ITAL Information Technology and Libraries (E-Journal)
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Open Source Wifi Hotspot Implementation
Get PDFThe goal of this paper is to describe a design—including the hardware, software, and configuration––for an open source wireless network. The network designed will require authentication. While care will be taken to keep the authentication exchange secure, the network will otherwise transmit data without encryption
Assessing Sufficiency and Quality of Bandwidth for Public Libraries
Get PDFBased on data collected as part of the 2006 Public Libraries and the Internet study, the authors assess the degree to which public libraries provide sufficient and quality bandwidth to support the library’s networked services and resources. The topic is complex due to the arbitrary assignment of a number of kilobytes per second (kbps) used to define bandwidth. Such arbitrary definitions to describe bandwidth sufficiency and quality are not useful. Public libraries are indeed connected to the Internet and do provide public-access services and resources. It is, however, time to move beyond connectivity type and speed questions and consider issues of bandwidth sufficiency, quality, and the range of networked services that should be available to the public from public libraries. A secondary, but important issue is the extent to which libraries, particularly in rural areas, have access to broadband telecommunications services
Introducing Zoomify Image
Get PDFZoomify Image is a mature product for easily publishing large, high-resolution images on the Web. End users view these images with existing Webbrowser software as quickly as they do normal, downsampled images. A Flash-based Zoomifyer client asynchronously streams image data to the Web browser as needed, resulting in response times approaching those of desktop applications using minimal bandwidth. The author, a librarian at Cornell University and the principal architect of a small, open-source company, worked closely with Zoomify to produce a cross-platform, opensource implementation of that company’s image-processing software and discusses how to easily deploy the product into a widely used Webpublishing environment. Limitations are also discussed as are areas of improvement and alternatives
Testing Information Literacy in Digital Environments: ETS's iSkills Assessment
Get PDFDespite coming of age with the Internet and other technology, many college students lack the information and communication technology (ICT) literacy skills necessary to navigate, evaluate, and use the overabundance of information available today. This paper describes the development and early administrations of ETS’s iSkills assessment, an Internet-based assessment of information literacy skills that arise in the context of technology. From the earliest stages to the present, the library community has been directly involved in the design, development, review, field trials, and administration to ensure the assessment and scores are valid, reliable, authentic, and useful
Information Seeking in Academic Research: A Study of the Sociology Faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Get PDFThis study examines how social scientists arrive at and utilize information in the course of their research. Results are drawn about the use of information resources and channels to address information inquiry, the strategies for information seeking, and the difficulties encountered in information seeking for academic research in today’s information environment. These findings refine the understanding of the dynamic relationship between information systems and services and their users within social-scientific research practice and provide implications for scholarly information-system developmen
Medium-sized Universities Connect to Their Libraries: Links on University Home Pages and User Group Pages
No full textFrom major tasks—such as recruitment of new students and staff—to the more mundane but equally important tasks—such as providing directions to campus—college and university Web sites perform a wide range of tasks for a varied assortment of users. Overlapping functions and user needs meld to create the need for a Web site with three major functions: promotion and marketing, access to online services, and providing a means of communication between individuals and groups. In turn, college and university Web sites that provide links to their library home page can be valuable assets for recruitment, public relations, and for helping users locate online services
Usability Testing of a Large, Multidisciplinary Library Database: Basic Search and Visual Search
Get PDFVisual search interfaces have been shown by researchers to assist users with information search and retrieval. Recently, several major library vendors have added visual search interfaces or functions to their products. For public service librarians, perhaps the most critical area of interest is the extent to which visual search interfaces and text-based search interfaces support research. This study presents the results of eight full-scale usability tests of both the EBSCOhost Basic Search and Visual Search in the context of a large liberal arts university
Editorial: A Confession, a Speculation, and a Farewell
Get PDFEditorial: A Confession, a Speculation, and a Farewel
User-Centered Design of a Web Site for Library and Information Science Students: Heuristic Evaluation and Usability Testing
Get PDFThis study describes the life cycle of a library Web site created with a user-centered design process to serve a graduate school of library and information science (LIS). Findings based on a heuristic evaluation and usability study were applied in an iterative redesign of the site to better serve the needs of this special academic library population. Recommendations for design of Web-based services for library patrons from LIS programs are discussed, as well as implications for Web sites for special libraries within larger academic library settings