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

Introducing The Source

Connecting To Collections: A report to the Nation

From the Institute of Museum and Library Services website

The Tucson Museum of Art (TMA) has a virtual treasure trove of cultural landmarks within its collection. Among the museum’s trusts is an original Andy Warhol piece and a seven-foot-high statue of the Virgin Mary that dates back to the late 17th century. “These are remarkable objects,” says Susan Dolan, TMA’s collections manager. “The public should see them.” But there’s a good chance that these artistic masterpieces will never be put on display. Why? Their condition is so bad - and they are in such dire need of preservation - that they can barely be moved, much less exhibited. The Warhol has sustained severe water damage. And the wood and silver statue of Mary is so fragile that Dolan worries it might crumble to pieces. Glance at libraries, museums, and archives around the country and a sad truth will become instantly clear: The Tucson Museum’s woes are hardly unique.


A software agent and web service based system for digital preservation

From the First Monday website

Digital objects have extensively existed in daily work and life. Some of them often need to be kept accessible and usable for a relatively long period of time. Therefore, digital preservation has emerged as a pressing demand for the communities of archives, libraries, and publishers, and even for ordinary computer users. However, compared to traditional paper and magnetic preservation, digital preservation poses novel challenges to these communities. In this paper, we briefly introduce how the challenges are addressed in the PROTAGE system developed by integrating the widely adopted software agent and Web service technologies.


Speedism, boxism, and markism: Three ideologies of the Internet

From the First Monday website

The Internet is one of man’s greatest inventions. As all transformative technologies, it leaves a stamp on society, social action and values. This is actually a case of the Internet and society mutually constructing each other. Therefore, as the Internet is in constant transformation, social values rebound and impact on further development. This paper is concerned with systems of values grouped around core ideas, here described as ideologies, which continuously renegotiates the development of the Internet.
Three basic ideas are identified as underpinning the development of the packet switching system during the 1960s. It is argued that the historical development of the ARPANET, the Internet and the World Wide Web, as well as current developments, are all variations of these three ideas: the distributed network, the envelope and the identifier. It is maintained that these are translated into value systems, ideologies, held by different social groups. These three ideologies are conceptualised as speedism, boxism and markism. These are discussed in relation to various trends in past and current development of the Internet.


New library technologies dispense with librarians

From the Wall Street Journal website

Faced with layoffs and budget cuts, or simply looking for ways to expand their reach, libraries around the country are replacing traditional, full-service institutions with devices and approaches that may be redefining what it means to have a library.

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

Introducing The Source

Unlocking the value of the information economy (Note: PDF)

From the Harvard Business Review website

Organisations have the strategy. They have the data. But can they close those critical gaps to thrive and survive in the information economy? In a global survey of 1,375 Harvard Business review subscribers, 85% said the ability to generate real value from customer information is key to their organisations’ growth plans post-recession, yet only 36% felt their companies were well-positioned to use their information effectively. Executives know information is a key strategic asset, that managing it well will provide real value and competitive advantage, but they are not sure how to go about it. 54% of CEOs strongly agree that information is a key asset.


Future of the internet: W3C Social Web Report

From Robin Good's MasterNewMedia website

This report presents systems and technologies that are working towards enabling a Social Web, and is followed by a strategy for standardising this work in order to ensure that the Social Web is open, decentralised, and royalty-free. The report focuses on work that permits the description and identification of people, groups and organisations, as well as user-generated content in extensible and privacy-respecting ways. This report describes a common framework for the concepts behind the Social Web and the state of the art in 2010, including current technologies and standards.
We conclude with an analysis of where future research and standardization will benefit users and the entire Social Web ecosystem's growth. We also suggest a strategy for the role of the W3C in the Social Web.

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

Introducing The Source

Mobile technologies in libraries

From the Freepint FUMSI website

When we look at the take-up of mobile technologies in libraries, especially compared with the use of the Internet, it is a little puzzling how little it is taken advantage of. The start of the World Wide Web (with browsers such as Mosaic in 1993) from the existing base of the largely text-based Internet was echoed by the introduction of text messaging (SMS) in 1993, on the early mobile phone networks. Yet while libraries were falling over themselves by 1995 to create web pages, only now do we seem to be cottoning onto the use of mobile technologies such as text messaging. This is even though for years most of our users have owned mobile phones, increasing numbers of which are now smartphones capable of accessing the Internet. Perhaps we'd better start, at last, taking advantage of these near ubiquitous devices?


The future of publishing: Libraries and the changing role of creators and consumers

From the OCLC website

From newspapers to popular magazines, from scholarly journals to e-books, from smart phones to print-on-demand “vending” machines, publishing is more complicated than it once was. The Internet has created new patterns of using information - both in terms of creating content as well as consuming it. Publishers are blending their print business with new digital brands, adding a new level of engagement. Thousands of individuals, companies, schools and businesses have taken the tools of literary and scholarly production into their own hands. Creating a blog or Web page, uploading a photo or video - even designing and publishing a print-on-demand book - are no longer unusual, niche activities, and anyone can create, or even publish, personal content.
Two leaders from different sides of publishing were asked to comment on the future of publishing and how libraries can fit in.


