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EDUCATION IN A COMPETITIVE AND GLOBALIZING WORLD
ACADEMIC AND DIGITAL LIBRARIES EMERGING DIRECTIONS AND TRENDS
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EDUCATION IN A COMPETITIVE AND GLOBALIZING WORLD
ACADEMIC AND DIGITAL LIBRARIES EMERGING DIRECTIONS AND TRENDS
GLORIA J. HOLBROOK EDITOR
Copyright © 2018 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. We have partnered with Copyright Clearance Center to make it easy for you to obtain permissions to reuse content from this publication. Simply navigate to this publication’s page on Nova’s website and locate the “Get Permission” button below the title description. This button is linked directly to the title’s permission page on copyright.com. Alternatively, you can visit copyright.com and search by title, ISBN, or ISSN. For further questions about using the service on copyright.com, please contact: Copyright Clearance Center Phone: +1-(978) 750-8400 Fax: +1-(978) 750-4470 E-mail: [email protected].
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN: 9H%RRN
Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York
CONTENTS Preface
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Chapter 1
3D Hologram Technology in Academic Libraries Husain F. Ghuloum
Chapter 2
Humanities Students as Users of Polish Digital Libraries: A Comparative Study John Catlow, Mirosław Górny and Jolanta Mazurek
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Index
Academic Libraries and Technology: An Environmental Scan Towards Future Possibilities Raymond J. Uzwyshyn Digitization and Preservation of Library Resources: Challenges in Academic Libraries in Nigeria Posigha Bassil Ebiwolate
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PREFACE In Academic and Digital Libraries: Emerging Directions and Trends, the authors open by identifying the technological revolution in the academic libraries from 1930s until now, finding that the growth of technology in the academic libraries is largely similar to the phases of human growth through four stages; Stage of Birth (1930 - 1959), Stage of Childhood (1960 - 1979), Stage of Youth (1980 - 1989) and Stage of Maturity (1990 - 2017). Therefore, the authors present essential information about 3DHT in order to understand the importance of this technology in our life, particularly in academic libraries. Next, the authors aim to determine how and to what extent humanities students in Poland make use of digital libraries. Emphasis was placed on three factors: time spent working at the library, duration of use of the library, and the proportion of materials used that come from the digital library. Next, the book includes research which conducts an environmental scan of current best practices in academic library technology to reflect on future landscapes. The work takes the premise that by projecting out from current leading-edge technology realities, it is possible to better plan for the future. The final chapter examines the concepts of digitization and preservation of information resources in academic libraries. The need for and process of digitization of Libraries resources, as well as the areas of collaboration in digitization and preservation projects are discussed.
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Chapter 1 - The rapid developments in Information Communication Technology (ICT) have made tremendous changes in the many fields of life. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been quick to take advantage of technological services via integrating technology into their curricula, which in turn has produced new models of education such as electronic learning, distance learning and blended learning. Hence, the advantages offered by ICT in this sector have led most educational institutions and their libraries to integrate ICT services into their departments. Specialists are working very hard to provide an advanced technology, which can benefit from them in many areas. 3D Hologram Technology (3DHT) is one of the most creative of these solutions. In this chapter, the author identifies the technological revolution in the academic libraries from 1930s until now. He found the growth of technology in the academic libraries is largely similar to the phases of human growth through four stages; Stage of Birth (1930 - 1959), Stage of Childhood (1960 1979), Stage of Youth (1980 - 1989) and Stage of Maturity (1990 - 2017). Technological revolution has contributed to changes the academic libraries, and through the enormous development of technology which led specialist to make greater use of 3DHT in higher education institutions. Indeed, scientists managed transfer of individuals or subjects from one place to another without the need to travel. This sounds like something from a science fiction movie or TV show. Hence, this chapter presents essential information about 3DHT, in order to understand the importance of this technology in our life, and in academic libraries in particular. Chapter 2 - The purpose of this study was to determine how and to what extent humanities students in Poland make use of digital libraries. Emphasis was placed on three indicators: time spent working at the library, duration of use of the library, and the proportion of materials used that come from the digital library. Other survey questions related to the frequency of use of digital libraries, evaluation of the libraries, predictions concerning digitisation, and the degree of trust given to resources supplied by digital libraries. A comparison was made between the results of two surveys, conducted in 2010 and in 2015, using the same questionnaire in both cases. In 2010 the questionnaire was sent by e-mail to students who
Preface
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had previously participated in a similar study, whereas in 2015 the questionnaire was posted on the website of the Digital Library of Wielkopolska. In both cases the number of responses was relatively small: 108 in 2010, and 69 in 2015. The results of the two surveys were found to be surprisingly similar. However, there were clear differences as regards the evaluation of digital libraries (related to problems with the DjVu format), the evaluations received in 2015 being less favourable than those of 2010. The 2015 responses indicated a marked increase in the number of students who had been using digital libraries for at least two years, but there were no significant changes in the figures for working time and frequency of use of the libraries. There was also no change in the proportion of materials used by students that comes from digital libraries, which according to the surveys stands at approximately 25%. It can be concluded that the use of Polish digital libraries by humanities students is virtually at its maximum level. The authors hypothesise that the extent of the collections of these libraries places limits on the range of subjects chosen for master’s degree theses based on archival sources. Chapter 3 - This research conducts an environmental scan of current best practices in academic library technology to reflect on future landscapes. The work takes the premise that by projecting out from current leading-edge technology realities, it is possible to better plan for the future. Academic Library learning commons, 3D printing labs, makerspaces, online data research repositories and information literacy are overviewed to reflect on future academic library vistas. Academic needs and library areas are surveyed through themes of: collaborative, networked and emergent technologies, digital and information literacy, open source frameworks, online collections, the scholarly record and artificial intelligence. This research is meant to provoke and spark discussion, surveying present best practice thematic areas through various current sources and the author’s own pragmatic work and research in academic libraries and leading-edge information technologies. Chapter 4 - The main purpose of digitization and preservation is to improve or enhance accessibility and use of information resources in academic libraries. The chapter examined the concepts of digitization and
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preservation of information resources in academic libraries. It discussed the significances, need and process of digitization of Libraries resources. It also discussed the areas of collaboration in digitization and preservation projects. Finally it indicated some challenges of digitization and preservation of information resources in academic libraries in Nigeria. The chapter concluded that digitization of information resources have dominated the transmission of information in academic environment.
In: Academic and Digital Libraries ISBN: 978-1-53613-596-1 Editor: Gloria J. Holbrook © 2018 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 1
3D HOLOGRAM TECHNOLOGY IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES Husain F. Ghuloum*, PhD Department of Library and Information Science, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) Kuwait City, Kuwait
ABSTRACT The rapid developments in Information Communication Technology (ICT) have made tremendous changes in the many fields of life. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been quick to take advantage of technological services via integrating technology into their curricula, which in turn has produced new models of education such as electronic learning, distance learning and blended learning. Hence, the advantages offered by ICT in this sector have led most educational institutions and their libraries to integrate ICT services into their departments. Specialists are working very hard to provide an advanced technology, which can benefit from them in many areas. 3D Hologram Technology (3DHT) is one of the most creative of these solutions.
*
Corresponding Author Emails: [email protected]; [email protected].
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Husain F. Ghuloum In this chapter, the author identifies the technological revolution in the academic libraries from 1930s until now. He found the growth of technology in the academic libraries is largely similar to the phases of human growth through four stages; Stage of Birth (1930 - 1959), Stage of Childhood (1960 - 1979), Stage of Youth (1980 - 1989) and Stage of Maturity (1990 - 2017). Technological revolution has contributed to changes the academic libraries, and through the enormous development of technology which led specialist to make greater use of 3DHT in higher education institutions. Indeed, scientists managed transfer of individuals or subjects from one place to another without the need to travel. This sounds like something from a science fiction movie or TV show. Hence, this chapter presents essential information about 3DHT, in order to understand the importance of this technology in our life, and in academic libraries in particular.
Keywords: academic library, 3D, hologram, technology, ICT
INTRODUCTION The advantages offered by ICT in this sector have led most educational institutions and their libraries to integrate ICT services into their departments. Specialists are working very hard to provide an advanced technology, which can benefit from them in many areas. Hologram Technology is one of the most creative of these solutions. In this chapter, the author identifies the historical stages of technological revolution in the academic libraries in the period between 1930s until now. Furthermore, he presents essential information about 3D Hologram Technology (3DHT), in order to understand the importance of this technology in our life, and in the academic libraries in particular. The researcher identifies frameworks for main factors to implement 3DHT into academic libraries.
TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES ICT services have a high value in the many sectors. Moreover, the spread of ICT became a revolution for our daily life, especially within the
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academic environment. Hence, the technological developments in academic libraries have influenced in supporting learning and research positively. Andaleeb and Simmonds (1998) described “the academic library as the heart of the learning community, providing a place for students and faculty to do their research and their knowledge” (p. 2). However, in the light of ICT integration, Abdoulaye, and Majid (2000) confirmed that, the “ICT-services in academic libraries have brought about a revolution in information generation and usage” (p. 382). Hence, the role of an academic library completely changes and so it could be described not just as a heart but also as the blood vessels for any higher education institution. Therefore, Brophy (2005) confirms that, “there is no doubt academic libraries [today] are changing rapidly, finding new roles and new ways to play traditional roles” (p. 39). The availability of ICT services in academic libraries have offered a wide range of access to information globally without geographical barrier and timely too. However, there were several stages have contributed effectively to the growth of the implementation of ICT services for this advanced stage in academic libraries. In my point of view, the growth of technology in the academic libraries is largely similar to the phases of human growth through four stages:
First Stage (1930 – 1959): Stage of Birth This phase represents the birth of technology in the academic libraries. At first, the usage of technology was limited to the larger university libraries as it was very expensive. However, many experts have believed that, the ability of technology would solve a lot of problems and offer many services that cannot be done without technology. For instance, Brophy (2005) confirmed that, it was necessary to use technology within university libraries to replace some manual routines in various library operations such as reservations and other aspects of circulation control, as well as saving the time and effort for the staff.
Figure 1. A punched card system for the IBM computer (Kent et al., 1975).
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Figure 2. The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) (Richey, 1997).
Simultaneously, (Rodney, 1958) stated that, technology would solve several long-standing library problems; storage, personnel shortage, declining budgets, rising overheads and repetitious procedures. There are some examples of technology usage in academic libraries in this stage: In 1936, Kent et al. (1975, p. 338) confirmed that the first punch cardbased system in academic library was “installed by Ralph H. Parter, who was the Loan Librarian, for circulation control at the University of Texas” (Figure 1). The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) (Figure 2). According to Richey (1997) the ENIAC was the first publicly known programmable computer, which was built at the University of Pennsylvania in 1942 under the direction of John W. Mauchly. The project reached operational status in 1945, but was not made public till 1946. After the War World II, William (1982, p. 2) confirmed that “the colleges and universities adopted themselves admirably to the requirement to grow and prosper.” In 1949, the University of Florida Library (UFL) strived to acquire the latest technology to develop their services established the new loan system
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dependable on the punch cards, as well as University of Georgia Library (UGL) and University of Virginia Library (UVL) (Williams, 2002). In addition, many companies introduced various forms of technological equipment and devices, however, these were not used extensively. The computer had been in use for about a decade of that period (1946-1956) but, as Bader (2001) indicated, “the utilization of computer in the university library’s activities in 1950 was very limited” (p. 255). Therefore, it was called this phase as the stage of technological birth in the academic libraries.
Second Stage (1960 - 1979): Stage of Childhood There is a significant relationship between the stage of childhood and the growth of technology in academic libraries during the period of 19601979. Like in childhood when humans are gradually changing and growing, the utilization of the computer’s applications in the university libraries began to grow and change gradually too. This growth contributed significantly to the changing of many concepts and activities which were used in these institutions in the past. The following attempts into some of academic libraries could be clearly showed the growth of technology in this stage. According to (Thompson 1982): “the first time in the U.S. full-text documents were stored electronically and accessible on-line occurred in 1960 at the Health Law Library Center of the University of Pittsburgh where statutes of the State of Pennsylvania and bodies of legal text were put into machine-readable form. This was so successful a venture that it was later converted to a commercial enterprise [called] the Aspen Systems Corporation, and adopted by the Department of Defense as Project LITE (Legal Information Through Electronics)” (p. 61).
In Canada, in 1962, the University of Toronto Library (UTL) helped the Province of Ontario to build five universities libraries. The main task was to determine a record format, coordinated with that developed later for
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the Library of Congress’s MARC project. Eventually, UTL established The University of Toronto Library Automation Systems. The early decisions have enabled the UTL to develop electronic indexes and full-text document distribution systems at a rate that has kept it among the world’s leading libraries (Bregzis et al. 2002). After that, specifically in the 1964, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in United State started a project called The Medlars System, in order to computerise the library’s operations (Miles 1983). In the same year, the Centre for Documentation and Communication Research (CDCR) at the Western Reserve University (WRU) also used the computer model GE22 for the search and retrieval of documents in the field of mining (Bourne 2007). In September 1964, the Automation of Medical Libraries at the Harvard University and Columbia University began a project with the computer model IBM 1401 to product catalogues cards for their libraries. Furthermore, the model was used in the loan and acquisition services as well as to control different journals’ movements (Cruz 2005). The University of Chicago (UC), in 1966, began work to develop an integrated system relying on a computer to fix and develop some library services such as acquisition and cataloging services. This work started effectively in 1968 (Fussler and Payne 1968). In December 1966, the Illinois State Library began accumulating circulation data on a daily basis which was then processed in the evening, using an IBM 1031. Initially, this program did not allow queries of books checked out; this became available in 1969 (Hammer 1976). Atkins (1991) clarified that, “a key factor in the growth of library automation was the founding of computer-based bibliographic data cooperative network. Before these utilities could exist, some type of standardised bibliographic format had to be devised” (p. 54). Due to this in 1967, the presidents of the colleges and universities in the state of Ohio founded The Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) to develop a computerised system in which the libraries of Ohio academic institutions could share resources and reduce costs. OCLC’s first offices were in the Main Library on the campus of the Ohio State University (OSU), and its first computer room was housed in the OSU Research
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Centre. It was from these academic roots that Frederick G. Kilgour, OCLC’s first president, oversaw the growth of OCLC from a regional computer system for 54 Ohio colleges into an international network. After two decades, this centre is not confined to the University of Ohio, but has spread significantly around the world. Hence, the legal name of the corporation became the OCLC Online Computer Library Centre. Between 1970 and 1979, hundreds of specialists established many systems to computerise the library operations. The first of these systems was Periodical Holdings in the Library of the School of Medicine (PHILSOM). It was used in the School of Medicine Library at Washington University. This system is on-line and includes the holdings of twenty-one medical libraries (Crawford et al. 1983). In 1975, the University of Bratislava Library, Slovak National Library and State scientific Library at Kosice were developing systems in Slovakia (Czechoslovakia previously) using the Tesla RPP 1968 computers. These were batch systems for cataloging and indexing (Crosch 1995). In my point of view, all these attempts and many others were aimed to offer the latest technology in their institutions during this stage, as well as to provide the greatest number of information sources to their users via the computer. These attempts lead the specialists in the academic libraries to emerge a new concept; “Information Technology” or “IT” (Boden 1993). This concept had completely changed the roles and tasks of libraries in the academic environment, as well as shifting the libraries to the “Information Centres”. In addition, academic libraries, in light of the “IT” concept, sought to build computer networks between each other which would provide as much information as possible for their users. However, we will see the outcomes of these attempts in the next stages.
Third Stage (1980 – 1989); Stage of Youth During this stage, the growth of information technology in academic libraries was active and full of vitality. For this reason, it was described as the “stage of youth.” This period reaching from 1980-1989 saw some of
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the first important developments in academic library automation, coupled with the increased use of computers in bibliographic processing activities, and database searching. For example: In 1980, The American Chemical Society (ACS) published 16 primary research journals; it was independent of the CAS division (Chemical Abstracts Service, producers at the time of the leading on-line chemical database) but relied on them for technical input. During this period, Dr. Lowen Garson and Stanley Cohen of ACS took one journal, called Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and made it available as a full text test file on The Bibliographic Retrieval Service (BRS) for the very first time in the United States. Some 980 documents were involved which included all the articles from 1976–1978; the full text amounted to 16 megabytes of storage (Thompson 1982). Early in the 1980s, Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs) became more sophisticated and popular, as well as more dependable at many academic libraries (Budd 2005). Due to the simplicity of using it, OPAC began to replace card catalogs in many academic libraries during this period. Hence, Brophy (2005) confirms that, without OPAC the library systems would not be as integrated as they are today. As we can see OPACs became an essential part in the integrated library system as Deddens (2002) also indicates. Another example of one of the more successful systems during this period was the Northwestern Online Total Integrated System (NOTIS), which was developed and marketed at Northwestern University (Atkins 1991). NOTIS was unique then and still is. It captured the notion of different user interfaces or terminals and managed a common user interface for all applications that used the platform. Therefore, a key on the keyboard would in all applications mean the same. In 1981, the University of Missouri developed a program on a TRS-80 which the local public library used as a Telnet host. Smith (1982) said the program enabled the library to communicate with other libraries within the local and state library networks regarding interlibrary loan requests and general electronic mail messages (Figure 3).
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Figure 3. TRS-80 Model 4 (Deni, Szijarto, Eisler & Fantauzzo, 1983).
