ITAL Information Technology and Libraries (E-Journal)
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Picture Perfect: Using Photographic Previews to Enhance Realia Collections for Library Patrons and Staff
Get PDFLike many academic libraries, the Ferris Library for Information, Technology, and Education (FLITE) acquires a range of materials, including learning objects, to best suit our students’ needs. Some of these objects, such as the educational manipulatives and anatomical models, are common to academic libraries but others, such as the tabletop games, are not. After our liaison to the School of Education, Kristy Motz, discovered some accessibility issues with Innovative Interfaces' Media Manager module, we decided to examine all three of our realia collections to determine what our goals in providing catalog records and visual representations would be. Once we concluded that we needed photographic previews to both enhance discovery and speed circulation service, choosing processing methods for each collection became much easier. This article will discuss how we created enhanced records for all three realia collections including custom metadata, links to additional materials, and photographic previews.
Is This a Geolibrary? A Case of the Idaho Geospatial Data Center
Get PDFThe article presents the Idaho Geospatial Data Center (IGDC), a digital library of public-domain geographic data for the state of Idaho. The design and implementation of IGDC are introduced as part of the larger context of a geolibrary model. The article presents methodology and tools used to build IGDC with the focus on a geolibrary map browser. The use of IGDC is evaluated from the perspective of accessa and demand for geographic data. Finally, the article offers recommendations for future development of geospatial data centers
Harvesting Information from a Library Data Warehouse
Get PDFData warehousing technology has been defined by John Ladley as "a set of methods, techniques, and tools that are leveraged together and used to produce a vehicle that delivers data to end users on an integrated platform." (1) This concept h s been applied increasingly by industries worldwide to develop data warehouses for decision support and knowledge discovery. In the academic sector, several universities have developed data warehouses containing the universities' financial, payroll, personnel, budget, and student data. (2) These data warehouses across all industries and academia have met with varying degrees of success. Data warehousing technology and its related issues have been widely discussed and published. (3) Little has been done, however, on the application of this cutting edge technology in the library environment using library data
Everyone’s Invited: A Website Usability Study Involving Multiple Library Stakeholders
Get PDFThis article describes a usability study of the University of Southern Mississippi Libraries’ website conducted in early 2016. The study involved six participants from each of four key user groups – undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and library employees – and consisted of six typical library search tasks such as finding a book and an article on a topic, locating a journal by title, and looking up hours of operation. Library employees and graduate students completed the study’s tasks most successfully, whereas undergraduate students performed fairly simple searches and relied on the Libraries’ discovery tool, Primo. The study’s results identified several problematic features that impacted each user group, including library employees. This increased internal buy-in for usability-related changes in a later website redesign.
That's My Bailiwick: A Library-Sponsored Faculty Research Web Server
Get PDFThe University of Iowa Libraries provide a unique, new, scholarly publishing outlet for their faculty and graduate students
Beyond Information Architecture: A Systems Integration Approach to Web-site Design
Get PDFUsers' needs and expectations regarding access to information have fundamentally changed, creating a disconnect between how users expect to use a library Web site and how the site was designed. At the same time, library technical infrastructures include legacy systems that were not designedf or the Web environment. The authors propose a framework that combines elements of information architecture with approaches to incremental system design and implementation. The framework allows for the development of a Web site that is responsive to changing user needs, while recognizing the need for libraries to adopt a cost-effective approach to implementation and maintenance
TV Whites Spaces in Public Libraries: A Primer
Get PDFTV Whitespace (TVWS) represents one new wireless communication technology that has the potential to improve internet access and inclusion. This primer describes TVWS technology as a viable, long-term access solution for the benefit of public libraries and their communities, especially for underserved populations. Discussion focuses first on providing a brief overview of the digital divide and the emerging role of public libraries as internet access providers. Next, a basic description of TVWS and its features is provided, focusing on key aspects of the technology relevant to libraries as community anchor institutions. Several TVWS implementations are described with discussion of TVWS implementations in several public libraries. Finally, consideration is given to first steps that library organizations must take when contemplating new TVWS implementations supportive of Wi-Fi applications and crisis response planning
A Low-Cost Library Database Solution
Get PDFTwo locally created databases are made available to the world via the Web using an inexpensive but highly functional search engine created in-house. The technology consists of a microcomputer running UNIX to serve relational databases. CGI forms created using the programming language Perl offer flexible interface designs for database users and database maintainers