How the internet is rewiring our brains

From The Monthly Magazine website

It's no-one's idea of news that the internet is changing the way we live. But could it actually be fostering ignorance? Nicholas Carr is one of the world’s most ground-breaking thinkers on technology and its impacts. In this conversation with journalist Gideon Haigh, he describes how internet use is changing our brains. Distraction, skim-reading and instant information - all hallmarks of the new technology - have real potential to reduce our capacity for deep concentration and deep reading.

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

Introducing The Source

Rewriting the Book: On the move in the Library of Birmingham

From the Ariadne website

Brian Gambles presents the Library of Birmingham’s vision and strategy for addressing the challenge of mobile digital services.


Library cuts threaten research

From the Scientist website

As journal cancellations sweep across the US, scientists worry about how they will affect research.


Linking School Libraries and Literacy: Young people’s reading habits and attitudes to their school library, and an exploration of the relationship between school library use and school attainment (Note: PDF)

From the National Literacy Trust website

This paper explores what young people think about school libraries - do they use them? If yes, why? If not, why not? It also outlines how school library usage differs according to background demographics and reading attainment, and how it relates to wider enjoyment of reading, attitudes towards reading and reading frequency.


Young People’s Reading: The importance of the home environment and family support (Note: PDF)

From the National Literacy Trust website

This paper explores the types of resources young people have at home that support literacy and how this differs according to demographic background, and how home resources relate to reading enjoyment, attitudes and behaviour as well as reading attainment. It also explores who in their family encourages young people to read, who in their family is seen reading and how frequently young people talk with their family about what they are reading. It also outlines how these differ according to demographic background, and how each of these relate to reading enjoyment, attitudes and behaviour as well as reading attainment.


Public Library 2.0: Culture Change?

From the Ariadne website

Sarah Hammond explores UK public libraries’ growing participation in social media to reach their audiences online, with a focus on blogging.


Retooling libraries for the data challenge

From the Ariadne website

Dorothea Salo examines how library systems and procedures need to change to accommodate research data.


Research data: Who will share what, with whom, when, and why?

From the SelectedWorks website of the Berkeley Electronic Press

The deluge of scientific research data has excited the general public, as well as the scientific community, with the possibilities for better understanding of scientific problems, from climate to culture. For data to be available, researchers must be willing and able to share them. The policies of governments, funding agencies, journals, and university tenure and promotion committees also influence how, when, and whether research data are shared.
Data are complex objects. Their purposes and the methods by which they are produced vary widely across scientific fields, as do the criteria for sharing them. To address these challenges, it is necessary to examine the arguments for sharing data and how those arguments match the motivations and interests of the scientific community and the public. Four arguments are examined:

• to make the results of publicly funded data available to the public
• to enable others to ask new questions of extant data
• to advance the state of science
• to reproduce research
  

Libraries need to consider their role in the face of each of these arguments, and what expertise and systems they require for data curation.

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

Introducing The Source

The Story of the Digital Book (Note: Video)

From the California Digital Library, University of California website

A new 10-minute video, ‘The Story of the Digital Book’, takes you behind the scenes, following the journey of one book from the shelf to the screen. It shows how the UC Libraries work with partner organisations to scan books and make them findable online. It also demonstrates several ways you can use these newly digital books, and explains how they are preserved for the long term.


Generations X and Y lead the way in today’s Digital World

From the ReadWriteWeb website

Forrester Research has released its annual survey of American technology adoption, this time focusing on the generational divide. The findings, which arose from a survey of over 37,000 participants, reveal that when it comes to the adoption of digital tools and technology, the generation gap still exists, with Generation Xers and Yers far ahead of both Boomers and Seniors.
The report delves into everything from mobile use to media consumption and PCs to social networking. The takeaway, says Forrester, is that Gen Y "lives and breathes" a digital social life, Gen Xers are masters of the functional benefits of technology, but those older are much more reserved in nearly all areas.


Is this the final chapter for paper books?

From the Sydney Morning Herald website

E-books are set to revolutionise the way we read. But plot twists may save paper books from going the way of the dinosaur.


Lib-Value: Measuring Value and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries / Regina Mays, Carol Tenopir, and Paula Kaufman (Note: PDF)

From the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) website

Library professionals are looking for new ways to measure and express the value of their libraries to their parent institutions and to measure how well they meet the rapidly changing needs and expectations of their users. They need both to find the best ways to meet patron needs and to communicate the value of their operations to administrators and funders. Developing a strategy to help libraries attain these goals is the focus of the Value, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries project, “Lib-Value” for short.


Impact Measures in Research Libraries (SPEC Kit 318) (Note: PDF)

From the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) website

This publication explores the tools and methods libraries use to gauge the difference they make for their user community, the topics assessment practitioners probe and the results they obtain, the effects of impact assessment, and whether institutions that publicise positive impact evidence see a difference in the level of financial or political support from their parent institutions.


2010 Kids and Family Reading Report (Note: PDF)

From the Scholastic website

Many children want to read books on digital devices and would read for fun more frequently if they could obtain e-books. But even if they had that access, two-thirds of them would not want to give up their traditional print books. These are a few of the findings in the recently released study by Scholastic, the American publisher of the Harry Potter books and the “Hunger Games” trilogy.