However, a big leap in the world of storage and retrieval information in the library and information sector in this stage which called the CDROM (Computer Disk-Rear Only Memory) was emerged. Wortman (1987) indicated that, in the mid-1980’s CD-ROM was considered to offer great possibilities so it became a popular medium for the storage and retrieval of bibliographical and full-text databases. This technology offered many benefits, therefore it convinced more libraries to use CD-ROM products to assist in acquiring materials. CD-ROMs such as BIP Plus and Bookbank were widely used in academic libraries. (Chen 1987) reported that, the use of CD-ROM products and services in libraries had begun to grow immensely in the mid-1980s. According to Farrington (1997), the ability to link CD-ROMs on a Local Area Network to allow multiple users to search simultaneously proved to be an advantage, however, by the 20th century, CD-ROMs appeared to have had their heyday and were being to be supplanted by the World Wide Web. An example of the spread of CDROMs in the academic libraries, in April 1986, the first CD-ROM equipment in China was successfully installed and began to offer services at the Scientific and Technological Information Institute of Oceanography (Yang 1991). After two years, Hu (1990) indicated that more than 20 university libraries and information centres imported CD-ROM based information systems. He added, in October 1989, almost 100 college and
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university libraries utilised CD-ROM systems in more than 30 subject fields. Shahien (2000) reverts the reason of the rapid spread of CD-ROM in the academic libraries to its characteristics, such as “high storage capacity, high reliability, and low cost.” However, one thing challenging the advantages of was CD-ROMs and is that information on a compact disk is in a Read Only format and cannot be amended or altered by the user. Perhaps the role of consortia in sharing expertise on library automation was another reason for the growth in such institutions in the eighties. Hence, the concept of networking became a focus in the early 1980s as many countries had developed or were developing national networks by that time. Foskett and Perry (1993) indicated that, in 1982, libraries in the UK formed a Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL) to share computerised cataloguing or bibliographic information. The libraries in this consortium included major libraries at the Universities of London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester and others. Although most of these libraries were already computerised they had difficulty sharing catalogue information. This was caused by a lack of common cataloguing standards, different levels of automation coupled with incompatibility in hardware and software used, and a lack of coordinated policies. The University Grants Committee, later the Higher Education Funding Council, then provided the funding to establish The Joint Academic Network (JANET) to link the computer centres of all the UK universities. This provided access to the bibliographic records of one library to another. In the late-eighties, the name of “JANET” changed to “SUPERJANET.” This was because the high speed part of JANET. This name was introduced in 1989 for a new initiative to provide an advanced optical fibre broadband network at an affordable price for the higher education community. SuperJANET consists of a number of Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), including the London MAN to which Middlesex University is connected. SuperJANET allows JANET to transport video and audio as well as other data (Foskett and Perry 1993). As we have indicated in the previous stage, there were many attempts to work networks between libraries. One of the most notable of those
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attempts was the Western Library Network (WLN). This attempt had lead many academic institutions to establish a number of other library networks. Some of the major ones are:
AMIGOS Bibliographic Council in the southwestern United State. AMIGOS began in 1974 but the real work for this institution in academic sector was in the eighties (Wedgeworth 1993). CLASS (California Authority for Systems and Services) was formed by a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement in June, 1976, to assist in developing and implementing a system for library program development and resource sharing. However, Luquire (1985) indicated that, in the 1980s, CLASS became recognisable between the other agencies. At this time CLASS began to change its roles so its officials shifted its name to Cooperative Library Agency for Systems and Services as it became more inclusive. SOLINET, the Southeastern Library Network, founded in 1973 by 99 visionary libraries. However, Gribbin (1988) confirms that, by the 1980s SOLINET worked in collaboration with many partners, from local to international, to provide leadership for cooperative action, improve access to information, and enabling members to effectively anticipate and address the region’s needs for education, economic development, and improved quality of life. Today, SOLINET has a member of more than 720 libraries of all sizes and types: academic, research, public, school, corporate, medical, law, and special, all of which have led it to become the largest regional library network in the United States (Boden 1993).
According to Wedgeworth (1993) all these networks “serve as brokers for libraries of OCLC cooperative cataloguing services, as well as one of the many new services developed in the 1980s.” At the end of this stage, information technology had grown staggeringly and the libraries, particularly academic libraries, began to change their sources from print to electronic. This change was due to many reasons, perhaps the foremost reason was the cost of electronic publishing
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was and is cheaper than print. The growth and vitality of information technology in this period had been led by many experts to build electronic libraries or virtual libraries. However, many librarians did not accept this idea, because they felt that their role would diminish in these institutions. Hence, they fear to dispense them in the future.
Fourth Stage (1990-2017): Stage of Maturity In the 1990s, the academic libraries experienced a dramatic paradigm shift from increasing library construction and the building of physical collections of books, journals, magazines, microfiche, and microfilm, to diverting funds to computer terminals, networks, electronic databases, and the virtual library (Budd, 2005). That means the information technology in the academic libraries during this period have reached a stage of maturity. One of the successful inventions during this period was Stumpers-L. Olson (1994) indicated that, in 1992, reference librarians made use of an electronic LISTSERV called Stumpers-L, which was created by Ann Feeney, a graduate library school student at Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois, in the United States. It was moved to Concordia University, then back to Rosary, which was then renamed Dominican University. From 2002 to 2005 it was maintained by the Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science program. At the end of 2005 Dominican University ceased hosting the list. A replacement list, known as Project Wombat, commenced in January 2006, and is hosted by Project Gutenberg. Originally, the Stumpers-L archive was a gopher resource, but migrated to the World Wide Web once the web became more universal. However, the World Wide Web (WWW) or the Web, one of the most important inventions this age, has begun to use in academic libraries at this stage. According to Levine and Young (2010) Web was created in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, however, Weibel (1995, p. 7) confirmed that, the Web grew in academic libraries from “about one percent of backbone traffic in September 1993 to about 20 percent by 1995” and has continued to expand dramatically since. Branin (1998, p.
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10) agrees with Weibel when he mentioned that “in January 1996, there were an estimated 90,000 Web on the Internet, and the Web is doubling in size every fifty days with a home page added every four seconds” (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Internet growth between 1994 and 2017 (Internet Systems Consortium, 2017).
Furthermore, an OCLC announcement in September 1999 confirmed that, there were 3.6 million Web sites of which 2.2 million were accessible to the public. The average Web site was 129 pages, an increase over the 1998 average of 114 pages per site (OCLC, 1999). We should not forget the important role which the Web search engines like Google, Yahoo, Baidu, Microsoft and more play in disseminating as much information as possible on the Internet. As part of its effort to make offline information searchable online, Google Inc. today announced that it is working with the libraries of Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the University of Oxford as well as the New York Public Library to digitally scan books from their collections so that users worldwide can search for them using Google. It was very impressed with the vision of Larry Page, Google co-founder and president of Products, who says:
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“even before we started Google, we dreamed of making the incredible breadth of information that librarians so lovingly organize searchable online”. He completes that “today we are pleased to announce this program to digitize the collections of these amazing libraries so that every Google user can search them instantly.” (Google Press, 2004, p. 1)
With the presence of the “ICT Revolution” and the problem of the “Information Explosion,” information experts are striving to find good solutions to solve this dilemma. Therefore, William G. Bowen, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in 1995 established the JSTOR (Journal Storage) project. This project began as a service to ease the problem of a shortage of space to store back issues of scholarly journals, in addition to increasing access to journal content. Furthermore, it was as a solution to one of the problems faced by libraries, especially research and university libraries, due to the increasing number of academic journals in existence (Bowen, 1995). According to Taylor (2001) “JSTOR provides full-text searches of digitised back issues of several hundred well-known journals, dating back to 1665 in the case of the Philosophical Transactions.” With the rapid spread of Internet resources in the academic communities, the academic libraries strive to acquire and provide the best electronic resources for their users. Collins and Howell (1996, p. 29) note a 1993 Library Journal survey, which found “electronic resources in more than 80 percent of public libraries and 99 percent of all academic libraries.” This means many academic library services will change undoubtedly. In this stage, academic libraries are changing faster than at any time in their history. Information communication technology, online databases and digitised archives, social networks have put the academic library back at the heart of teaching, learning and academic research on campus. Hence, (Brophy, 2005) suggests that academic libraries need professional staff and users who have the ability to keep up with these developments. According to the previous stages, it can be clearly seen that, the new technology has changed many of the academic library’s functions, mission and user services even before it has reached a stage of maturity (Figure 5).
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Figure 5. The stages of academic library between 1930 and 2017.
However, the question now: will this revolution stop at this point? Or it will see new changes in the future? Silverstone, a Los Angeles media guru and non-librarian, envisions a visual infrastructure of video-displaying walls, situation room theaters, learning “cafeterias,” and dispersed, themecentered constructions utilizing multi-media “books” and other knowledgebased packages, exhibits, arcades and laboratories. Without a doubt, the utilization of multiple media such as I-max or/and hologram technology will create new changes in the academic libraries in the future.
3D HOLOGRAM TECHNOLOGY (3DHT) The word, hologram is composed of the Greek terms, “holos” for “whole view” and gram meaning “written.” A hologram is a threedimensional record of the positive interference of laser light waves. A technical term for holography is wave front reconstruction (UniversalHologram, 2009). Dennis Gabor, the Hungarian physicist working on advancement research for electron microscopes, discovered the basic technology of holography in 1947. However, the technique was not fully utilized until the 1960s, when laser technology was perfected. 3D Holographic Technology (3DHT) was created in 1962 by scientists in both
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the United States and the Soviet Union. However, 3DHT has advanced notably since the 1980s owing to low-cost solid-state lasers that became easily accessible for consumers in devices such as DVD players (Chavis, 2009). The way 3DHT operates is by creating the illusion of three-dimensional imagery. A light source is projected onto the surface of an object and scattered. A second light illuminates the object to create interference between both sources. Essentially, the two light sources interact with each other and cause diffraction, which appears as a 3D image. Through the enormous development of technology, many scientists began to make greater use of 3DHT. Indeed, scientists managed transfer of individuals from one place to another without the need to travel. This sounds like something from a science fiction movie or TV show, but this phenomenon had already taken place in American elections in 2008, when Jessica Yellin, in Chicago, was `beamed up` into Wolf Blitzer’s studio in New York with a very realistic display (Figure 6). This event attracted millions of viewers to watch the hologram effect via a YouTube clip. In fact, “CNN Hologram” was the 22nd most searched term on Google shortly after the coverage (Welch, 2008).
Figure 6. A diagram of the CNN Hologram (Serrao, 2008).
The Musion System Company seamlessly integrated their 3D holographic display technology with Cisco’s TelePresence system to create the world’s first real time virtual presentation (Musion System, 2009).
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Hence, 3D Holograms have broken out of the world of science fiction and fantasy and are about to become common currency between many countries around the world. Live and life-size 3D TelePresence holograms can now interact with their remote audiences, whether they are a band performing on stage, a politician delivering a keynote speech, or a CEO holding an interactive meeting with colleagues around the world.
The Importance of 3DHT We can see the importance of 3DHT in many areas, such as marketing and advertising, society, the environment and education.
The Importance of 3DHT on Marketing and Advertising 3DHT clearly has a powerful future. James (2009) pointed out that, “As this audiovisual display continues to get high profile credibility, we are likely to see more companies advertising their products or marketing business in this way.” As examples of marketing using 3D holograms, we could mention Lexus in NYC in 2005, fashion designers like Alexander McQueen and his holographic Kate Moss advertisement in 2006 or Diesel in 2007 (Adverblog, 2008). In July 2009, marketing statistics show that using 3DHT contributed significantly to increasing the number of the UK customers (Ghuloum, 2010). The Importance of 3DHT in Society The importance of 3DHT in society lies in the interdependence of human relations. For instance, the Pentagon wants to create computerized hologram-like moms and dads that can talk with the kids when their parents are deployed far from home. Navy commander Russell Shilling, the experimental psychologist overseeing the program, said “a child may get a response from saying ‘I love you,’ or ‘I miss you’ or ‘Good night`... the goal: reassuring little ones whose parent has suddenly disappeared” (Thompson, 2009). Another example on this issue is the virtual assistant. For instance, the virtual holographic assistant can help you to prepare a
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meal in the kitchen, or stand beside you and talk about different topics. Although this may sound like pure fiction, there is reason to believe that it could become reality in just a few years’ time.
The Importance of 3DHT for the Environment The importance of 3DHT for the environment lies in reducing the air pollution caused by aircraft, which burn hydrocarbon fuels, something which is considered one of main reasons for global warming. Prince Charles confirmed this fact in a green energy conference in Abu Dhabi, as shown in Figure 7. He was keen to prove his green credentials by noting that if he had chosen to appear in person, his long-haul flight would have emitted around 15 tons of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas which is causing global warming. Hence, he appeared as a hologram to congratulate Abu Dhabi for its plans to harness the power of natural resources to create a new zero carbon city called “Masdar.” As the 3DHT, Prince Charles left the audience with the words: “I am now going to vanish into thin air, leaving not a carbon footprint behind!” (Jacob, 2008, p. 2).
Figure 7. Prince Charles appears in Abu Dhabi as a hologram (Mail Online News, 2007).
Trewin Restorick, of the energy saving charity Global Action Plan, told Sky News: “It’s been estimated it contributes to 3.5% of the world’s
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greenhouse gases we’re pumping into the atmosphere so businesses need to follow Prince Charles’ example” (Jacob, 2008).
The Importance of 3DHT in Education In this area we can take advantage of 3DHT in different forms. For example, holograms now allow students to be taught by a “virtual teacher” who could be many kilometers away. The process goes a step beyond video conferencing in that the hologram teacher appears to be in the classroom, and can see and speak to the pupils as if they were all in the same room. The system was used by Edex, the largest supplier of Internet connections to the UK education market, at the BETT2000 educational technology show in London (BBC News, 2000). Moreover, 3DHT can enhance the educational process by bringing famous characters to life again from the past, and they speak about themselves and/or explain something as an assistant teacher. For instance, there have certainly been many worthy philosophers and learned men in world history, perhaps none more celebrated that the Greek Philosopher Plato. Unfortunately we are unable to talk with Plato as he is from a past period, while we are in the present period moving into the future period by hologram. In Seoul’s Alive Gallery Project, holograms and 3-D animation technology bring 62 worldrenowned masterpieces of Western art to life again. In this project we can see the Mona Lisa answering questions from students, such as “Why don’t you have any eyebrows?” to which she answers, “When I was alive, a woman who had big forehead was considered a beauty … so most women had their eyebrows taken off for beauty”. Or, Michelangelo explains the fresco technique he is using to paint “The Last Judgment.” He explains the work of another masterpiece he had completed earlier on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. A pop-up screen shows a close-up of the famous “Creation of Adam” (Cho, 2008, p. 1). However, 3DHT, as with any technology, has some disadvantages. Firstly, there is the problem of price. Secondly, 3DHT needs to be connected to a fast Internet, next-generation broadband Internet network with a minimum guaranteed constant speed of 20 megabits per second. Finally, to use this technology perfectly, we will need a screening room with compatible lighting and video technology, which costs around
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150,000 US dollars to install, as well as a display screen for viewing the holograms on, priced at around 215,000 US dollars (Bobolicu, 2009). Nevertheless, Ian O’Connell, director of Musion, a company that is pioneering the use of live hologram technology, believes that this sort of fixture will be a mainstay in many sectors in the future, perhaps even within the next five years. “It’s going to necessitate a change in architectural design for residential homes for it to be embraced fully,” he said. “It’s going to need a room that can accommodate the screening and delivery technology. But I think we’re five years away from holograms being a ubiquitous, affordable tool” (Bobolicu, 2009, p. 2).
3DHT in Academic Libraries Information and Communication Technology (ICT) holds the key to the success of modernizing information services. Today, ICT services have impacted on every sphere of academic library activity as well as presenting an opportunity to provide value-added information services and access to a wide variety of digital-based information resources to their users. If we want to talk about the future of the academic library we need to think deeply toward the futuristic services, such as “Hologram Technology.” 3DHT could be used in an academic library in different ways. For instance:
Holo-Room The Holo-Room is a room equipped with equipment, devices and various information sources in a hologram form in the academic library. This room contributes greatly to providing the information in a new way for the students, helping them develop their skills and abilities according to their field, such as Medicine, Engineering, Art, History and others. For instance, medical colleges can allocate a room in their libraries equipped with a hologram system. This room can assist students to learn and discover the anatomy of the heart, brain, eye and other parts of the human body (Figure 8).
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University of Michigan 3-D Lab employee Sean Petty stands a few inches away. Petty wears special glasses (HoloLens) and uses a joystick to arbitrarily slice away layers of the cadaver, revealing deep red muscle tissue. He enlarges and turns the body for a better view of the detailed anatomy inside. Alexandre DaSilva, assistant professor at the U-M School of Dentistry, called the hologram technology cadaver the opportunity of a lifetime for himself and for his students, residents and doctoral students working with the technology. “The first time I saw the technology I almost cried,” said DaSilva, who also heads the Headache and Orofacial Pain Effort at U-M Dentistry and the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute. “In my wildest dreams, I never thought that this would be possible” (Dent, 2017).
Figure 8. Hololens the new way of learning human anatomy (Dockrill, 2015).
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With its ability to give the real world a digital assist, hologram technology can be useful also for engineering students. Microsoft is showing again how HoloLens can help engineering designers via collaboration with the University of Cambridge’s construction IT lab. “We have never been able to bring 3D models from buildings and bridges off our screens and onto the real structure,” says Cambridge’s Ionnis Brilakis. Using the HoloLens, however, engineers can overlay a design onto a real world bridge or building (or vice-versa), making inspections simpler and safer (Figure 9).
Figure 9. Commercial applications for the HoloLens now include checking bridges remotely (Scialom, 2016).
The researchers showed two potential use cases for the HoloLens. In the first, called “automated progress monitoring,” inspectors can actually “bring the design information to the construction site” via Microsoft’s HoloLens Sketchup Viewer, says graduate student Marianna Kopsida. That way, they can visualize relevant engineering data onsite in order to check building progress and take corrective actions where needed. Not that 3DHT only has eyes on the sciences. Subjects like anthropology and art history could stand to benefit from it, but really, any academic course featuring strong visual concepts may be suitable.
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Multipurpose Hall An academic library, in the light of great development in technology and media, should provide a multipurpose hall equipped with a hologram service. Regardless of the spatial and temporal barrier, this hall helps the students and researchers to attend global conferences and seminars for special scientists in their field. Furthermore, a famous scientist or lecturer could face more than 200 students and give a lecture complete with expressions and body language via hologram. For example, Figure 10 shows that, computer students can attend Bill Gates’ lectures directly via holograms, even if Mr. Gates is in New York and the lecture is at the Tokyo University Library in Japan.
Figure 10. The diagram illustrates how a holograms can be used in the multipurpose room in the Academic library.
Strategic Framework to Implement 3DHT into Academic Libraries Ghuloum and Ahmed (2011) confirmed that, in order to implement a new technology in academic libraries, it is necessary to take Technological, Human, Financial and Socio-Cultural Factors fully into account. Therefore,
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these four factors were the key role in building a strategic framework to determine the successful implementation of 3DHT in academic libraries. The framework, as shown in Figure 11, represents a road map for deployment of 3DHT implementation in academic libraries. Below there are some factors about how to implement 3DHT in academic libraries:
Figure 11. Strategic Framework to Implement 3DHT in Academic Libraries.
Technological Factors The technological factor is one of the most important elements in the success of any institution. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been quick to take advantage of technological services by integrating 3DHT into the learning process, which in turn has produced new models of learning such as electronic learning, distance learning and blended learning. Furthermore, HEIs have been striving to use the latest ICT facilities and services in their libraries to offer the greatest possible services for their
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users. Click, Wiley and Houlihan, (2017) stated that academic libraries should establish, promote, maintain and evaluate a range of ICT services that support the institution’s mission and goals. However, a good ICT infrastructure should be provided by raising the level of 3DHT service in these institutions. Hence, to fulfill these missions academic libraries commit to:
Provide a sufficient amount of ICT Equipment that fits with the numbers of users. Provide very high speed Internet connection throughout the library. Give access to a range of hologram services and sources which support the learning process. Provide an appropriate number of academic Holo-lens software. Offer a wide variety of Hologram and learning labs in the library to enhance learning and student success. Provide a high quality of maintenance as well as upgrades of hardware and software periodically.
Human Factors Human resources can play an essential role in improving and enhancing any organization. In addition, the awareness of leadership in the higher education institutions contributes significantly to identifying a vision and mission for the implementation of new technology into academic libraries. Husain and Ahmed (2011) confirm that the relationship between good management, qualified staff and the awareness of end-users reinforces the value of any academic library. Therefore, the academic library administration should set up training programs and workshops for staff (IT staff and/or Librarian) and end-users (students, Faculty members and researchers) in order to improve their skills, abilities and awareness to cope with the digital era and use the hologram services properly. Moreover, if academic library administration wants to develop new
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technology, such as 3DHT, it should develop appropriate policies, objectives and strategies.
