resume
• 37% focused on health issues. The vast majority of these users (82%) logged on to learn about a disease, illness, or medical condition. One-third of these users sought out doctors or health care providers
• 42% received help with educational needs. Among these users, 37% (an estimated 12 million students) used their local library computer to do homework for a class
• Library computers linked patrons to their government, communities, and civic organizations. 60% of users – 43.3 million people – used a library’s computer resources to connect with others
  

The report’s findings are based on nearly 50,000 surveys – including 3,176 from a national telephone survey and 44,881 web survey responses – from patrons of more than 400 public libraries across the country.


How libraries stack up: 2010 (Note: PDF)

From the OCLC website

The economic, social and cultural impact of libraries in the United States is examined. As the current economic environment is impacting library budgets and library usage is increasing, particular attention is paid to the role that libraries play in providing assistance to job-seekers, and support for small businesses. Information includes statistics on:

• Americans receiving job-seeking help and career assistance at public libraries
• Libraries as a resource for small businesses
• The prevalence and scope of library activity in the United States
• Libraries as providers of free services to the community such as Wi-Fi access, technology training and meeting rooms
• Comparisons of library activities to various retail and entertainment businesses