ITAL Information Technology and Libraries (E-Journal)
Not a member yet
885 research outputs found
Sort by
Letter from the Editor (December 2019)
No full textOn the international impact and importance of an open access library technology journal
No Need to Ask: Creating Permissionless Blockchains of Metadata Records
Get PDFThis article will describe how permissionless metadata blockchains could be created to overcome two significant limitations in current cataloging practices: centralization and a lack of traceability. The process would start by creating public and private keys, which could be managed using digital wallet software. After creating a genesis block, nodes would submit either a new record or modifications to a single record for validation. Validation would rely on a Federated Byzantine Agreement consensus algorithm because it offers the most flexibility for institutions to select authoritative peers. Only the top tier nodes would be required to store a copy of the entire blockchain thereby allowing other institutions to decide whether they prefer to use the abridged version or the full version
Library Services Navigation: Improving the Online User Experience
Get PDFWhile the discoverability of traditional information resources is often the focus of library website design, there is also a need to help users find other services such as equipment, study rooms, and programs. A recent assessment of the Brigham Young University Library website identified nearly two hundred services. Many of these service descriptions were buried deep in the site, making them difficult to locate. This article will describe a web application that was developed to improve service discovery and to help ensure the accuracy and maintainability of service information on an academic library website
Letter from the Editor (March 2019)
No full textAnnouncing our new regular column, Public Libraries Leading the Way, and summarizing this issue's contents
Taking the Long Way Around: Improving the Display of HathiTrust Records in Primo
Get PDFAs with any shared format for serializing data, Primo’s PNX records have limits on the types of data which they pass along from the source records and into the Primo tool. As a result of these limitations, PNX records do not currently have a provision for harvesting and transferring rights information about HathiTrust holdings that the Kansas State University (KSU) Library system indexes through Primo. This created a problem, since Primo was defaulting to indicate that all HathiTrust materials were available to KSU Libraries (K-State Libraries) patrons, when only a limited portion of them actually were. This disconnect was infuriating some library users, and creating difficulties for the public services librarians. There was a library-wide discussion about removing HathiTrust holdings from Primo altogether, but it was decided that such a solution was an overreaction. As a consequence, the library IT department began a crash program to attempt to find a solution to the problem. The result was an application called hathiGenius
On Educating Patrons On Privacy And Maximizing Library Resources
Get PDFLibraries are one of our most valuable institutions. They cater to people of all demographics and provide services to patrons they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. The list of services libraries provide is extensive and comprehensive, although unfortunately, there are significant gaps in what our services can offer, particularly those regarding technology advancement and patron privacy. Though library classes on educating patrons’ privacy protection are a valiant effort, we can do so much more and lead the way, maybe not for the privacy industry but for our communities and patrons. Creating a strong foundational knowledge will help patrons leverage these new skills in their day to day lives as well as help them educate their families about common privacy issues. In this column, we’ll explore some of the ways libraries can utilize their current resources as well as provide ideas on how we can maximize their effectiveness and roll new technologies into their operations
Determining Textbook Cost, Formats, and Licensing with Google Books API: A Case Study from an Open Textbook Project
Get PDFThe rising cost of textbooks for students has been highlighted as a major concern in higher education, particularly in the US and Canada. Less has been reported, however, about the costs of textbooks outside of North America, including in Europe. We address this gap in the knowledge through a case study of one Irish higher education institution, focusing on the cost, accessibility, and licensing of textbooks. We report here on an investigation of textbook prices drawing from an official college course catalog containing several thousand books. We detail how we sought to determine metadata of these books including: the formats they are available in, whether they are in the public domain, and the retail prices. We explain how we used methods to automatically determine textbook costs using Google Books API and make our code and dataset publicly available.
“Good Night, Good Day, Good Luck”: Applying Topic Modeling to Chat Reference Transcripts
Get PDFThis article presents the results of a pilot project that tested the application of algorithmic topic modeling to chat reference conversations. The outcomes for this project included determining if this method could be used to identify the most common chat topics in a semester and whether these topics could inform library services beyond chat reference training. After reviewing the literature, four topic modeling algorithms were successfully implemented using Python code: (1) LDA, (2) phrase-LDA, (3) DMM, and (4) NMF. Analysis of the top ten topics from each algorithm indicated that LDA, phrase-LDA, and NMF show the most promise for future analysis on larger sets of data (from three or more semesters) and for examining different facets of the data (fall versus spring semester, different time of day, just the patron side of the conversation)
Information Security in Libraries: Examining the Effects of Knowledge Transfer
Get PDFLibraries in the United States handle sensitive patron information, including personally identifiable information and circulation records. With libraries providing services to millions of patrons across the U.S., it is important that they understand the importance of patron privacy and how to protect it. This study investigates how knowledge transferred within an online cybersecurity education affects library employee information security practices. The results of this study suggest that knowledge transfer does have a positive effect on library employee information security and risk management practices