Socio-Cultural Factors ICT has made global social and cultural interaction very easy. We now live in an interdependent global society, where people can interact and communicate swiftly and efficiently. News and information can now be transmitted in minutes. Individuals can easily stay in contact with members of their families who reside in other countries or make new friends across the world. In fact, the majority of civil society organizations resort to ICTs today in one way or another. However, it would be short-sighted to understand the use of ICTs as merely enhancing existing activities. In the long run, the use of ICTs can bring with it fundamental changes to civil society. Therefore, in the light of the hologram era, ICT literacy among communities should be improved. Financial Factors The financial factor is considered to be the most important element for the success of any organization. Regarding the academic libraries, many studies confirm that this factor contributes significantly to improving the library’s role by providing modern technological equipment and services. According to the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL, 2011), an academic library’s budget must not be less than 6% of its organization budget, in order to meet the reasonable expectations of library users when balanced against other institutional needs, as well as to support appropriate levels of staffing and provide adequate staff compensation. According to Ghuloum (2010, p. 702), “a high cost of installation are the main barrier that may hinder the integration of 3DHT into learning environments.” Guidelines on Using the Strategic Framework With regard to how to use the framework proposed (Figure 11), first it is important to understand the aim of the strategic framework, which is to
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activate the role of the factors and link them together in order to implement the 3DHT in an academic library. Therefore, in order to make the framework more accurate these factors should be interrelated and complementary to each other. For instance, the leadership of any higher education must be cooperating with the academic library`s management by sharing the vision and mission. Furthermore, by developing policies, objectives and strategies which contribute to providing ICT services and facilities that fit the users` needs. However, these services must undergo maintenance periodically to improve their performance. Regarding the financial support, the administration of academic libraries should prepare an appropriate annual budget depending on the international standard of academic libraries. Concerning the knowledge society factor, ICT literacy among the communities should be improved, especially regarding the use of 3DHT within the academic institution.
CONCLUSION Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed library services globally. Most current information is recorded in electronic format. ICT has also contributed immensely to the performance of librarians in the discharge of their duties, such as in cataloguing, reference services, circulation management, serials control, etc. This chapter has been divided into two main sections. The first part presented the historical stages of the technological revolution in academic libraries by identifying four major stages: stage of Birth (1930- 1959), stage of Childhood (19601979), stage of Youth (1980-1989) and stage of Maturity (1990-2017). The second section presents essential information about 3DHT, in order to understand the importance of this technology in our lives, and in academic libraries in particular. Moreover, it suggests a strategic framework for the implementation of 3DHT services in academic libraries. The vision of academic libraries under this strategic framework is to become a dynamic environment of 3DHT excellence, propelling any academic library to reach
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the stage of maturity. However, testing the proposal is critical for measuring the efficiency and the value that is added to academic libraries.
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Gribbin, H. J. (1988). The Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET): a topical history and chronology, 1973-1983 Association of Southeastern Research. Hammer, D. P. (1976). The information age: its development, its impact. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press. Universal-Hologram. (2009). What is holography? And, How to light a hologram (Online). Available from: http://universalhologram.com/ what_is_holography.htm. Hu, O. L. (1990). The development plan of the national central library bibliographic information network. Encyclopedia of library and information science. Vol. 51, 14-15. Internet Systems Consortium (2017). ISC Internet Domain Survey (Online). ISC, Available from: https://www.isc.org/network/survey/ Jacob, C. (2008, April 7). Prince Charles delivers virtual speech as hologram. Sky News. Available From: http://news.sky.com/skynews/ Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/20080641301500. James, R. (2009). 3D holographic projection - The future of advertising (Online). Available from: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/gadgets_ and_gizmos/article_1509.shtml. Kent, A., Lancour, H., & Daily, J. (1975). Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Enquiry Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science Vol. 12. New York: Marcel Dekker. Levine, R., & Young, M. (2010). The internet for dummies (12 ed.). Indiana: Wiley Publishing. Luquire, W. (1985). Experiences of Library Network Administrators: Papers Based on the Symposium” from Our Past, Toward 2000”. Psychology Press. Mail Online News. (2007, December 13). Prince Charles will appear at conference as a hologram. Available from: http://pdf.amazing discoveries.org/References/RtR/Lec4/Lec4-Charles_Will_ Appear_at_Conference_as_a_Hologram.pdf. Miles, W. D. (1982). History of the national library of medicine. US: AGRS.
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Musion System. (2009). Musion on-stage holographic telepresence (Online). Available from: http://www.musion.co.uk/musion_tele presence.html. OCLC. (1999). Research project measures scope of the web [Online], Available from; http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/archive/ releases/1999-09-08a.htm. Olson, R. (1994). Stumped reference librarians find help on the Internet. American Libraries, 25(9), 830-831. Richey, K. (1997). The electronic numerical integrator and computer ENIAC (Online). Available from: http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/ENIAC. Richey.HTML. Rodney, K. W. (1958). Implication of technological press for librarians. College and Research Libraries, 19, 122-123. Scialom, M. (2017, 26 January). How engineers and architects can benefit from HoloLens. Cambridge News. Available from: http://www. cambridge-news.co.uk/business/how-engineers-architects-can-benefit12511185 Sekaran, U. (1992). Research methods for business: a skill-building approach. New York: John Wiley. Serrao, J. (2008, November 6). Holobama: ‘Holograms’ greet election 2008. Teleprence Options News. Available from: http://www. telepresenceoptions.com/2008/11/holographic_presenters_jessica/ Shahien, K. S. (2000). Electronic information resources in the libraries and information centres. Cairo: Nile Library Publishing. Smith, L. C. (1982). New information technologies: new opportunities. Urbana Champaign: Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois. Taylor, J. (2001). Jstor: An electronic archive from 1665. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, 55(1), 179-181. Thompson, J. (1982). The end of libraries. London: C. Bingley. Thompson, M. (2009, January 9). When daddy is off at war: A hologram home? The Time. Wedgeworth, R. (1993). World encyclopedia of library and information services (3 ed.). Chicago: American Library Association.
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Welch, C. (2008, November 6). Beam me up, wolf! CNN debuts electionnight ‘hologram’. CNN News Available from: http://www.cnn.com/ 2008/TECH/11/06/hologram.yellin/index.html. Weibel, S. (1995). Trends in World Wide Web development. Library Hi Tech, 13(3), 7-10. William, R. B. (1982). Academic politics: University of Alabama Press. Williams, Robert V. (2002). The use of punched cards in US libraries and documentation centers, 1936-1965. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 24(2), 16-33. Wortman, W. A. (1987). Collection management, 1986. Library Resources and Technical Services, 31(4), 287-305. Yang, C. S. (1991). The development of library and information services in the republic of China. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the International Conference on New Frontiers in Library and Information Services, Taipei.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Husain F. Ghuloum Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Sciences (DLIS), Public Authority for Applied Education & Training (PAAET). Education: • • •
PhD, Salford University, School of the Built & Environment, Manchester, UK. MSc, Leeds Metropolitan University, Information Studies, Leeds, UK. BA, Public Authority for Applied Education & Training, Department of Library and Information Sciences (DLIS), Kuwait.
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Research and Professional Experience: Dr. Husian has published several studies on the subjects of libraries and information Science. He has published in Information Development Journal, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, and Informing Science: The International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline. Dr. Ghuloum also reviewer in Journal of Librarianship and Information. Professional Appointments: 2012 - present
2006 - 2012 2002 - 2006
Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Sciences (DLIS), Public Authority for Applied Education & Training (PAAET). Kuwait. Academic Researcher in Salford University, UK Librarian in Ministry of Justice, Kuwait
Honors: 2013 - 2015 June 2010
President of information Association in PAAET, Kuwait Best Poster Award at a Informing Science & IT Education Conference on 3D Hologram Technology in Learning Environment study, Italy
Publications from the Last 3 Years: Ghuloum, H. F., & Al-lamki, Z. (2017). The utilisation of smartphones apps as a service tool at Kuwaiti academic libraries. Informing Science, 20. Mansour, E., & Ghuloum, H. (2017). The information-seeking behaviour of Kuwaiti judges. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 49(4), 468-485.
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Ghuloum, H. F., & Alyacoub, W. M. (2017). Activating the role of the public library towards Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Kuwait. Information Development, 33(4), 406-417. Ghuloum, H. F., & Buabbas, H. (2016). The concept of Librarian 2.0 in Kuwaiti academic libraries. Information Development, 32(5), 16311638. Alajmi, M. A., Alharbi, A. H., & Ghuloum, H. F. (2016). Predicting the Use of Twitter in Developing Countries: Integrating Innovation Attributes, Uses and Gratifications, and Trust Approaches. Informing Science, 19.
In: Academic and Digital Libraries ISBN: 978-1-53613-596-1 Editor: Gloria J. Holbrook © 2018 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 2
HUMANITIES STUDENTS AS USERS OF POLISH DIGITAL LIBRARIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY John Catlow1,, Mirosław Górny1 and Jolanta Mazurek2 1
Faculty of Modern Languages, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland 2 Kórnik Library, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kórnik, Poland
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine how and to what extent humanities students in Poland make use of digital libraries. Emphasis was placed on three indicators: time spent working at the library, duration of use of the library, and the proportion of materials used that come from the digital library. Other survey questions related to the frequency of use of digital libraries, evaluation of the libraries, predictions concerning digitisation, and the degree of trust given to resources supplied by digital libraries.
Corresponding Author Email: [email protected].
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John Catlow, Mirosław Górny and Jolanta Mazurek A comparison was made between the results of two surveys, conducted in 2010 and in 2015, using the same questionnaire in both cases. In 2010 the questionnaire was sent by e-mail to students who had previously participated in a similar study, whereas in 2015 the questionnaire was posted on the website of the Digital Library of Wielkopolska. In both cases the number of responses was relatively small: 108 in 2010, and 69 in 2015. The results of the two surveys were found to be surprisingly similar. However, there were clear differences as regards the evaluation of digital libraries (related to problems with the DjVu format), the evaluations received in 2015 being less favourable than those of 2010. The 2015 responses indicated a marked increase in the number of students who had been using digital libraries for at least two years, but there were no significant changes in the figures for working time and frequency of use of the libraries. There was also no change in the proportion of materials used by students that comes from digital libraries, which according to the surveys stands at approximately 25%. It can be concluded that the use of Polish digital libraries by humanities students is virtually at its maximum level. We hypothesise that the extent of the collections of these libraries places limits on the range of subjects chosen for master’s degree theses based on archival sources.
INTRODUCTION One of the aims of research into information-related behaviour is to discover and explain the behaviours of information users in specific information environments. This question can be broken down into two research stages: 1) How does a user U (characterised by a certain set of features) behave in environment E (with specified properties) when that user experiences a set of information needs S? 2) Why does the user behave in that way? From a theoretical standpoint, this is a highly significant research problem. Very frequently, however, similar questions are asked in a purely practical context, For example, if an institution providing information services is interested in increasing its profits, it is likely to carry out research to determine, for example, why particular customers do or do not make use of its services. If the institution is non-commercial, it will usually attempt to identify the weaknesses in the services that it provides.
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Academic libraries are not commercial institutions. Their chief task is to supply the information required in research or educational processes. The attainment of profits is not a consideration. It is important, however, that services should be provided in conditions that are as convenient as possible for users. Hence studies made by libraries relate chiefly to evaluations of the quality of the services provided. Nonetheless, by studying the behaviours of library users – which is undoubtedly a much greater challenge – it is possible to obtain wider knowledge relating to all of the information systems serving the academic community and to all of the processes taking place in those systems. The present study concerns students of humanities subjects undertaking information-seeking activities in the digital library environment. The selection of this group was based on a number of factors. Firstly, studies in the humanities require relatively intensive use of literature. Secondly, students form a group of users with very similar information-related skills and needs. The choice of digital libraries as an area of activity for study was made for two reasons: firstly, it is somewhat easier to observe the actions of users in a digital library than in a traditional library (due to the existence of tools that record certain user actions); and secondly, digital libraries are gradually becoming one of the most important elements of the academic information system.
LITERATURE REVIEW Research into the use of digital libraries by information users has usually focused on evaluations of functionality and usability. Sometimes fairly advanced research techniques are used, although the results of such analyses often appear trivial and obvious (which does not mean that the results obtained are not useful). The problem generally concerns the interpretation of the results, which is a key stage, and the most difficult. The subject of the research is the relations between an organisational– technological system and people. In this situation it is hard to obtain data
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from which useful conclusions can be instantly drawn. It is necessary to engage in a laborious, and sometimes speculative, process of interpretation. Evaluations of the functioning of digital libraries are usually made in one of two ways. Researchers either consider the relations between user and library in their entirety (the more common case), or else select specific components of the digital library which are evaluated in the context of the tasks being performed by information users. A prime example of the latter type of work is the study by Ma et al. (2016). It presents an approach to the evaluation of digital library usability based on knowledge states within the information search process (ISP), investigating the connections between components with which users interact, perceived usability and task stages. The library selected for study was the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the most popular digital library in China. Garibay et al. (2010) focus on methodological issues. They propose using a combination of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and the Kano model as a tool to evaluate service quality. The digital library of the University of Guadalajara (Mexico) is presented as a case study. A similar study is that of Miller and Khera (2010), where the technology acceptance model (TAM) and others were used for the evaluation of user acceptance of a digital library system at agricultural universities in two developing countries: Kenya and Peru. Differences in evaluations of digital libraries between graduate and undergraduate students were studied by Liu and Luo (2011). One of the more interesting studies is that of Samadi et al. (2015), which considers Delone and Mclean’s model of information system success in the context of an educational digital library. Khan and Qutab (2016) consider processes of adoption of digital libraries by students. They investigated the factors influencing adoption of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) National Digital Library among research students in different universities of Pakistan. The results of research aiming to determine by whom digital libraries are used, and in what manner, have been published in Górny and Mazurek (2010) and Górny et al. (2015).
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The publications listed here are merely a representative set of studies relating to users of digital libraries. As a rule they focus on methods and reasons for using digital libraries. To some extent this addresses the question of the functions which digital libraries are coming to perform in the academic environment. No attempt has yet been made, however, to determine what proportion of the information used by academics or students is currently obtained from digital libraries; nor are there any studies which would enable identification of the functions currently performed by digital libraries in academic education, or of the functions which they might take on in the future.
METHODOLOGY The research whose results are presented here was preceded by an online exploratory survey carried out in late 2008 and early 2009 (survey questionnaires were available on Polish digital libraries’ sites from 1 October 2008 to 30 March 2009). The research was based on a questionnaire containing 16 questions, on subjects which included ways of using the library, reasons for using it, and which types of publications were most often used. Use was also made of statistical data collected on the library’s server. The survey enjoyed a relatively high level of interest, connected with the enthusiasm shown by readers who use digital libraries. A total of 1025 completed questionnaires were received, which included 193 responses from students. A second, targeted, survey was carried out in 2010 (e-mails were sent to 9911 persons in September 2010). Some of the e-mail addresses came from the accounts set up by users in the library, and some were taken from the responses to the first survey. In the targeted survey it was assumed that each respondent would select the questionnaire intended for the group to which that respondent belonged. One of the questionnaires was prepared especially for respondents who were students. In all, 108 responses were received from students in this survey.
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In 2015 it was decided to repeat the survey, making available online a questionnaire for students in the same form as that used in 2010. On this occasion 69 responses were received. The survey was carried out to investigate whether any changes had taken place in relation to: 1) the manner in which students use digital libraries; 2) the types of materials which they use; 3) their evaluations of the libraries; 4) their expectations; and 5) their predictions for the future. The most important question, however, concerned the proportion of all materials used by the student that came from a digital library. In the case of students, it may be assumed that five years is a sufficiently long time that the respondents to the second survey will constitute an entirely new set. Students are a distinctive group of digital library users, in that they generally value the constant availability of the library and its resources ahead of all other features. They take a highly pragmatic attitude towards library work – they wish to obtain the sources of information that they require without unnecessary loss of time and at any desired moment. They also belong to a generation which is generally younger than the Internet itself, and thus see it as a natural information environment. This means that they do not feel any resistance to using a digital library – on the contrary, they consider it natural that information should be available in digital form. They may be considered children of the digital age. Nonetheless, in Poland at least, the level of development of digital libraries still lags behind the possibilities and expectations of that generation. Students find very few textbooks in Polish digital libraries, and a somewhat limited set of research resources. In recent years there have also been problems connected with the DjVu format, which is used for the presentation of more than 80% of resources in Polish digital libraries, but which some browsers have ceased to support.
Characteristics of the Respondents Two key characteristics of the respondents were considered – their subject of study and the duration of their use of digital libraries. Most of
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the respondents were students of humanities subjects or the social sciences; in both samples, the predominant subject of study was history. This is natural, because the digital library collections contain chiefly sources of interest to historians, especially newspapers and magazines from the nineteenth century and the period before World War II. There is also a large amount of archive material relating to particular regions of Poland, as well as a certain quantity of manuscripts and old printed material of interest to students of Polish and classical linguistics. The duration of use of digital libraries is a parameter which may influence respondents’ answers. A more experienced user can be expected to know the library’s resources better and to have developed effective methods of using them. However, such a user will also probably be more critical in his or her evaluations. Table 1. Numbers of students of particular subjects among the respondents to both surveys Subject of study (as formulated by respondents) Humanities and social sciences History Law Library science Others
Number of replies, 2010 survey (N = 108) 65 (60.1%) 33 (30.5%) 5 (4.6%) 5 (4.6%) N/A
Number of replies, 2015 survey (N = 69) 4 (5.8%) 50 (72.5%) 1 (1.4%) 6 (8.7%) 8 (11.6%)
In the 2010 survey a fairly large group of respondents (more than 22%) had been using the library for less than a year, while almost half (about 47%) stated that they had been using digital libraries for not more than two years. In the 2015 survey, however, the group that had been using such libraries for not more than two years represented only just over 14% of the total. Thus, if we consider an experienced user to be one who has been using a digital library for more than two years, the difference here is marked. In the first survey slightly more than 50% of respondents had at least two
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years’ experience, while in the second the figure was approximately 85%. Moreover, in the second group almost 48% of respondents had been using digital libraries for 2–4 years, compared with around 34% in the first group. The group who had been using digital libraries for the longest time (7–8 years) represented more than 10% of respondents to the second survey, while in the first survey there had been only one such person. Table 2. Breakdown of respondents to the 2010 and 2015 surveys by duration of use of digital libraries Duration of use of a digital library
Number of replies, 2010 survey (N = 108) 1 year or less 24 (22.2%) >1–2 years 27 (25%) >2–3 years 22 (20.4%) >3–4 years 15 (13.9%) >4–5 years 10 (9.3%) >5–6 years 7 (6.5%) >6–7 years 1 (0.9%) >7–8 years 1 (0.9%) “while writing master’s degree thesis” 1 (0.9%) “several years” N/A no response N/A
Number of replies, 2015 survey (N = 69) 6 (8.7%) 4 (5.8%) 17 (24.6%) 16 (23.2%) 8 (11.6%) 6 (8.7%) 2 (2.9%) 7 (10.1%) 0 2 (2.9%) 1 (1.4%)
RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION Frequency of Digital Library Use The first question concerned the frequency of use of a digital library. In the case of students, the replies to this question need to be interpreted differently than in the case of academics and hobbyists. This is because a student is usually a periodic user, who works in a digital library when
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carrying out a specific task, such as preparing a degree dissertation or thesis, or a term paper. The student may then work very intensively, but after completing the task may not return to the library for a significant time. The results of the three surveys (carried out in 2009, 2010 and 2015) were very similar. The percentage of respondents declaring that they used the library “daily” was 6.7% (2009), 6.4% (2010) and 4.3% (2015). Those stating that they used a digital library “several times a week” made up 13.5% in 2009 and 11.6% in 2015. Respondents using the library “at least once a week” made up 34.2% of the respondents in 2010 and 33% in 2009 (“several times a month”); if the number declaring a frequency of “often” is included in this category, then the equivalent figure for 2015 is 31.9% (17.4% + 14.5%). Results for other replies were again similar: numbers replying “when needed” and “several times a year” totalled 6.4% in the 2010 survey and 7.2% in the 2015 survey (no such option was available in the 2009 survey). The reply “rarely” was selected by 19.2% of students in the 2009 survey, 14.8% in 2010 and 13.0% in 2015. Of particular interest are the replies stating that the respondent was using the library “for the first time,” In 2009 this reply was given by 21.2% of students, in 2010 by only one person, and in 2015 no respondents gave this reply. This would appear to be an indicator of the rate of growth in the popularity of digital libraries among students. For comparison, Liou and Luo (2011; p. 234) reported that 3.9% of undergraduate students and 5.9% of graduate students declared that they visited the library daily, while 33.2% of undergraduates and 50.4% of graduates used it once a week, and 42.8% and 31.8% respectively once a month. In the study of Rekha and Madhusudhan (2009) it was concluded that most research students accessed the digital library two or more times a week, while 16% did so daily, 8% rarely, and 6% two or three times a month. In turn, Sheeja (2010) reports, based on a survey of 225 students, that 17% used the library daily, 26% once a week, and 28% several times a week. According to Kahn and Ahmed (2013) 37.9% accessed the library two to three times a week, and 22.1% only when they required it. A further
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20.3% of respondents accessed the resources weekly, 18.2% daily, and only 1.4% monthly. In all of the studies cited here, however, the respondents were students of all subjects, including the pure and applied sciences as well as the humanities. Table 3. Frequency of use of digital libraries – results of the surveys carried out in 2009, 2010 and 2015 Frequency of use
daily several times a week several times a month at least once a week at least once a month rarely when needed/several times a year for the first time other replies “often” “very often” “fairly often”
Number of replies, 2009 survey (N = 193) 13 (6.7%) 26 (13.5%) 64 (33%) N/A N/A 37 (19.2%) N/A 41 (21.2%) N/A N/A N/A N/A
Number of replies, 2010 survey (N = 108) 7 (6.4%) N/A N/A 37 (34.2%) 37 (34.2%) 16 (14.8%) 7 (6.4%) 1 (1.2%) 3 (3.7%) N/A N/A N/A
Number of replies, 2015 survey (N = 69) 3 (4.3%) 8 (11.6%) N/A 12 (17.4%) 10 (14.5%) 9 (13.0%) 5 (7.2%) 0 5 10 (14.5%) 4 (5.8%) 3 (4.3%)
Time Spent Using the Library The question concerning the time spent using the library per week was intended as a control question for the preceding one. The results here confirm to a certain extent those given in Table 1. Persons working in the library for more than 10 hours a week made up 7.4% of the total in 2010, and 2.9% in 2015. These are close to the numbers declaring that they used the library daily – 6.4% in the 2010 survey and 4.3% in the 2015 survey.
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The numbers of respondents working 5–10 hours per week (10.1% in both 2010 and 2015) closely correspond to the numbers declaring that they use the library several times a week (11.6% in 2015 and 13.5% in 2009). Similarly, those working for 1–5 hours per week (39.8% in 2010 and 34.8% in 2015) can be expected to correspond to those using the library at least once a week (34.2% in 2010 and 17.4% in 2015), although in the last case these results diverge. In general, however, there is relatively close convergence between the results from 2010 and those from 2015. Table 4. Weekly time spent working in a digital library by respondents to the 2010 and 2015 surveys Weekly working time
less than 1 h 1–5 h 5–10 h more than 10 h no reply or other reply “it depends” “a lot” “very much” “several hours” “I prefer to save on disk”
Number of replies, 2010 survey (N = 108) 30 (27.7%) 43 (39.8%) 11 (10.1%) 8 (7.4%) 16 (14.8%) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Number of replies, 2015 survey (N = 69) 22 (31.9%) 24 (34.8%) 7 (10.1%) 2 (2.9%) 7 (10.1%) 1 (1.4%) 1 (1.4%) 1(1.4%) 3 (4.3%) 1 (1.4%)
It can be stated with reasonable certainty that approximately 30–40% of students of humanities subjects who use digital libraries do so at least once a week, 3–4% do so daily, approximately 10% do so several times a week, while the remainder visit the library several times or up to 20 times a year. It should be borne in mind, however, that this may concern only the period in which a student is writing a master’s thesis or similar, and that period will probably last for not more than two years. For comparison, it is helpful to consider to what degree humanities students make use of traditional libraries. This can be done based on
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borrowing data. In 2015 (December), among students of the Faculty of Polish and Classical Languages at Adam Mickiewicz University, 34.9% borrowed books (873 out of 2505 persons had borrowings on their accounts). Similarly, the percentage of students with borrowings in the English Language Faculty was 30.6% (372 out of 1217), in the History Faculty 28.5% (689 out of 2419), in the Modern Languages Faculty 27.4% (1245 out of 4549), in the Social Sciences Faculty 19.6% (1013 out of 5176), and in the Theology Faculty 12.8% (45 out of 353). These figures can be compared with those for related faculties: 39.4% (1568 out of 3981) in the Educational Studies Faculty, 38.0% (1164 out of 3060) in the Political Science and Journalism Faculty, and 34.1% (1374 out of 4027) in the Law Faculty. As a rule, even among students of the pure and applied sciences, the numbers borrowing items from the library did not exceed 50%. (Data were obtained from the Horizon library computer system in December 2015.) The above data indicate a relatively low level of interest in the possibility of borrowing books. This may be due to various factors: the popularity among students of photocopying and scanning books, the failure of the library collections to meet their needs, the generally low level of interest in items offered by libraries, the purchasing of books, and the accessibility of books in digital form. Based on observations, however, the main factor would appear to be the first of those listed: the possibility of making photocopies, and in recent years of making scans (scanners are available, for example, in certain faculty libraries). Students have a clear preference for the electronic form when it provides them with fast and convenient access to books.
Types of Documents Used The survey included questions on the frequency of use of particular types of documents. It was found that the most frequently used were archives (used very often by 50% of all respondents), periodicals
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(approximately 40%), monographs (approximately 30%) and textbooks (again approximately 30%). Table 5. Intensity of use of particular types of documents available in digital libraries. Upper and lower rows contain data from the 2010 and 2015 surveys respectively Type of document Archives Newspapers and magazines (19th c. – 1939) Monographs Textbooks Maps Photographs and drawings
Very often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
55 (50.9%) 33 (47.8%) 42 (38.8%) 28 (40.6%)
28 (25.9%) 22 (31.9%) 30 (27.7%) 23 (33.3%)
13 (12.0%) 9 (13.0%) 20 (18.5%) 7 (10.1%)
11 (10.1%) 5 (7.2%) 15 (13.8%) 11 (15.9%)
39 (36.1%) 22 (31.9%) 33 (30.5%) 19 (27.5%) 8 (7.4%) 5 (7.2%) 11 (10.1%) 12 (17.4%)
28 (25.9%) 21 (30.4%) 28 (25.9%) 17 (24.6%) 23 (21.2%) 12 (17.4%) 26 (24.0%) 18 (26.1%)
23 (21.2%) 16 (23.2%) 24 (22.2%) 10 (14.5%) 26 (24.0%) 28 (40.6%) 35 (32.4%) 21 (30.4%)
18 (16.6%) 10 (14.5%) 23 (21.2%) 23 (33.3%) 50 (46.2%) 24 (34.8%) 35 (32.4%) 18 (26.1%)
These figures reflect the fact that students use digital libraries chiefly when writing degree theses and similar. Archives and newspapers (of which the largest collections available in Polish digital libraries date from the 19th century and the interwar period) serve as sources for historical and linguistic research. Similarly, monographs are indispensable when writing a master’s thesis. The high degree of use of textbooks is nonetheless somewhat surprising, since there are very few such items in the digital collections (no more than 100 in all digital libraries in Poland). This may indicate that even in such small number textbooks are extremely popular, showing that students treat digital libraries as an entirely natural tool of work.
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There is a high degree of convergence between the results of the surveys conducted in 2010 and 2015, indicating that the libraries continue to be used for similar purposes. This fact also provides evidence of the reliability of the results of both surveys, since it is unlikely that results demonstrating such good agreement would be obtained by chance.
Evaluation of the Usefulness of Digital Library Collections A very important feature of a digital library is the fact that it enables easy and convenient access to resources which, in a traditional library, are usually available only in the reading room. This applies in particular to annual volumes of newspapers and magazines, which are very timeconsuming to search (since usually they lack indexes). Users of such sources must find their own way around them, and are often compelled simply to search through them laboriously in the reading room. Of course, ordering successive volumes from the stores also entails the need to visit the library on multiple occasions. The availability of digital resources greatly facilitates this type of work. Firstly, it makes browsing much faster. Secondly, many of the digital resources have undergone OCR, which enables very effective text searching. Admittedly not all Polish digital library collections are searchable in that manner, but very often single issues of newspapers carry at least keywords (relating to important events, people, places, etc.), which appear in the accompanying bibliographic descriptions. As a rule, students do not like to spend long hours in reading rooms. As members of the Internet generation, they accept digital searching as a facility to which they have become well accustomed. The great majority of respondents (around 90%) stated that thanks to digital libraries they are able to reach sources which they would not otherwise have found. Moreover, a half of them state that this occurs often. In reality, of course, the digital resources offered by Polish libraries are nothing other than items held in those libraries which have been digitised. These results clearly show that students, who after all have access to large
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academic libraries, are unwilling to make use of some of the printed resources when they are made available in the traditional manner (this applies chiefly to archives, 19th-century and interwar newspapers, maps, and iconographic collections). “Traditional” here means by way of use in reading rooms, since the aforementioned items are not lent out. There are slight differences between the results obtained in the surveys in 2010 and 2015, but both reveal a very similar general tendency. While the number stating that they “often” find items in digital libraries which they would not otherwise have reached was 13 percentage points lower in 2015 than in 2010, the number claiming that it happened “sometimes” was 7 percentage points higher. Table 6. Has a digital library enabled you to reach sources which you would not otherwise have found or which would not have been accessible other than through a digital library? Response 2010 survey 2015 survey
often 67 (62.0%) 34 (49.3%)
sometimes 36 (33.3%) 28 (40.6%)
never 5 (4.6%) 7 (10.1%)
Table 7. What percentage of all the materials you need for your studies come from digital libraries? % of sources used 10% or less above 10% to 30% above 30% to 50% above 50% to 80% above 80% to 90% above 90% to 100% other replies
Number of replies, 2010 survey 30 (27.8%) 47 (43.5%) 16 (14.8%) 11 (10.2%) 2 (1.9%) 0 2
Number of replies, 2015 survey 19 (27.5%) 22 (31.9%) 9 (13.0%) 12 (17.4%) 0 1 (1.4%) 6
A very important question related to the proportion of all materials used by a student which came from digital libraries. Here again the results
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of the two surveys are very similar. In both cases slightly more than 27% of respondents gave replies in the range “10% or less,” while 13–15% gave replies in the range “above 30% to 50%.” Based on the results of both surveys it is possible to calculate the proportion of documents used by the respondents which constitute digital sources, as estimated by the respondents. If the upper bound of each range is take to be the most probable actual figure (for example, for a respondent who selected the response “above 30% to 50%” the actual figure is assumed to be 50%) then the percentage of all sources used by students which were digital sources was 33.7% in 2010 and 37.5% in 2015; or if the mid-range value is taken as the actual figure (for example, 40% in the case of the above response) then the percentage was 24.7% in 2010 and 28.1% in 2015. The difference is relatively small, although the figure from the latest survey is higher, and the percentages of replies lying in the higher ranges are also larger in that survey. Since these data are based on respondents’ estimates, it may be considered that the differences are likely to be the result of measurement imprecision. Nonetheless, it is significant that the results, both for particular replies and for the overall average, are very similar. This may indicate that the results are reliable to a high degree.
Attitudes to Digital Resources In response to a question concerning the possibility of replacing printed publications with electronic ones, a half of students stated that an electronic copy is entirely adequate. However, approximately 40% stated that sometimes they would prefer a printed copy. For example, one respondent commented that “in many cases leafing through a traditional book and finding what I need is still easier than searching a document in a digital library.” It is certainly the case that in some situations it is much slower to search a digital text. (Pages sometimes take a relatively long time to open – possibly 2–3 seconds – which means that searching a few dozen pages will take several minutes longer than in the case of a printed copy. Moreover, many publications of the nature of directories or address books
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have not undergone OCR and must be searched visually as with the paper version.) Table 8. For you, can the digital publications available in digital libraries take the place of printed materials? Replies
Yes, certainly
2010 survey 2015 survey
60 (55.5%) 35 (50.7%)
No, in some situations I have to use the original 43 (39.8%) 30 (43.5%)
No, I always have to use the original 5 (4.6%) 4 (5.8%)
The results from the surveys carried out in 2010 and 2015 differ only by a few percentage points. As regards the level of trust in citations of digital sources, slightly more than a half of the students believe that such citations are of equal value as citations of printed sources. Some of them explained this view on the ground that it is difficult to tamper with the scans of a given source. Most of them believe that digital libraries contain only trustworthy sources. Nonetheless, in the 2015 survey, approximately 40% of respondents declare this trust to be dependent on certain factors. They replied most frequently that such sources are trustworthy if they have an ISSN or ISBN, for example. Some stated that a sufficient condition for trustworthiness is an extensive bibliography, the large volume of the work or the name of the author (according to numerous additional comments supplied by respondents to the survey). These replies indicate that students take a rational approach to digital sources; and also that the sources of information contained in digital libraries are generally seen as equal in status to those in traditional academic libraries. Slight differences can be observed between the surveys as regards the desirability of publishing master’s degree theses online. Supporters of the idea argued that these works very often contain interesting results that might be of use to other researchers. It was also pointed out that making theses available online would prevent the repetition of research topics.
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Table 9. Do you have the same confidence in citations of sources in digital form (stating the URL) as in citations of printed works? Replies 2010 survey 2015 survey
yes 60 (55.5%) 37 (53.6%)
it depends 36 (33.3%) 28 (40.6%)
no 12 (11.1%) 4 (5.8%)
Arguments given by opponents of publication included, for example, the statement that “it may increase the risk of plagiarism.” In general, however, it was concluded that the decision ought to be made by the author. Many also commented that some master’s theses are of too low a standard to be deserving of wider dissemination. Table 10. Do you think that theses (bachelor’s, master’s, etc.) and students’ publications should be published and placed in a digital library? Replies 2010 survey 2015 survey
yes 60 (55.5%) 40 (58.0%)
it depends 32 (29.6%) 18 (26.1%)
no 16 (14.8%) 11 (15.9%)
EVALUATIONS OF LIBRARIES AND USERS’ EXPECTATIONS Evaluation of the functioning of digital libraries is usually done for the purpose of identifying defects to be remedied and methods of operation that require improvement. In this case, however, we were also interested in investigating the degree of knowledge concerning the functioning of digital libraries. Because nearly all Polish digital libraries use the same software, it can be assumed that all respondents had encountered similar methods of operation, even if they used different libraries. As regards the evaluations themselves, it can be seen that the ratings of reliability are significantly worse in 2015. Generally there was a significant shift towards “satisfactory” evaluations at the cost of more positive replies.
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The total of “excellent”, “very good” and “good” evaluations is lower by almost 30% in total (in fact there are no “excellents”), while the number of “unsatisfactory” ratings is 6.44% higher. Table 11. Students’ evaluations of digital libraries. Upper and lower rows contain data from the 2010 and 2015 surveys respectively Factor excellent reliability 7 (6.4%) 0 (0.0%) ease 9 (8.3%) of use 1 (1.4%) richness 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) searching 1 (0.9%) 0 (0.0%) retrieval 3 (2.7%) 0 (0.0%) quality of 11 (10.1%) the scans 3 (4.3%)
very good 30 (27.7%) 8 (11.6%) 38 (35.1%) 9 (13.0%) 10 (9.2%) 9 (13.0%) 14 (13.0%) 8 (11.6%) 20 (18.5%) 8 (11.6%) 41 (37.9%) 22 (31.9%)
good 47 (43.5%) 25 (36.2%) 41 (37.9%) 30 (43.5%) 41 (37.9%) 31 (44.9%) 48 (44.4%) 29 (42.0%) 39 (36.1%) 26 (37.7%) 44 (40.7%) 28 (40.6%)
satisfactory 20 (18.5%) 29 (42.0%) 17 (15.7%) 21 (30.4%) 35 (32.4%) 18 (26.1%) 38 (35.2%) 25 (36.2%) 37 (34.2%) 23 (33.3%) 11 (10.1%) 14 (20.3%)
unsatisfactory 4 (3.7%) 7 (10.1%) 3 (2.7%) 8 (11.6%) 22 (20.3%) 11(15.9%) 7 (6.5%) 7 (10.1%) 9 (8.3%) 12 (17.4%) 1 (0.9%) 2 (2.9%)
This result reflects the feeling of users that the functioning of digital libraries has worsened due to problems resulting from the fact that the DjVu format – universally used in Polish digital libraries – has since 2014 not been supported by the Chrome browser (for example). Moreover, the installation of a DjVu plugin often causes problems. As a result, evaluations of ease of use of the libraries have become poorer. The next question concerned users’ expectations. They were asked to indicate the most important directions to be taken in improving the libraries’ functioning. In both surveys the most frequent demand was for an increase in the quantity of resources available, although in the 2015 survey this was given somewhat less weight (the number considering it a “priority” was lower by almost 16 percentage points, although the number classing it as “important” was 8 points higher). In any case, the expectation of expanded collections indicates the high degree of usefulness of digital
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libraries. As regards retrieval, the results of the 2015 survey indicate that around 75% of readers expect significant improvement in this area (numbers replying “priority” or “important”). Table 12. What task do you think digital libraries should regard as the most important at the present time? Please indicate the three most important. Upper and lower rows contain data from the 2010 and 2015 surveys respectively Task Increase the number of publications in digital libraries Improve retrieval Improve subject searching Improve full text search Improve scan quality
Priority 83 (76.8%) 42 (60.9%)
Important 18 (16.6%) 17 (24.6%)
Worth doing 2 (1.8%) 3 (4.3%)
No reply 5 (4.6%) 7 (10.1%)
20 (18.5%) 23 (33.3%) 14 (12.9%) 7 (10.1%) 17 (15.7%) 12 (17.4%) 6 (5.5%) 13 (18.8%)
30 (27.7%) 29 (42.0%) 22 (20.3%) 8 (11.6%) 16 (14.8%) 2 (2.9%) 17 (15.7%) 18 (26.1%)
17 (15.7%) 6 (8.7%) 12 (11.1%) 2 (2.9%) 18 (16.6%) 5 (7.2%) 34 (31.4%) 20 (29.0%)
41 (37.9%) 11 (15.9%) 60 (55.5%) 52 (75.4%) 57 (52.7%) 50 (72.4%) 51 (47.2%) 18 (26.1%)
Table 13. Please give your opinion on the statement that “in about 10 years’ time academics and students will be using exclusively digital publications available online.” Upper and lower rows contain data from the 2010 and 2015 surveys respectively Reply No, although digital publications will dominate No, printed publications will still dominate Yes, it will happen in the next few years
Number of replies 19 9 72 43 17 17
Percentage 17.5% 13.0% 66.6% 62.3% 15.7% 24.6%
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Table 14. Do you think emphasis should be placed on the rapid development of digital libraries at the cost of traditional libraries (primarily academic libraries)? Survey year 2010 survey 2015 survey
Number of replies “yes” 67 (62%) 31(44.9%)
Number of replies “no” 41 (38%) 38 (55.7%)
In 2010 the equivalent figure was only about 45%. It is naturally highly likely that some readers did not differentiate retrieval from searching (in the 2015 survey the questions on improving subject searching and full text search were left unanswered by approximately 75% of respondents, compared with about 50% in 2010). Nonetheless, the indication of a need for improvement in the area of retrieval may also imply that the significant expansion in the libraries’ collections over the five-year period between the surveys has made seeking information a more difficult task. To the question of whether in the coming 10 years academics and students would come to use online digital publications exclusively, in both surveys more than 60% of respondents took a more moderate view, stating that printed publications would still be predominant. However, in 2015 almost 25% of respondents stated that the development referred to in the question would occur within the next few years, compared with under 16% in 2010. The number stating that it would not occur, but that digital publications would become predominant, was almost 18% in 2010, but only 13% in 2015. This means that the total number anticipating the dominance of digital sources was approximately 4% higher in 2015. An interesting distribution of replies was received to the question of whether the development of digital libraries should take place at the cost of traditional libraries. Here, in 2015, most respondents stated that it should not – the reverse of the situation in 2010. Arguments raised by opponents of the suggestion mostly concerned the fact that paper documents would still exist and that traditional libraries would need to be maintained to
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handle them. Comments by supporters chiefly referred to the convenience of use of digital libraries.
CONCLUSION The studies involved relatively small samples, and doubts may be expressed in relation to the reliability of the results obtained. Nonetheless, a comparison of the results of the two surveys reveals a surprisingly high degree of similarity in many instances. This allows one to conclude that the results obtained are nonetheless representative, since it is very unlikely that such highly convergent results would be obtained by chance. It was found that over a period of five years, there has been no fundamental change in the way in which students use digital libraries. As has already been noted, in the case of students a time of five years is sufficient to ensure that the group responding to the second survey is entirely new in relation to the group of respondents to the first. Those five years represent significant change as regards the digital libraries themselves. In that time the collection of the Digital Library of Wielkopolska, the oldest and one of the most popular, has doubled in size from 125,000 to 250,000 publications. Approximately 80 new libraries have come into being, and the total quantity of available digital resources has increased around eightfold. In mid-2010 there were around 400,000 publications in Polish digital libraries; this number increased at a rate of approximately 15,000 publications per month (Lewandowska 2010), to exceed three million in 2015. The technology used nonetheless remains the same, and the technical conditions for the use of digital libraries have unfortunately worsened, for reasons linked to the DjVu format commonly used in those libraries (only a small proportion of items are available in PDF format). From version 42, the Chrome browser now blocks external plugins using NPAPI, including the DjVu plugin and Java applets. Digital library users are thus compelled to work in Firefox or IE. Evaluations of libraries have become less favourable. In the light of the above problems, this would appear to be entirely understandable,
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particularly since installing the DjVu plugin may itself lead to certain difficulties. Another conclusion relates to the results obtained concerning the extent of the role played by digital libraries in the educational process of humanities students. It can be stated with very high probability (the differences in the results between the two surveys are negligible) that at least 25% of the materials used by those students come from digital libraries, or more precisely, are digitised materials. They are most commonly research sources (newspapers, archives) rather than papers or textbooks (the latter are almost entirely absent from digital libraries). Hence it can be confidently assumed that the proportion of digitised sources appearing in master’s degree theses and term papers is significantly higher than 25%. There was a marked rise in the proportion of students who have been using digital libraries for at least two years. This confirms that the use of digital libraries as a place of work has become widespread. It would appear, then, that a set of three indicators – time spent working with the library, duration of use of the library, and the proportion of materials used that come from the digital library – is key to the observation and prediction of changes relating to digital library use. It is likely that these indicators have now reached relatively stable levels, and will remain at those levels for some time. The time spent by students working in digital libraries can be assumed already to have stabilised. It would seem that the time spent in a digital library by a given student depends on the tasks assigned to him or her. However, the distribution of quantities of time units within the population as a whole depends chiefly on features of students’ character, and possible their information skills and knowledge. This distribution would also appear to be stable. The increase in the number of students who have been using digital libraries for at least two years reflects the increase in the popularity of such libraries as working resources. Further significant growth should not be expected, however. We may assume that this figure has already reached saturation point. In spite of certain technical problems with the DjVu
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format, the digital library is a convenient place for students to work. After all, they belong to the Internet generation. It is also a place whose resources are trusted, as is confirmed by the survey responses. It is interesting that in the course of five years there has been no significant rise in the number of digital sources as a proportion of all sources used, even though digital collections are gradually being expanded. This problem may be the subject of future research; the reason may, however, turn out to be relatively trivial, namely that this level simply represents the natural level of use of archive sources in students’ work. If the above assumptions hold, then we have a stabilised set of three main indicators of digital library use: time spent working with the library, duration of use of the library, and the proportion of materials used that come from the digital library. This would mean that digital libraries in Poland have reached the limit of their capacity to supply sources for students’ research. We suspect, however, that the subjects selected for degree theses and term papers are themselves largely shaped by the available collection of archive sources in digital libraries. It may be, then, that we are faced with the phenomenon of self-closure of the communication system. The system is able to satisfy (a certain set of) information needs fully, simply because it shapes those needs itself. A growth in the values of the three aforementioned indicators may occur if significant numbers of textbooks and contemporary monographs appear in digital libraries. This leads us to a final conclusion – Polish digital libraries are still not able to deliver to a student user a full set of the publications which that user needs. Legal considerations prevent an increase in the numbers of textbooks made available digitally. For similar reasons, contemporary monographic works are largely absent from digital libraries. Contemporary humanities journals are either still made available in printed form, or their digital versions are placed in repositories outside the digital libraries. In spite of this, it may be concluded that in the education of humanities students – who make wide use of historical sources in their studies – the level of use of digital libraries has already come close to its maximum. Expansion of these libraries’ contribution to the educational process is
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possible only by means of the inclusion of textbooks and monographs in their collections, alongside the continuing digitisation of archive materials.
REFERENCES Bagudu, A. A., & Sadiq, H. (2013). Students’ perception of digital library services: A case study of International Islamic University Malaysia. Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), paper 894, http:// digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/894. Cuichang, M., Shujin, C., & Tinghua, G. (2016). Usability evaluation with tasks characterized by the information search process: The China National Knowledge Infrastructure. The Electronic Library, 34(4), 572-587. Górny, M., & Mazurek, J. (2012). Key users of Polish digital libraries. The Electronic Library, 30(4), 543-556. Górny, M., Catlow, J., & Mazurek, J. (2015). Evaluating Polish digital libraries from the perspective of non-academic users. The Electronic Library, 33(4), 714-729. Joo, S., & Lee, J. Y. (2011). Measuring the usability of academic digital libraries: Instrument development and validation. The Electronic Library, 29(4), 523-537. Khan, A., & Ahmed, S. (2013). The impact of digital library resources on scholarly communication: challenges and opportunities for university libraries in Pakistan. Library Hi Tech News, 30(8), 12-29. Khan, A., & Qutab, S. (2016). Understanding research students’ behavioural intention in the adoption of digital libraries: A Pakistani perspective. Library Review, 65(4/5), 295-319. Khera, O., & Miller, J. (2010). Digital library adoption and the technology acceptance model: A cross-country analysis. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 40(6), 1-19. Lewandowska, A. (2010). 400000 publications in the PIONIER DLF. Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center (affiliated to Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences) http://
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www.man.poznan.pl/online/en/articles/973/400_000_publications_in_t he_PIONIER_DLF.html. Liou, Z., & Luo, L. (2011). A comparative study of digital library use: Factors, perceived influences, and satisfaction. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(3), 230-236. Matusiak, K. K. (2012). Perceptions of usability and usefulness of digital libraries. Journal of Humanities & Arts Computing: A Journal of Digital Humanities, 6(1/2), 133-147. Rekha, C., & Madhusudhan, M. (2009). Use of electronic journals by doctoral research scholars of Goa University, India. Library Hi Tech News, 2(10), 1-3. Samadi, I., Masrek, M. N., & Farik Bin Mat Yatin, S. (2014). The effect of individual characteristics and digital library characteristics on digital library effectiveness: A survey at University of Tehran. World Applied Sciences Journal, 30, 214-220. Sheeja, N. K. (2010). Undergraduate students’ perceptions of digital library: A case study. The International Information & Library Review, 42(3), 149-153.
In: Academic and Digital Libraries ISBN: 978-1-53613-596-1 Editor: Gloria J. Holbrook © 2018 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 3
ACADEMIC LIBRARIES AND TECHNOLOGY: AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN TOWARDS FUTURE POSSIBILITIES Raymond J. Uzwyshyn*, PhD Division of Collections and Digital Services, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, US
ABSTRACT This research conducts an environmental scan of current best practices in academic library technology to reflect on future landscapes. The work takes the premise that by projecting out from current leadingedge technology realities, it is possible to better plan for the future. Academic Library learning commons, 3D printing labs, makerspaces, online data research repositories and information literacy are overviewed to reflect on future academic library vistas. Academic needs and library areas are surveyed through themes of: collaborative, networked and emergent technologies, digital and information literacy, open source frameworks, online collections, the scholarly record and artificial intelligence. This research is meant to provoke and spark discussion, *
Corresponding Author Email: [email protected].
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Raymond J. Uzwyshyn surveying present best practice thematic areas through various current sources and the author’s own pragmatic work and research in academic libraries and leading-edge information technologies.
Keywords: academic libraries, university libraries, college libraries, information technology, 3D printing labs, makerspaces, online data research repositories, networked technology, digital literacy, information literacy, open source frameworks, open educational resources, online collections, the scholarly record, emergent technologies, artificial intelligence
INTRODUCTION Academic libraries are changing at a whirlwind pace in our 21st century. Books are being carted off to repositories, technology-rich learning commons are expanding to take over libraries and the growth of the digital library has been a paradigm shift to say the least. Within these large sea changes, it is challenging to keep up with the blistering pace of academic library technology transformation and wider societal technology changes. No one who has recently worked, or is working, in academic libraries would say they are a boring or slow-paced place. In fact, the exact opposite is true. This chapter takes a circumspect view of academic library technology futures, reflecting on wider contexts from our present day. It speculates on long range academic library necessities extrapolating from current technological trends to consider various scenarios of what is occurring in academic libraries and what this implies for the future. In this way, this work presents an environmental scan of the leading edge, but also, strong foundations of academic library technological directions for further discussion and debate. The purpose is to help leaders and future leaders in academic libraries with implementing technology and planning. The chapter surveys the current landscape of academic library technologies, relying both on communities of practice operating in academic libraries circa 2018, current library technology-related published
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literature and also, the author’s own work over the past twenty years (See Bibliography). What is on the long term horizon for academic libraries? Is it necromancy to even try and guess at predictions regarding technology trajectories, academic libraries and the university campus? How can library leaders strategize along more visionary lines? This research provides more focused thought on library technology, strategy, services and stewardship. It contextualizes various big picture themes, among them: networked technology, digital literacy, collaborative technologies, open source frameworks, online collections, the scholarly record, emergent technologies and artificial intelligence. Through this environmental scan, guideposts and building blocks emerge toward the future. Hopefully, these grounded speculations will carry forward towards better planning and stewardship of our collective future.
NETWORKED TECHNOLOGY AND ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: THE BIG PICTURE To begin with a conjecture, networked technology has enabled crossinstitutional collaboration like never before. It is more likely that a faculty member will be collaborating with a colleague half way across the world in Tokyo, than in the office next door. Today’s global environment and technologies easily allow academics to collaborate across international borders and work towards enabling research with the best and the brightest in their field of specialization on global levels. Academic libraries are also part of this new global village of collaboration, particularly through digital collections, archives, consortia and resources. The scholarly record is evolving, too, and has expanded exponentially from print-based journals and monographs to a networked environment on the open web, in databases and behind paywalls. The range of digital media, online applications and tools scholars are using is staggering. Scholarly research products have also exponentially expanded from traditional pen and paper
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articles and books. This ranges from online research data sets, to custommade programs, to specialized scholarly information social media networks, to data visualization applications, to a whole series of intermediary work artifacts (preliminary to serial or monograph publication) that are now easily shared. Academic libraries have also evolved to access, organize, enable and preserve these new research artifacts and environments generated. Current scholarly web-based exchanges and forums, via social media, provide fascinating views into the evolution of the scholarly record, but also highlight the profound challenges for libraries, digital archivists and archiving. As different aspects of the scholarly communication cycle emerge in the 21st century, the role of library and librarian as curator, organizer and steward of this wealth of new information and knowledge is also dynamically evolving (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The Scholarly Online Data Repository Research Cycle: Capture, Catalog, Find, Synthesize, Manage. Image from Uzwyshyn, 2016b.
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The term ‘digital scholarship’ has also increasingly come into vogue in the last few years. The larger idea is a marrying of traditional disciplinary enquiry methods to new technological possibilities for academic libraries ranging from digital archives and digital libraries to multimedia exhibitions, learning commons, visualization walls and big data representation. The best academic libraries today juggle and synthesize all of the above noted technologies and technology infrastructures in a constant dance with changing societal norms. With these new possible permutations of technologies and digital asset management systems (DAMS), areas of digital preservation become increasingly important in the academic library’s historical stewardship role. The larger ‘lifecycle’ of the scholarly research enterprise allows for libraries to take precedence in traditional roles of organizing, preserving, aggregating and making this new corpus of information and knowledge accessible. In the digital age too, academic libraries are necessarily taking up new areas of ‘digital forensics’ to retrieve the digital scholarly record where quick obsolescence of file formats and media is a hallmark of the times (Wolverton, 2016).
STUDENT AND FACULTY AS PRODUCER The student and faculty of today have become producers of data, information, media and knowledge. Ours is a digital-production-oriented society and the university campus and library is no exception to the rule. Education has taken on interactive, productive and creative modalities. Academic libraries are also now being asked to assist with this new interactive ethos needed for this global community to produce these largely digital scholarly artifacts. This is the evolution of the library’s natural role as disseminator of knowledge and facilitator of new modalities of digital literacy. To take a single example, many academic libraries have taken the 3D printer and scanner lab paradigm up, opening possibilities (Uzwyshyn, 2015). The backroom engineering-oriented lab has been reconfigured
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towards a wider grouping of Social Sciences, Humanities and other disciplines ranging from Medicine to Forensic Anthropology (Figure 2). Everything, from printing human hearts to architectural designs, is being printed to facilitate and enable learning and research. We are in a new Gutenberg phase with 3D printing. What will these new technological ‘makerspace’ possibilities and marriage with the traditional academic library engender towards the university research environment? The academic library, too, is the perfect place for these makerspaces and Fab Labs (Fabrication Labs), as the multitude of disparate disciplines in a university can congregate within the third space of the academic library to produce yet unthought-of artifacts. Separate academics and disciplines can find common ground in the third interdisciplinary space of the library through technology enabling congruencies and synergies.
Figure 2. The Academic 3D Printing Landscape. Cost of 3D Printers versus Print Quality and Different Disciplinary Needs. Graph from Uzwyshyn, 2015.
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Figure 3. The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy and the Six Major Frames.
INFORMATION AND DIGITAL LITERACY Another aspect of academic libraries that has come to the forefront with the advent of technology is the necessity of digital literacy with regards to the profusion of information available through the internet and education needed as to ‘veracity’ and ‘reliability’ of information. Here ‘mindful media consumption’ and the ability to discriminate between ‘real’ and ‘fake’ news becomes increasingly important in the maintenance of a democratic society and an educated populace (ACRL, 2017). With the double-edged sword of the wealth of information that the internet has enabled, the possibility of an individual becoming isolated in a narrow horizon of retrograde ideology becomes increasingly problematic. Many people now have trouble distinguishing between reliable and unreliable sources of information, unable to discriminate between ‘fake news’ and ‘the real.’ In this environment, socially divisive possibilities and
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movements can become increasingly prevalent. Here, academic libraries have the larger duty to educate with regards to information literacy as real world skills for a changing global workforce and democratic populace. Currently, the gold standard for this type of digital literacy is the American Council of Research Libraries (ACRL), ‘Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education’ (Figure 3), which presents an excellent set of higher principals to follow (ACRL, 2017). The needs for both faculty and student information literacy will continue to evolve as the internet changes. Fake news is currently associated with advertising, larger ideological agendas and mass consumption. The gullibility of a larger university and college-educated populace. Unable to discriminate, is particular troubling and academic libraries need to be working in close concert with faculty, academic departments and schools (CARLI, 2017).
COLLABORATION AS METAPHOR IN PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL LIBRARY ENVIRONMENTS Collaboration in academic libraries is taking place on many levels. On physical levels, learning spaces are being redesigned for collaborative learning, especially with student populations (Uzwyshyn, 2016a). Architects, in dialogue with librarians, IT and faculty, are reconceptualizing traditional 19th century Cartesian desk, stack and table environments to more creative ones, synthesizing physical, social and digital spaces through technology and possibilities that the digital space allows (Uzwyshyn, 2017). In seed form, but continuing to evolve, the powerful computers all students and faculty now carry in their pockets (the mobile device) is being married to the physical library through a range of functions and new Internet of Things (IoT) type possibilities (Chang, 2016). This paradigm shift ranges from being able to print from one’s phone, to library tours, to more complex social network tasks, such as finding groups of similar students who are studying the same topics for research groups/classes collocated in the similar physical space. Data
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analytics also has a big role to play with this new Internet of Things, mobile and learning commons collaborative possibilities, principally to analyze how students and faculty are actually using these new digital hybrid spaces, for what purposes and to what ends (Chang 2016). New partnerships with industry are also possibilities with IoT for future academic library innovation where wider societal IoT paradigms abound. Increasingly, academic libraries are also hiring a wider range of academics and anthropologists who study ‘information ecologies’ and student/faculty group behavior and interactions in these new digital hybrid learning spaces (Schwartz, 2012). What is the scholarly community actually doing in these spaces? How are they interacting with and using them? What do they wish to do and what is not yet possible? How are user communities reconfiguring, rearticulating and remixing these physical technology-rich environments to enable research, learning and library possibilities? An ever wider range of academics (sociologists, ethnographers, linguists, psychologists) are now being employed by academic libraries to focus their more traditionally oriented research study methodologies towards the library learning space and these new information environments, ecosystems and ethnographic cultures. In turn, these new studies and digitally captured metrics combine and evolve by feedback, evaluation and assessment to create new library spaces. The hot, new, dark continent with plenty of virgin territory to explore, is no longer Africa, the new world or outer space, but digital and physical information technology landscapes and ecologies of learning commons and virtual library environments (Nardi and O’Day, 2000). The larger ideas here are guided by ‘design thinking’ and iterative agile project management methodologies (Figure 4). For the design thinking, this means an application of these wider context design principals to accommodate human needs within these new technologically feasible possibilities for research and learning. For Agile project management iterative methodologies, these are oriented to the changing environment of the learning commons, and building and rebuilding this quickly changing techno-hybrid environment (Uzwyshyn, 2012a). Through gathered data analytics and these new anthropologists’ field notes, agile new library
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learning environments may be generated organically to create these larger new hybrid ‘information’ ecosystems.
Figure 4. The Agile Project Management Iterative Design Cycle.
New learning space developments are also being shared online with leading-edge models being submitted to other online databases such as the Flexible Learning Environments Exchange (Flexspace, 2017). These online tools aggregate examples nationally and internationally of leadingedge library learning spaces for others to follow and synthesize and remix towards their own needs. Many traditional academic libraries are being reconfigured completely from their print/serial traditional 20th century warehouse roles. In this newer trend, at times millions of books are shipped off in tandem with multi-decade serial print runs for offsite repository storage and retrieval. These vacated library spaces open large possibilities for makerspaces and learning commons. The academic library web site for most research academics has become the actual library (Figure 5). Materials acquisitions budgets are literally spending 80%, or more, of multi-million dollar acquisitions budgets on
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disciplinary databases and other electronic resources. The library Digital, Metadata and Acquisitions Departments become coordinators, organizers and aggregators of various external data pipes with internal information systems. In these cases, the online librarian and online library become central to utilizing this virtual library for upper level undergraduates, graduate students and research faculty. In completely ‘online university environments,’ this model is stepped up so the online librarian works closely with faculty members and students through various virtual communications technologies. When the university becomes a virtual environment, the online library, learning management system and the online social network, become central to the learning process (Uzwyshyn, Smith, Coulter et al., 2013).
Figure 5. The virtual online library is central to online and hybrid university models.
OPEN SOURCE TECHNOLOGIES On software levels, many academic library areas work very closely with University IT, vendors and other libraries in developing technology for community needs. For the many disaggregated systems needed for academic libraries, open source technology is utilized or created.
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Typically, many of these recognized software projects have become multiinstitutional, longer term efforts. These infrastructures take the combined efforts and expertise of many academic institutions working on these projects together to advance these global-level applications (i.e., Fedora, Hydra, Vireo, Dataverse) for the larger academic library community. Grant funding from US and international agencies (i.e., IMLS, NSF) are increasingly being given for these collaborative institutional efforts across multi-institutions to combine programming power and human resource expertise to create new tools for the academic library community (IMLS, 2017). This eases the burden on single institutions and standardizes the playing field to create larger agreed-upon information ecosystems. Collections are also becoming more collaborative with interlibrary e-loan, lending and borrowing the norm. Huge digital repositories (Hathi Trust) now contain thousands of Exabytes of digital files for interlibrary loan (2017). Increasingly, institutions within a consortia or geographic area are designated to keep single copies of print monographs and serials, so that a consortium does not have to keep multiple print copies of obscure and rarely consulted runs of serial archives locally. This consortial aggregation trend is likely to continue. Digital collections are also increasingly shared through metadata interoperability and harvesting of remote digital collections into a catalog and/or catalog of catalogs.
ONLINE COLLECTIONS Online collections of all media types are also becoming aggregated and remixed on state, national and international levels. For example, the Online Texas Research Data Repository (Figure 6) aggregates 22 Texas universities’ online research data to create a large online data repository to facilitate further collaboration, but also to centralize some of the individual university administrative programmatic duties towards longer term strategies in dealing with the online research data deluge (Texas Data Repository, 2017). The scholarly data research lifecycle, from collection, to analysis, to data visualization and long term preservation and storage,
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also becomes key in this model (Uzwyshyn, 2016b, See also figure 1). Staff training for research data management also becomes paramount. Librarians are quickly becoming, by necessity, data scientists, data librarians and data curators. The academic library provides the role of access, support and data management, also training the university’s disciplinary faculty and students in principles and best practices of data literacy (Texas Digital Library, 2017). This ranges from expertise towards where the relevant data in a particular subject area is, to enabling students and faculty to cite, manage and store their own academic research data for future re-use, access and data citation. Metadata and evolving metadata disciplinary standards become very important for data retrieval, but also aggregation of relevant data across repositories so research studies are not replicated and that previous results can be reused, verified or replicated.
Figure 6. The Texas Online Data Research Repository. https://data.tdl.org/ The first global academic consortial online research data repository.
Big data and the profusion of data-driven research has also led to new academic library needs regarding size requirements for capture, curation, analysis and preservation of research data. These research data management lifecycles are being championed by academic libraries
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working largely with their respective university IT centers and various national data storage and computing centers (Digital Preservation Network (DPN), Chronopolis, Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), Amazon Web Storage and Services (Freeze, S3), etc.). Curation of datasets becomes increasingly important in this model as does the ability to call up and reuse data, especially with larger data sets. All of this has large implication for academic libraries in their role as facilitators and supporters of the academic research enterprise, especially for the STEM disciplines. Software such as LOCKSS, and organizations such as Duraspace and the Digital Preservation Network (DPN), become increasingly important in terms of organizations championing long-term digital stewardship. Visualization and data visualization literacy also becomes increasingly important in this model especially with the logarithmic increase of data and the human capability and preference for pattern recognition through visual models. With the evolution of digital repositories also comes challenges of curating and managing specialized disciplinary research. Currently, the OAI-PMH (Open Archive Protocols for Metadata Harvesting) has been established for standardizing information exchange between digital repositories. The larger value of these standards is to be able to aggregate, collocate and synthesize online research whether this is text, data or media. On internet levels, the promise of Tim Berner-Lee’s semantic web is finally becoming a reality through ‘linked’ data and new BIBFRAME standards (Library of Congress, 2017a). The larger idea is that collections and catalogs no longer have to be encapsulated in databases but can be encoded with new standards to be easily searched and retrieved from directly through search engines such as Google. The advantage for academic libraries, and particularly special collections and university archives with unique items, is that these items can be found immediately and globally by researchers through search engines. Scholars interested in a certain unique text, author or archive can find material instantly. Previously, closed archival documents marked up in Encoded Archival
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Description Language (Library of Congress, 2017b) can be immediately converted to semantic web BIBFRAME standards for instant linked-data retrieval through Google. New markup, metadata and media standards are constantly also evolving to enable these types of new technological possibilities. For example, the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF, 2017) is a new technological framework standard which allows ancient manuscripts that exist in unique repositories around the globe to be digitized and then collocated in virtual space. A scholar no longer must apply for a grant to travel to the Sorbonne, Oxford, and the Library of Congress to compare online manuscripts, annotations and variants of a work, but can compare them instantaneously online with robust and very powerful imaging zooming functions. These possibilities become fascinating, as the use case scenarios for these technologies range from philology and art history to pulmonary pathology, enabling, for example the examination of say ‘pulmonary sarcomas’ by a global group of experts, to find consensus and discuss a disease globally, through the sharing of information resources. For the humanities, translations can be accomplished with the three remaining manuscripts of a text by disparate global experts simultaneously, to compare and improve translations and also find consensus in more advanced scholarly social media environments. With the profusion of information, duplication and ‘de-duping’ of names, data and literature also becomes important. ORCID has recently emerged as a unique identifier for author names (ORCID, 2017). Unique identifiers can also be attached to particular academic works (permalinks) and permanent data citations online (Universal Numerical Fingerprints). The larger idea is to give the author, work, or piece of data, a permanent internet location, so that other researchers can find the author, quote the relevant work, or, in the case of data, use, reuse or cite the particular relevant dataset for an experiment and this data will remain ‘the same’ for all stakeholders. This also leads to the transparency of research, especially with possibilities of data being published and reused.
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Figure 7. The evolution of the textbook to online modalities and synthesis with online library resources.
On another level, open access collections and open educational resources (OER) are being adopted by university systems and online universities as potential digital solutions for reducing university textbook costs (Uzwyshyn & Stielow, 2011b). Libraries here act as aggregators of this information and natural partners in working in tandem with faculty specialists to find suitable resources matching university curricula to online possibility. Textbooks, too, are evolving (Figure 7) and framework software, such as Libguides, can create virtual agile textbooks of changing knowledge disciplines (Uzwyshyn, 2012b and 2012c). These online resource frameworks are able to evolve with a quicker pace of knowledge production than traditional textbook or published article models for curricula. Industry demands for graduates who are current with the latest information and methodologies are also enabled. On higher levels, preprint servers, such as arXiv (Physics, Mathematics) and Biorxiv (Biology), similarly disseminate research papers before official journal submission and publication, establishing precedence for research, but also opening the doors for new avenues of the scholarly record and pre-publication and collaboration possibilities.
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EVOLUTION OF THE SCHOLARLY RECORD AND DATABASE To say the least, the scholarly record is currently going through a paradigm shift. From monographs and articles to blog posts, software, multimedia digital archives and data repositories, the nature of scholarship has changed (New Media Consortium, 12). Within this sea change, academic libraries are also changing to be able to archive, store, access and enable scholars in producing new forms of scholarly work (Uzwyshyn, 2007). Libraries are also in an excellent strategic position with their eresource holdings to evaluate a scholar’s record through new metric, ‘altmetric tools’ and impact factor tools (Scopus, Scival). They will have key roles to play in both the development of these metrics and storage, preservation and access to a scholar’s work. Where previously all of a scholar’s output could be kept on a bookshelf, increasingly complex databases are now needed to store and retrieve a scholar’s multimedia output. Currently, products such as D-Space, Digital Commons, Islandora Fedora and Hydra are being utilized, but this database storage model is quickly evolving to the cloud and wider areas. For metrics, new groups of powerful analytic tools are available to better evaluate both scholarly output and impact. Traditionally, academic libraries have purchased databases which aggregated specialized disciplinary content. This expanded in the new millennia to database disciplinary aggregators to create largescale interdisciplinary databases and meta-databases - literally databases of databases, such as the EBSCO and ProQuest platforms (Uzwyshyn, 2014). From online text aggregation, visual images and media databases have also flourished along with databases that contain ‘datasets,’ and, increasingly, a combination of all media types (Figure 8). Another trend in this evolution involves the database becoming an interactive tool, application or software that contains content, but also allows the analysis and manipulation of that content. Datazoa, Curriculum Builder, Browzine, Incites, Plum Analytics, Pure and Artstor Shared Shelf are all good examples where local content may be compared, remixed and repackaged with a particular institution’s collections, research and needs
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(Uzwyshyn, 2014). In Artstor Shared Shelf, for example, visual art history images and text may be aggregated, shared, remixed and synthesized with local collections and needs to create a combined disciplinary database and also tool for art historians or archeologists to create their own collections and combine their collections with larger databases of the art historical global online digital corpus (Artstor, 2017).
Figure 8. Evolution of online library tools, 1990-2020 with regards to level of interactivity and media range. Graph from Uzwyshyn, 2014.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, VR, AR AND GAMES WITH A PURPOSE It is not difficult to see that many of the topics previously examined in the preceding pages start to become challenging to organize in terms of the library’s 21st century evolution. There are several potential pathways
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forward towards further organizing and clarifying the explosion of databases and the profusion of information. For search methodologies, the application of artificial intelligence and expert systems to improve research processes, learner and researcher outcomes is becoming a viable contender. Online Gaming Methodologies, Human Computation and what Luis von Ahn (2005) has termed ‘Games with a Purpose’ (GWAP methodologies), show promise both in developing new systems and organizing incredible amounts of previously intractable information (See Uzwyshyn, 2009, von Ahn, 2005). In infancy but also showing potential are VR and AR (Virtual and Augmented Reality) applications and applying these 3D possibilities towards search and retrieval possibilities (Uzwyshyn, 2005 and 2011a).
Figure 9. Library of Congress Card Catalog Classification System. The system and card/cabinet were the dominant technologies for search for most of the 20th century.
Currently, IBM Watson is an expert system which shows promise as an early forerunner artificial intelligence system (IBM, 2017). Eventually, these expert AI systems will be married to the traditional library OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) and EDS (Electronic Discovery System). Currently, our most advanced integrated library systems (Ex Libris Alma, EBSCO Folio) are still evolving to cloud-based methodologies (Ex Libris, 2017; EBSCO, 2017). Both have not yet developed artificial intelligence paradigms for search/retrieval and learning from user feedback. Search
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strategies, though, will be enabled through AI’s increased ability to learn from specialized researchers, but also human computations’ ability to harness multiple users’ experience through feedback to create smarter interoperable systems. This will create better learning paths for students but also facilitate researchers’ work in retrieval and synthesis of needed information. Presently, online research is still dominated by a PC/mobile- based ‘long scrolling’ screen list metaphor. It is useful to remember that ‘the scroll’ idea is an ancient Egyptian tool that produced both the first ‘Table of Contents’ and numbered list. Also, it is good to remind ourselves that we possess a long collective human history of developing these knowledge seeking tools (Uzwyshyn, 2006, 2011a, Figure 9). Will artificial intelligence provide better metaphors through neural net or other insightful visual-based paradigms for efficacy and facility through which we will navigate our future universes of knowledge? Time will tell.
CONCLUSION Academic libraries exist today in dynamic changing technological, political and social environments. In the future, these contexts will evolve in our increasingly technocratic global society. A keyword to remember for future academic leaders and libraries is ‘continuum.’ This continuum is necessarily predicated on human resources, more precisely, engaged staff to enthusiastically place themselves in the spectrum of possibilities in a larger sea of information. Academic libraries have never existed in a vacuum. Technologies of the future will evolve in tandem with society. These will continue to vary and range from internet, to learning technologies, to the changing nature of AI, social media, mobile and visualization. The possibilities look progressive with the changing nature of devices, increase of computing power and, so far, very fruitful marriage with academic libraries. We are in exciting times for technology and academic libraries, especially with regards to the evolving record of human
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knowledge. We need to be vigilant stewards of these archives of knowledge of which we, currently, are the destined executors.
REFERENCES ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee (2017). Environmental Scan 2017. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries. ACRL (2017). Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education. [Website]. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework. Artstor (2017). Artstor Digital Library. [Website]. http://www.artstor.org/. Chang, M. (2016). Building an Internet of Things Environment in the Library. [Online VALA Conference Proceedings]. https://www.vala. org.au/direct-download/vala2016-proceedings/vala2016-papers/574vala2016-session-1-chang-paper-1/file. CARLI (2017). Toolkit for ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education. [Website]. https://www.carli.illinois.edu/productsservices/pub-serv/instruction/ToolkitHomepage. EBSCO (2017). Folio. [Website]. https://www.folio.org/collaboration/. Ex Libris (2017). Alma. [Website]. http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/cate gory/AlmaOverview. Flexspace (2017). Flexible Learning Environments Exchange. [Database]. http://flexspace.org/. Hathi Trust (2017). Hathi Trust’s Digital Library. [Website]. https://www. hathitrust.org/. IIIF (2017). The International Image Interoperability Framework. [Website]. http://iiif.io/. IBM (2017). Do your best work with Watson. [Website]. https://www.ibm. com/watson/. Library of Congress (2017a). Bibliographic Framework Initiatives. [Website]. https://www.loc.gov/bibframe/. IMLS (2017). National Digital Platform Funding Opportunities. [Website] https://www.imls.gov/issues/national-issues/national-digital-platform.
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Library of Congress (2017b). Encoded Archival Description Official Site. [Website]. https://www.loc.gov/ead/. Nardi, B. and O’Day, V. (2000). Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart. Boston: MIT. New Media Consortium (2017). Horizon Report: 2017 Library Edition. [Website]. New Media Consortium. https://www.nmc.org/publication/ nmc-horizon-report-2017-library-edition/. ORCID (2017). ORCID: Connecting Research and Researchers. [Website] https://orcid.org/. Schwartz, M (2012). Seven Questions with Library Anthropologist Nancy Fried Foster. Library Journal. December 4. http://lj.libraryjournal. com/2012/12/academic-libraries/seven-questions-with-libraryanthropologist-nancy-fried-foster/#_. Texas Data Repository (2017). About the Texas Data Repository. http://data.tdl.org/about/. Texas Digital Library (2017). Laying the Foundations for Research Data Services [Website & Webinars]. https://tdl.org/training/webinars/. Von, Ahn, L. (2005) Human Computation. [Dissertation PDF File]. http:// reports-archive.adm.cs.cmu.edu/anon/2005/CMU-CS-05-193.pdf. Uzwyshyn, R. (2005). Networked 3D Game Possibilities. [American Society of Information Science and Technology, Special Interest Group in Visualization Information and Sound Weblog]. https://www.asist.org/SIG/SIGVIS/archives/blog-archive-200405/networked-3d-game-possibilities-by-ray-uzwyshyn/. Uzwyshyn, R. (2006). Human Knowledge Seeking and Information Visualization: Exploring New Possibilities. Thompson ISI 2006 Samuel Lazerow Memorial Lecture. School of Information Studies TWU. [PPT File]. http://rayuzwyshyn.net/LazerowPresentation.ppt. Uzwyshyn, R. (2007). Multimedia Visualization and Interactive Systems: Drawing Board Possibilities and Server Realities - A Cuban Rafter Paradigm Case. Library High Tech. 25:3. Uzwyshyn, R. (2009). Arbitrage Opportunities for Image Search: Changing Metaphors, Game Metadata and Gathering Common Sense.
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Bulletin for the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T). 35:5, 41-44. Uzwyshyn, R. (2011a). Chapter 7: Semi-Structured and Unstructured Information Systems: Information Visualization. In C. H. Davis and D. Shaw (Eds.). Introduction to Information Science and Technology. Medford: ITI, 95-109. Uzwyshyn, R & Stielow, F. (2011b). Back to the Future: The Changing Paradigm for College Textbooks and Libraries. Campus Technology. Uzwyshyn, R (2012a). Can We Get Some Order Here? The Application of Principles of IT Project Management for Online Library Projects. [PDF File]. http://rayuzwyshyn.net/APUS2013/ITProjectManagement ArticleUzwyshyn3.pdf. Uzwyshyn, R. (2012b). The Evolving eTextbook Marketplace: Strategies, Platform, Innovation. Journal of Digital Media Management, 1:1., 6977. Uzwyshyn, R. (2012c). American Public University System Online Course Guide Project. [PDF File]. http://rayuzwyshyn.net/APUS2012/ IMSGLobalAward.pdf. [PowerPoint Presentation]. http://rayuzwy shyn.net/APUS2012/APUSOnlineLibraryCourseGuides.ppt. Uzwyshyn, R., Smith, M., Coulter, P., Stevens, K. & Hyland, S. (2013). A Virtual Globally Dispersed Twenty-First Century Academic Library System. Reference Librarian, 54:3, 226-235. Uzwyshyn, R. (2014). Online Tools for Research and Learning: Next Generation Academic Resources. [PowerPoint Presentation File]. http://rayuzwyshyn.net/TXU2014/LicensingOnlineTools13.pptx. Uzwyshyn, R. (2015). One Size May Not Fit All: Pragmatic Reflections on 3D Printers for Academic Learning Environments. Computers in Libraries. Special Issue on Innovation. 35:10, 4-12. Uzwyshyn, R. (2016a). Back to the Future: From Book Warehouse to Library Learning Commons. Informed Librarian. [Online Serial]. October. https://www.informedlibrarian.com/archives.cfm?TYPE=GF. Uzwyshyn, R. (2016b). Research Data Repositories: The What, When, Why and How. Computers in Libraries. 36:3, 18-21.
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Uzwyshyn, R. (2016c). Transforming Academic Libraries for the New Millennia. [Powerpoint File]. Presented for Campus Technology National Conference, Boston, MA. http://rayuzwyshyn.net/TXU2016/ Presentations/TransformingAcademicLibrariesfortheNewMillennia. pptx. Uzwyshyn, R. (2017). S, M, XL: Libraries and Learning Commons. [Powerpoint File]. Presented for Campus Technology Educational Conference, Chicago, IL. http://rayuzwyshyn.net/TXU2017/Chicago LibraryLearningCommonsUzwyshyn.ppt. Wolverton, M. (2016). Digital Forensics from the crime lab to the library. Nature. [Online Serial]. 534 (7605). http://www.nature.com/news/ digital-forensics-from-the-crime-lab-to-the-library-1.19998.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ray J. Uzwyshyn, PhD, MBA, MLIS, is currently Director of Collection and Digital Services for Texas State University Libraries. Previously, he served as Director of Online Libraries for American Public University System, Head of Digital and Learning Technologies for the University of West Florida and Web Services Librarian for the University of Miami. Ray possesses a PhD (NYU, Media Studies), MBA (IT Management) and MLIS from the University of Western Ontario. He has chaired the American Society of Information Science & Technology, Special Interest Group in Visualization, Images and Sound and served as a reviewer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Access to Learning Technology Awards, Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Technology grants and Campus Technology Board Member for their national annual Impact awards. Ray’s specialties include information systems, online education, information visualization, multimedia possibilities for digital libraries, new IT infrastructure and leading-edge library technology development. Full vita available at: http://rayuz wyshyn.net.
In: Academic and Digital Libraries ISBN: 978-1-53613-596-1 Editor: Gloria J. Holbrook © 2018 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 4
DIGITIZATION AND PRESERVATION OF LIBRARY RESOURCES: CHALLENGES IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Posigha Bassil Ebiwolate Department of Library, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
ABSTRACT The main purpose of digitization and preservation is to improve or enhance accessibility and use of information resources in academic libraries. The article examined the concepts of digitization and preservation of information resources in academic libraries. It discussed the significances, need and process of digitization of Libraries resources. It also discussed the areas of collaboration in digitization and preservation projects. Finally it indicated some challenges of digitization and preservation of information resources in academic libraries in Nigeria. The paper concluded that digitization of information resources have dominated the transmission of information in academic environment.
Corresponding Author Email: [email protected].
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Keywords: digitization, preservation, library resources, academic library, Nigeria
INTRODUCTION The inventions of computer and Internet have introduced new developments and innovations in librarianship profession. The inventions also came with some challenges to the practice of librarianship worldwide. In spite of these challenges, the application of Information and Communication Technology (ITC) to library services is gaining momentum all over the world. The idea of digitization and preservation of information resources is widely accepted as a result of the innovation and adornment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Other reasons are accessibility, accuracy, portability, long-term storage, etc. Fabunmi, Paris, and Fabunmi, (2006) states that digitization implies conversion of printed document and art work into digital images. Digital images here mean electronic copies of documents. Digitization does not only mean scanning but it also involve simple data conversion from catalog cards or paper to digital form, video and audio migration to digital form and so on. According to Fenton (2009) while emphasis on digitization is accessibility, discoverability, usability and improve preservation, there is need for digital archives to serve long-term storage for future use and as well can be accessed overtime. Digitization of library resources is prerequisite for improve accessibility and preservation of important documents in our academic library. Librarians in academic institutions are eager to provide students and faculty members with information resources essential for teaching and learning, but they also know it is critical to address the special long-term access risk that e-resources present (Fenton, 2009). According to Liu (2004) most of the libraries involved in digitization projects in United State are academic Libraries. Most of such libraries collaborated with better funded agencies, such as national libraries and museums. In the benefits of collaboration, Microsoft and Columbia
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University collaborated on an initiative to digitize a large number of books from Columbia university libraries and made them available to interned users. With the support of the open content Alliance (OCA), publicity available print materials in Columbia libraries will be scanned, digitize (Neal, 2008). This initiative is to encourage and promote digitization and preservation of electronic materials and as well to increase access to users. The collaboration is necessary in academic libraries as they have access to greater resources, historical artifacts, documents and research project than public libraries. Academic libraries in the developed nations have made tremendous achievement in the areas of digitization and preservation of information resources. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s academic libraries have achieved little or nothing in this area. Academic libraries in Nigeria are experiencing several set back in this direction. However, digitization and preservation of library resources has come to stay. In-spite of the challenges of digitization and preservation of library resources, according to Fabunmic, Paris and Fabumi (2006) the manual system of searching for information and materials in the traditional library does not permit multiple use of the same material by different library users unlike the online library services. It is inefficient and time consuming, hence the need to exploit the advantages of the digital library which enable provision of online library services.
DIGITIZATION OF LIBRARY RESOURCES Digitization is the process of taking traditional library materials that are in form of books and papers, and converting them to the electronic form where they can be stored and manipulated by a computer (Witten, etal 2003 as cited by Usuman, 2008). The dramatic growth in the capabilities of computers and communication technology networks has not only radically revolutionized the process of access and preserving resources, but has also brought about a fundamental transformation from the traditional approach of accessing information to a modern approach. Today scholars in the humanities and social sciences are looking up to their colleagues in
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the sciences, modeling their behavior after them, because all scholars want to save time and be more productive (Usuman, 2008). Digitization of information resources is a prerequisite for modern scientific research activities and the existence of electronic library in this information age. This is to say that the concept of electronic library is only meaningful when information resources are fully digitized in addition to digital born information resources. The process of digitization include the receipt of hardcopy, text and images scanning, processing of scanned text and images, creation of PDF copy of the source file, quality control and delivery of digital version. Digitization is exciting ok, so perhaps the actual process of scanning page after page might become a bit tedious, but the end result is staggering (Harris, 2008).
Source: Digital BibliolheckVodr De NederlandseLethern (DBNL). Figure 1. Digitization Process.
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DBNL was created by the society of Dutch literature with a vision to make Dutch Literary works available electronically to the literature loving public. The DBNL website attract 15,000 to 20,000 visitor daily, making it one of the most visited and most popular site of its kind in the world. With more than 4,000 books and papers available online today (approximately 1.5 million pages), the website logs download between 100,000 and 140,000 pages of both copyright free and copyrighted content daily (Stripriaan, 2009). It’s no exaggeration to say that the ability to access and search books online is transforming research: a vast and increasing body of information is discoverable and searchable (by a potentially unlimited number of users at one) in a very short time. As more content is digitized, research will inevitably become increasingly depend on information stored electronically, to the extent that much of it will eventually become an online activity (Harris, 2009). Harris further posited that because of this, the data itself is unlikely to continue to be packaged in a way that resembles the print book format, especially in the science.
Benefits of Digitization The benefit of digitization is enormous to all stakeholders (government, publishers, authors, researchers, students, librarians, etc,) in this present information age. With print you can sell throughout the world, but there are limitations; pricing, space issue, distribution, licensing and selling restrictions. With digital born materials, there are fever barriers for the librarian or the end users (Janke, 2008). Ding (2000), Getz (1997), Line (1996), Mckinley (1997) as cited by Usuman (2008) on the advantages of digitization maintained that:
Digital materials can be sorted, transmitted and retrieved easily and quickly; Access to electronic information is cheaper than its print counterpart when all the files are stored in an electronic warehouse with compatible facilities and equipment, and
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Digital texts can be linked, thus made interactive; besides, it enhances the retrieval of more information.
In 2008, the British Prime Minister Publish an article called “Digital Britain is a necessity.” In this article he argued that access to digital communications and information are essential for business success and for enriching the country’s social, cultural and educational landscape, as well as helping with social mobility and inclusion. He called for the right policies to be developed to equip the country to be innovative, prosperous and productive in the digital future (Brindley, 2009). Brindley posited that British Library can help deliver a truly digital future for Britain by growing faster its role as custodian of Digital Britain’s collective memory acquisition of digital content, ensuring its sustainability and its continuing access and long-term preservation – a critical public service that acts as a springboard for research, new forms of creativity and knowledge creation. The digital world will dominate more and more in the future, because of both mass digitization and born-digital content. Most importantly the acceptance and wide usability of e-resources or digital materials is on increase in the developed and developing nations. According to carter (2009) many institutions now spend over 50 percent of their budget on electronic resources. These changes are what the librarians are dealing with, and in no distant time even here in Nigeria the library users can have access without touching the library. Universities and the entire corporate research institutions libraries are all moving to full digitization of information resources in their possession.
PRESERVATION OF DIGITAL MATERIALS Preservation is paramount in the digitization of information resources. This is the core reason why the chief executive of the British Library, Brindly (2009) challenged the United Kingdom government that it must include preservation in its vision of a ‘digital Britain.” Preservation of digital and non-digital materials is of tremendous important to archives,
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social cultural, prosperity, education and the future development. There is a lot need for the preservation of digital materials to ensure accessibility, availability and long-term usability. Preservation is design to ensure enduring discoverability, usability, authenticity and accessibility over long term. According to Brindly (2009) digital preservation (DP) is presently ranked by the UK’s Office of Science and Technology as a top concern for the health of the nation’s e-infrastructure. Securing long-term and sustainable access to today’s data through preservation is the huge task that many international, national and institutional bodies are now addressing. This initiative is still far in most African countries compare to the developed nations. In Nigeria and the academic libraries in particular the concept of digitization and preservation of digital materials is still new. In most Nigeria university libraries what we have is just a cluster of computers connected to the Internet. It should be a compulsory task for our universities to take a bold step in the preservation and digitalization of information materials. If not for anything for the purpose of research and development (RD), the advancement of knowledge and development of policies, programmes and structures to digitize and preserve our grey literature and other important print materials in our libraries. As observed by portico and Ilhaka (2008) many see preservation as solely the responsibility of the libraries at institutions that focus solely on research or equally on research and teaching.
Collaboration In the world today, government, international organizations and universities are pulling their limited resources together to ensure enduring comprehensive and qualitative digitization and preservation programmes. For example the Irish Universities Association Libraries (IUA) joined more than 400 Libraries from 11 countries in supporting portico and digital preservation. Through its support of portico archive, the Irish Research Electronic Library (IREL) programme – a national initiative of the IUA and Science Foundation Ireland incorporates long-term digital preservation
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and access for a growing number of titles (Adams 2008). Similarly, the European Commission funds several large collaborative Digital Preservation (DP) projects, including the Programme (Preservation and Long-term Access through Networked Services (PLANETS), and Cultural, Artistic and Scientific Knowledge for Preservation, Access and Retrieval (CASPAR), The Digital Curation Centre (DCC), UK Web Archiving Consortium (UKWAC), UK lots of copies keep stuff Safe (UK LOCKKS), Joint information System Committee, (JISC). The British Library (BL), the Digital preservation Coalition (DPC), the Library of Congress in USA, the SURF Foundation in the Netherlands etc. (Brindly, 2009).
CHALLENGES OF DIGITIZATION AND PRESERVATION OF LIBRARY RESOURCES IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Digital contents are emerging in all field of study. And there is rapid increase in the conversion of print to digital contents. On the other hand, the advancement of technology for their preservation for future use is also in exponential increase. According to Fabunmi, Paris and Fabunmi (2006) digitization of library resources poses a great deal of challenges to the major stakeholders (library management, employees and users). Some of these challenges are universal in nature but are more devastating in developing or third world nations. Some of the challenges in Nigeria’s academic libraries include:
Government and University Management: Political Will Ubogu (2006) cited by Aba and Okayi, (2006) states that the Nigerian higher education sector is privileged to have a body such as the Nigerian University Commission (NUC) charged with responsibilities of development of universities in Nigeria. The NUC’s department of
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Information and Communication Technology (DICT) is mandated to enhance teaching and research, planning, management and effective evaluation through analytical decision-making packages and ITC services. The government and the various universities’ management also have laudable ideals or initiative towards this direction but unfortunately lack the political will to execute the plans. For instance, the federal government virtual library project (Nigerian Virtual Library), the project is yet to achieve the original purpose to which it is launched. The various universities management are not also helping matter as they consistently reduce allocation to the libraries and divert fund made for the libraries to other areas they feel are more important, and ignore the importance of digitization and preservation of information resources in the libraries. As earlier mention, the British prime minister in his article entitled “Digital Britain is a necessity” argued that access to digital communication and information are essential for business success and for enriching the country’s social, cultural and educational landscape, as well as helping with social mobility and inclusion. In this direction the European Commissioner for Information Society and Media launched its first public prototype on 20th November, 2008 at a meeting of the council of ministers in Brussels. The project was tailored toward information accessibility for all researchers. Though Nigeria has a good number of ICT policies in paper but unfortunately lack the Political will to the execution the policies for the benefit of the education sector and the public.
Technology The project of digitization and preservation of library resources is characterized with Information and communication technology. The technological devices are regarded as the backbone of digitization and preservation. The importance of information lies in its accessibility and utilization by users for productivity and decision making. Technology remains one of the primary drivers of change in the ways that people work, seek for information, communicate, and entertain themselves. In academic
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environment, no unit has been transformed by technology than the library (Veeramani and Vinayagamoorthy, 2011). The major area of concern and threat to the developing nation is the rapid changes of technological devices. The obsolete of technology is one major obstacle that is prohibiting academic libraries from digitization project in Nigeria university libraries. According to Grindly (2000) […] quickly modern technologies become obsolete. Think (with nostalgia) about the piles of abandoned floppy disks that new laptops no longer read, the films on Betamax video cassettes their owners are unable to watch, or the CD Walkman. Next, imagine the very possibility that, unless strategies are put in place now, most of the digital produced today may not be usefully accessed by the next generation due to technological obsolescence, data loss and concerns.
Nigeria with outstanding information and communication technology policies yet is bedevil with poor ICT infrastructure. Ekong, Igwe and Ekong (2005) posited that it must be realized that the current ICT infrastructures in Nigeria cannot enable Nigerians or the university to be fully part of the global information society. The development and full deployment of ITC is the way forward for tertiary education in Nigeria. With an ever-growing population and increasing demand for higher education, Nigeria should not be left behind in the use of ICT to tackle the challenge (Bertrand, 2011). According to Aba and Okayi (2006) the major problem is how to improve (ICT) infrastructure in Nigeria. The telecommunication infrastructure, according to Ojedokun (1999) as cited by Aba and Okayi (2006) remain the backbone for the application of a wide range of communication and multimedia services such as digital libraries. Both e-business and telecoms infrastructure are incomplete without affordable computing facilities. People need to have access to reasonably price computer for education, recreation, business and other creative activities. They also need low cost Internet and phone service. However cost is still a barrier in Nigeria even with priced competition (Jide, 2007). Unfortunately, the prices are too high because almost all the technological devices in Nigeria are imported. Not until the country start
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producing some of these devices we cannot maintain and sustain digitization and preservation projects.
Funding The most common problem of digitization and preservation of information resources project in the academic library is the inadequacy of funding. The projects are capital intensive. This is reason why there is collaboration in the national and international level in the developed countries. Most academic libraries are face with unmanageable budgetary demand (Fabunmi, Paris and Fabunmi 2006). The government has been giving the universities grants that are not commensurate with their rapid growth in members, faculties, department, staff, and students. This underfunding of the universities and their libraries has become perennial and may remain so […] (Aguolu 1996). Many academic libraries are yet to be automated due to inadequate funding from the government and their parent bodies. The universities cannot fund digital project as their budgetary allocation decline yearly. Omole (2009) posits that: Where, if not tertiary institutions, have we decided to train the Bankers, the Lawyers, Engineers, the Doctors, the Architects, the Agriculturist, the Administrators, the Teachers? No wonder UNESCO recommended as high as 26% of GDP to be devoted in the education sector. The largest and most industrialized nations put education as number one in their budget. […] governments in developing world generally do not see the real need to put a huge proportion of their budget into their tertiary institutions. There is no gain saying the fact that a wellfunded proprietors academic library will digitized her library resources p. 13.
The benefit of digitization and preservation of library resources cannot be over emphasized. Governments and corporate bodies are collaborating in the developed nations in the area of funding to ensure successful
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digitization and preservation projects. The European Union announced that in 2009-2010, $69 million from its research programme will go to digitization activities and development of digital libraries. Europe’s competitive and innovative programme will also allocate about $50 million to improve access to Europe’s culture content through digitization. In the same direction, European Union (EU) urged its member states to invest in digitization and preservation themselves, pointing that the cost of digitizing five million books in Europe’s libraries is already estimated at approximately $225 million (Harris, 2009). The federation government of Nigeria may have the fund to invest in digitization and preservation project but unfortunately lack the interest to do so.
Manpower Manpower is also one of the major challenges to digitization of library resources in our academic libraries. Digital projects require experience and skill personnel from the beginning to the end of the project. Fabunmi, Paris and Fabunmi (2006) stated that, the setting up of a digital library entails:
Policy Enactment A policy is a guiding statement. The top management should enact a policy on the project. Such policy will serve as a reference point and guide for implementing the project. The policy should contain the goals of the digitization project. Policy Approval The policy should be approved by appropriate authorities before project implementation. For example, a university library may need the approval of the university management and other funding agencies before any digitization can be embarked upon.
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Planning, Budgeting and Monitoring This is a very essential stage. It is desirable to set up a planning committee that will draw the plan and budget for the digitization exercise. The budget include (a) salaries, wages and benefit (likely to be about 50% of the project cost); (b) staff training; (c) equipment and supplies (d) services, contracts and legal fees; (e) overhead and direct costs (including offices and workplaces (f) maintenance, licenses, and communication charges; and (g) contingency (setting aside 10% of the total project budget for unexpected expenses). Acquisition of the Appropriate Technology The plan drawn for the project will determine the appropriate technology to acquire. Technology here refers to all the equipment/ hardware and software that are needed. Administrative Decisions on the Procedures to be Adopted A decision has to be made on the mode of operation, whether just to establish links with existing digital libraries or to digitize in-house or to contract it out. There is need to establish time limit for the project. Sensitization: Psychological Preparation of Staff In most places the staff will like to resist the digitization project. It is a common thing for people to resist change, just for the fear of the unknown. The library staff may fear that the success of the project may affect their job adversely. Those who are not computer literate may not be willing to adjust. All these categories of people have their genuine reasons to resist. It is the responsibility of the library management to educate them and allay their fears. Copyright Permission Violation of copyright should be avoided. It is not necessary to obtain copyright permission for materials published before 1922. Copyright permissions have to be obtained for materials to be digitized, particularly
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those that are not available in the government domain. If an item is still under copyright, it can be digitized for in-house use only. Usually, copyright statements permit educational and non-commercial usage.
Implementation and Trial Testing At this stage it is good to start with trial testing, using a few materials as sample. This will enable us to know whether the format and field are flexible and suitable. Adjustment can be made. A pilot digitization project should start with a manageable collection. Evaluation of Project The top library management needs to be making periodic evaluation of the project. This will reveal lapses that have to be addressed. Project evaluation is an often neglected aspect of digitization projects. Several digital projects are judged by the number of item they digitize. The number of images digitized means nothing, if they are of low quality, hard to locate in a database, or not interesting to the public. In considering the above steps, it is obvious that no academic library can succeed in digitizing its resources without quality and experience personnel. Aba and Okayi (2006) noted that “the challenge is how to address the shortage of management and technical expertise in Nigeria. This is important in order to be able to fully exploit the potential of information technology based systems such as the digital libraries.” A greater commitment of all university libraries’ staff towards computerization effort need to be encouraged. Training and retraining opportunities for librarians in computer literacy will be of immense help to all stakeholders in the sector.
Energy A key enabling factor to an effective ICT infrastructure is reliable and adequate supply of electricity. This will in turn enable private and public
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organizations to provide seamless online services through local areas networks, wide area networks and the Internet. Past and present administrations spend billions of naira in the energy sector yet the country is still in complete blackout. The reform in the energy sector during Obasanjo’s administration (1999 – 2007) was a complete mess that enriched the democrat in his cabinet and as well introduced and maximized corruption in the ministry of power and energy. The call for the reform which was tailored towards the amelioration of the inadequate electricity supply, incessant power outages, low generating plant availability and high technical and non- technical losses that characterized the Nigeria electricity industry is yet to achieve it desired objectives. As a result of the erratic power supply in the country many industries, (small scale businesses and corporate organizations) that cannot afford to generate energy were forced out of business. Our universities libraries with little or no grant are not exempted. Without regular power supply the idea of digitization and preservation of information resources will only become a waist of effort. Electricity is one of the basic requirements in digitization of library resources. The incessant power failure will not only truncate the good ideas of librarians and information managers towards digitization of information resources, but it will as well deny the end users the opportunity to access and retrieve information of their choice. According to Agbaje (2009) it will be unreasonable to invest so much in laboratories, libraries, classroom as well as on electronic resources without students having access to them due to lack of electricity.
Networks and Networking Most of the networks in Nigeria are donor funded. United nation educational and culture organization (UNESCO) and united nation development programme (UNDP) are the major donor in the country. They collaborated with some institutions in financing the Virtual library project
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(Owoeye, 2005). However, in Africa, according to Internet World Stats (2011) report, Nigeria has one of the best network and networking system in the continent. Out of the 152, 217, 341 population of Nigeria about 43, 982, 200(39.6%) used Internet in 2010. The rate of use recorded is quite encouraging. However, the records centre in the urban cities. Unfortunately, the majority of Nigeria population is living in the rural areas where there is complete absence of Internet services. The country ICT infrastructures are yet to reach the rural areas teeming population in spite of the government past and present projects to reach out to the rural areas with Internet services. The federal government set up the Rural Telephony Project in 2006, Wire Nigeria Project, the Nigerian Telemedicine initiative, Public Service Initiative, etc and pursued various policies aimed at bridging the digital divide and optimum use of Internet services in the rural areas, yet little or nothing has been achieve. The critical issue today in Nigeria is how to build standard networking system that is self-sustaining and which funding and existence is based on internal funding.
CONCLUSION Digitization and preservation of information resources is dominating the transmission of educational information. Libraries that are serving the scholar community have a critical role and responsibility to digitize and preserve scholar information resources. This will enhance the preservation of our scarce and limited information resources in the libraries, and improve accessibility, discoverability and usability of the information resources. With the benefits associated to digitization, our government and university management have enough reasons to establish virtual library in our institutions. The challenges of manpower, energy and funding, if given proper attention can easily be managed. What the government and the institutions do or fail to do will have either positive or negative impact on the future generation and our educational system.
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REFERENCES Aba, J. I. and Okayi, R. G. (2006). Challenges of Virtual Library in University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria. International Journal of Research in Education. 10 (2), 45-52. Adams, R. (2008). Irish universities support digital preservation. Research Information: International magazine for Online Content and Information Management. June/July(36), 9. Agbaje, A. (2009). I. UI tackles outages with solar energy, bio-fuel. In Lawal, I. Guardian. May 12th, p. 4. Aguolu, I. E. (1998). Nigeria University Libraries: What future? International journal of Information and Library Review. 28 (3): 261269. Bertrand, W. (2011). ITC, way forward for tertiary education. The Punch. 19th may, 12. Brindley, L. (2009). Digital Vision must include Digitization and Preservation. Research Information: international magazine for Online Content and Information Management. February/March (40): 5. Carter, C. (2009). LMS can help make user more aware of the Library’s Role. Research Information: International magazine for Online Content and Information Management. December /January (37): 24. Ekong, E. V, Igwe, U. O. and Ekong, U. O. (2005). Advancing the Role of ICT in Nigeria Universities libraries. Information Technologist: an International journal of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). 2 (December): 96 – 105. Fabunmi, B. A., Paris, M. and Fabunmi, M (2006) Digitization of Library Resources: Challenges and Implications for Policy and Planning. International Journal of African and American Studies: 5 (2): 22 – 35. Fenton, E. (2009). Proof in preservation. In Parry, C. Research Information: international magazine for Online Content and Information Management. April/May (41), 11-12. Frankfurt, M. (2009). Consumers Drive Book Digitization. Research Information: international magazine for Online Content and Information Management. December/January (39): 16.
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Grindley, N. (2009). Saving for the future. Research information: International Magazine for online content and information management. February/Marcy (40), 13 – 14. Harris, S. (2009). Redefining e-Books. Research Information: International Magazine for online content and Information Management. February/Marcy (40) 8. Janke, R. (2008). Riding the e-collections wave. Research Information: Europe’s Premier Magazine for online content and Information Management. June/July (36), 12. Jide, A. (2007). Nigeria: Bridging the infrastructure divide. Available at: www.jidaw.com. Katzen, J. (2009). Technology bring Challenges and Opportunities for Information: Internet pens the door to new information sources but funding the right information can be a challenge. Research Information: International magazine for Online Content and Information Management. February/March (40): 19 – 21. Neal, G. J. (2008). Columbia University partner with Microsoft to Digitize Books. Research Information: Europe’s Premier Magazine for online content and Information Management. April/May (36), 8. Omole, W. (2009). Rethinking Tertiary Education Financing in Nigeria. National Scholar. 6 (1), 4 – 8). Parry, C. (2009) Proof in Preservation. Research Information: international magazine for Online Content and Information Management. December/January (39): 11. Portico and Ilhaka (2008). Libraries divided over preservation urgency. Research information: Europe’s premier Magazine for online content and Information Management. April/May (41), 13-14. Stripriaan, R. V. (2009). Digitization helps future proof Dutch Literature. Research Information: International Magazine for online content and Information Management. Usuman, I. A. (2008). Digitization of collections of late Usman Dan Fodio: a gateway model of resources sharing among libraries. Available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/irrt/irrtcommittees/irrt intlpapers/Ibrahim_Usman-2008-F.pdf.
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Veeramani, M. and Vinayagamoorthy, P. (2011). Analysis of information technology (IT) application in academic libraries in Kuwait. Library Hi Tech News. 28(2), 9-15. Wilkie, T. and Harris, (2008). E-books are here to stay. Research Information: Europe’s Primer Magazine for online content and Information Management. April/May (35): 16.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Posigha Bassil Ebiwolate is a staff of Niger Delta University. He is the head of technical section (Cataloguing and Classification Librarian) of the University library. A holder of Dip, BSc and MSc in library and information science. He is presently a PhD student in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. He is an author of several articles in referred journals and chapters of books.
INDEX # 3D, v, viii, ix, 1, 2, 16, 17, 18, 23, 30, 31, 32, 35, 63, 67, 68, 81, 85 3D printer, 67 3D printing, ix, 63, 64, 68 labs, 64 3DHT, vii, viii, 1, 2, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28
A academic, vii, viii, ix, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35, 36, 39, 41, 51, 53, 57, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 77, 79, 82, 84, 87, 88, 89, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 100, 105 library(ies), vii, viii, ix, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35, 36, 39, 51, 53, 57, 63, 64, 65, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 79, 82, 87, 88, 89, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 100, 105 library(ies) technology(ies), vii, ix, 63, 64
access, 3, 11, 12, 15, 21, 26, 30, 48, 50, 66, 75, 78, 79, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 101 accessibility, ix, 30, 48, 87, 88, 93, 95, 102 ACRL Framework for Information Literacy, 69, 83 age, 13, 32, 42, 67, 90, 91 agencies, 12, 74, 88, 98 AI systems, 81 altmetric tools, 79 anatomy, 21, 22, 31 anthropologists, 71 anthropology, 23 appropriate technology, 99 archival documents, 76 artificial intelligence, ix, 63, 64, 65, 81, 82 augmented reality (AR), 81 automation, 7, 9, 11, 30
B BIBFRAME, 76 brain, 21 broadband, 11, 20 browser, 55, 58 browsing, 50 building blocks, 65
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businesses, 20, 101
C case study, 40, 61, 62 CD-ROM, 10, 30 challenges, x, 61, 66, 76, 87, 88, 89, 94, 98, 102 changing environment, 71 Chicago, 7, 17, 29, 30, 31, 33, 83, 86 China, 10, 34, 40, 61 circulation, 3, 5, 7, 28 classroom, 20, 101 collaboration, vii, x, 12, 23, 65, 74, 78, 83, 87, 88, 97 college, 5, 7, 10, 13, 21, 27, 29, 30, 33, 64, 70, 83, 85 libraries, 30, 64 communication, 15, 29, 60, 66, 89, 95, 96, 99 computer, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 24, 33, 48, 88, 89, 96, 99, 100 computerization, 100 computing, 31, 76, 82, 96 cost, 11, 12, 17, 27, 54, 57, 96, 98, 99 culture, 30, 98, 101 currency, 18 curricula, viii, 1, 78
D data, iv, 7, 11, 23, 39, 41, 48, 49, 52, 55, 56, 66, 67, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 84, 88, 91, 93, 96 analytics, 71 management, 75 storage, 76 visualization, 66, 74, 76 data set, 66, 76 database(s), 9, 10, 13, 15, 65, 72, 76, 79, 81, 100 disciplinary aggregators, 79 storage mode, 79
developed countries, 97 developed nations, 89, 93, 97 developing countries, 40 developing nations, 92 digital archives, 67, 88 digital asset management systems, 67 digital collections, 74 digital communication, 92, 95 digital divide, 102 digital forensics, 67 digital hybrid space, 71 digital libraries, vii, viii, ix, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 67, 86, 96, 98, 99, 100 digital literacy, 64, 65, 67, 69 digital preservation, 67, 93, 103 digital publication, 53, 56, 57 digital repositories, 74, 76 digital scholarly artifacts, 67 digital scholarship, 67 digital space, 70 digitization, v, vii, ix, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104 disciplinary database(s), 73, 80 distance learning, viii, 1, 25
E education, viii, 1, 12, 18, 20, 29, 31, 41, 60, 69, 86, 93, 95, 96, 97 educational institutions, viii, 1, 2 educational process, 20, 39, 59, 60 educational system, 102 electricity, 100, 101 electronic materials, 89 electronic resources, 15, 73, 92, 101 emergent technologies, ix, 63, 64, 65 energy, 19, 100, 101, 102, 103
Index environment, x, 3, 8, 18, 19, 28, 30, 38, 39, 41, 42, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 77, 87, 96 e-resource, 79, 88, 92 evolution, 66, 67, 76, 78, 79, 80 expert system, 81 expertise, 11, 74, 75, 100
F fake news, 69 federal government, 95, 102 flexible learning environments exchange, 72, 83 framework for information literacy, 70, 83 funding, 11, 74, 83, 97, 98, 102, 104 funds, 13, 94
G games with a purpose, 81 global village, 65 global warming, 19 Google, 14, 15, 17, 31, 76 governments, 97 graduate students, 45, 73
H higher education, viii, 2, 3, 11, 26, 28, 29, 94, 96 history, 15, 20, 23, 31, 32, 33, 43, 77, 80, 82 hologram, v, viii, 1, 2, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 Holo-Room, 21 human, vii, viii, 2, 3, 18, 21, 22, 31, 68, 71, 74, 76, 82 human body, 21 human computation, 81, 84 human resources, 82 humanities students, vii, viii, ix, 37, 38, 47, 59, 60
109 I
images, 80, 88, 90, 100 images scanning, 90 impact factor tools, 79 information, iv, vii, viii, ix, 2, 3, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 53, 57, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 66, 67, 69, 71, 73, 74, 76, 77, 78, 81, 82, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105 information and communication technology (ITC), viii, 1, 2, 3, 15, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 88, 95, 96, 100, 102, 103 information ecologies, 71 information ecosystems, 74 information environments, 38, 71 information exchange, 76 information literacy, ix, 63, 64, 70 information technology, 8, 12, 13, 30, 64, 71, 100, 105 landscapes, 71 information user, 38, 39, 40 infrastructure, 16, 26, 86, 93, 96, 100, 104 institutions, viii, 2, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 26, 39, 74, 88, 92, 93, 97, 101, 102 international image interoperability framework, 77, 83 internet, 14, 15, 20, 26, 29, 32, 33, 42, 50, 60, 70, 83, 88, 93, 96, 101, 102, 104
J Java, 58
K knowledge seeking tools, 82 Kuwait, 1, 34, 35, 36, 105
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learning, viii, ix, 1, 3, 15, 16, 22, 25, 26, 27, 31, 63, 64, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 81, 82, 88 learning commons, ix, 63, 64, 67, 71, 72 learning environment, 27, 31, 72 learning management system, 73 learning process, 25, 26, 73 learning space, 70, 71, 72 librarians, 13, 15, 28, 33, 70, 75, 88, 91, 92, 100, 101 library resources, 61, 88, 89, 94, 95, 97, 98, 101 library services, 7, 15, 28, 61, 88, 89 library(ies), iv, v, vii, viii, ix, x, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 70, 71, 73, 75, 76, 77, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105 linked-data, 77 literacy, ix, 27, 28, 63, 64, 65, 67, 69, 75 76, 100 local collections, 80
M magazines, 13, 43, 49, 50 makerspace(s), ix, 63, 64, 68, 72 management, 26, 28, 30, 31, 34, 67, 71, 73, 75, 94, 95, 98, 99, 100, 102, 104 manpower, 98, 102 materials, vii, viii, ix, 10, 37, 38, 42, 51, 53, 59, 60, 61, 89, 91, 92, 99, 100 media, 16, 24, 65, 67, 69, 74, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82 metadata, 73, 75, 76, 84 interoperability, 74 meta-databases, 79
Microsoft, 14, 23, 88, 104 mobile device, 70 models, viii, 1, 23, 25, 72, 73, 76, 78 multimedia, 67, 79, 86, 96 multimedia digital archives, 79 multimedia services, 96 multipurpose hall, 24
N natural resources, 19 networked technology, 64, 65 networking, 11, 102 Nigeria, v, x, 87, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 100, 101, 103, 104 Nigerian University Commission, 94
O OAI-PMH, 76 OCLC, 7, 12, 14, 33 OER, 78 offsite repository, 72 online collections, ix, 63, 64, 65 online data repository, 66, 74 online data research repository(ies), ix, 63, 64, 75 online gaming methodologies, 81 online information, 30 online librarian, 73 online library(ies), 73, 78, 80, 89 online research data, 66, 74, 75 online university, 73 open educational resources, 64, 78 open source frameworks, ix, 63, 64, 65 open source technology, 73 operations, 3, 7, 8, 30
P paradigm shift, 13, 64, 70, 79 pattern recognition, 76 permalinks, 77
Index Poland, vii, viii, 37, 42, 43, 49, 60 policy, 98 political will, 94 politics, 34 population, 59, 96, 102 preservation, vii, ix, 67, 74, 75, 79, 87, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 101, 102, 103, 104 programming, 74 project, 5, 7, 15, 20, 33, 71, 89, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101 project management methodologies, 71 prototype, 95
Q questionnaire, viii, 38, 41, 42
R reading, 50, 51 real time, 17 reality, 19, 29, 31, 50, 76 reliability, 11, 50, 54, 55, 58, 69 requirements, 75, 101 research and development (RD), 93 research data, 74, 75 research data management, 75 lifecycles, 75 research data repository, 74 research institutions, 92 researchers, 23, 24, 26, 53, 76, 77, 82, 91, 95 resources, vii, viii, ix, 7, 15, 21, 26, 33, 37, 42, 43, 46, 50, 55, 58, 59, 61, 64, 65, 73, 77, 78, 87, 88, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 100, 101, 102, 104 response, 18, 44, 52
S scholarly communication cycle, 66 scholarly record, 65, 67, 79
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scholarly research, 65 enterprise, 67 scholarship, 67, 79 school, 12, 13, 70 science, viii, 2, 17, 18, 32, 43, 91, 105 semantic web, 76 services, iv, viii, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33, 34, 38, 39, 65, 83, 89, 95, 99, 101, 102 social environment, 82 social media, 66, 77, 82 social network, 15, 70, 73 social sciences, 43, 89 society, 18, 27, 28, 67, 69, 82, 91, 96 software, 11, 26, 54, 73, 78, 79, 99 storage, 5, 9, 10, 72, 74, 76, 79, 88 strategic position, 79 student populations, 70 survey, viii, 15, 32, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 60, 62
T technological developments, 3 technological revolution, vii, viii, 2, 28 technology, v, vii, viii, ix, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35, 40, 58, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 82, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 93, 94, 95, 96, 99, 100, 103, 104, 105 tertiary education, 96, 103 textbooks, 42, 49, 59, 60, 61, 78 the scholarly record, ix, 63, 64, 65, 66, 78, 79 training, 26, 75, 84, 99 training programs, 26
U United Kingdom (UK), 11, 18, 20, 31, 34, 35, 92, 94
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Index
United States of America (USA/US), 7, 9, 12, 13, 17, 88, 94 Universal Numerical Fingerprints, 77 universities, 5, 6, 7, 11, 40, 74, 78, 93, 94, 97, 101, 103 university libraries, 3, 6, 10, 15, 61, 64, 89, 93, 96, 100
V virtual library environments, 71
virtual online library, 73 visualization, 66, 67, 74, 76, 82, 86 VR, 80, 81
W web, 13, 33, 34, 65, 72, 76