ITAL Information Technology and Libraries (E-Journal)
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WikiWikiWebs: New Ways to Communicate in a Web Environment
Get PDFThis paper introduces WikiWikiWeb software, also known as Wiki, for use in library and information management contexts. Wikis provide an environment for Web-based collaboration and can also be used for Web site content management. The article includes an overview of the history and development of Wiki, as well as discussing basic and advanced Wiki features. It compares three Wiki engines and describes seven case studies of real-world library and library-related Wiki applications. The paper concludes with a discussion of factors that can contribute to a successful Wiki project
Guest Editorial: Organizational Structure--Yesterday Informs the Present
Get PDFGuest Editorial: Organizational Structure--Yesterday Informs the Presen
Content Management for the Virtual Library
Get PDFTraditional, larger libraries can rely on their physical collection, coffee shops, and study rooms as ways to entice patrons into their library. Yet virtual libraries merely have their online presence to attract students to resources. This can only be achieved by providing a fully functional site that is well designed and organized, allowing patrons to navigate and locate information easily. One such technology significantly improving the overall usefulness of Web sites is a content management system (CMS). Although the CMS is not a novel technology per se, it is a technology smaller libraries cannot afford to ignore. In the fall of 2004, the Northcentral University Electronic Learning Resources Center (ELRC), a small, virtual library, moved from a static to a database-driven Web site. This article explains the importance of a CMS for the virtual or smaller library and describes the methodology used by ELRC to complete the project
Machine Assistance in Collection Building: New Tools, Research, Issues, and Reflections
Get PDFDigital tool making offers many challenges, involving much trial and error. Developing machine learning and assistance in automated and semi-automated Internet resource discovery, metadata generation, and rich-text identification provides opportunities for great discovery, innovation, and the potential for transformation of the library community. The areas of computer science involved, as applied to the library applications addressed, are among that discipline’s leading edges. Making applied research practical and applicable, through placement within library/collection-management systems and services, involves equal parts computer scientist, research librarian, and legacy-systems archaeologist. Still, the early harvest is there for us now, with a large harvest pending. Data Fountains and iVia, the projects discussed, demonstrate this. Clearly, then, the present would be a good time for the library community to more proactively and significantly engage with this technology and research, to better plan for its impacts, to more proactively take up the challenges involved in its exploration, and to better and more comprehensively guide effort in this new territory. The alternative to doing this is that others will develop this territory for us, do it not as well, and sell it back to us at a premium. Awareness of this technology and its current capabilities, promises, limitations, and probable major impacts needs to be generalized throughout the library management, metadata, and systems communities. This article charts recent work, promising avenues for new research and development, and issues the library community needs to understand
The State of RFID Applications in Libraries
No full textThe adoption of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology by libraries promises a solution that could make it possible to inventory hundreds of thousands of items in their collections in days instead of months. In addition, it would allow patrons to check out and return library property automatically at any time of the day. Besides speeding up checkouts, keeping collections in better order, and alleviating repetitive strain injuries among librarians, RFID promises to provide a better control on theft, nonreturns, and misfiling of a library’s assets. With an estimated 35 million library items tagged worldwide in more than three hundred libraries, this technology is generating ever-increasing interest. In October and November 2004, the industrial technology department and the Robert E. Kennedy Library at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, surveyed participating libraries, RFID electronic discussion groups, and Library and Information Technology Association (LITA-L) electronic discussion group subscribers to collect information with regards to the implementation of RFID systems in libraries. Opinions were gathered regarding such topics, actual or estimated, as RFID implementation costs and time; the impact of the technology on operations such as handling of volumes and security; and RFID system features adopted such as conversion stations, self-checkout units, and security systems. Information on the various RFID library components and the results from the survey are presented in this paper
Google Scholar and 100 Percent Availability of Information
Get PDFThis paper discusses Google Scholar as an extension of Kilgour’s goal to improve the availability of information. Kilgour was instrumental in the early development of the online library catalog, and he proposed passage retrieval to aid in information seeking. Google Scholar is a direct descendent of these technologies foreseen by Kilgour. Google Scholar holds promise as a means for libraries to expand their reach to new user communities, and to enable libraries to provide quality resources to users during their online search process
Strong Copyright + DRM + Weak Net Neutrality = Digital Dystopia?
Get PDFThree critical issues—a dramatic expansion of the scope, duration, and punitive nature of copyright laws; the ability of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems to lock-down digital content in an unprecedented fashion; and the erosion of Net neutrality, which ensures that all Internet traffic is treated equally—are examined in detail and their potential impact on libraries is assessed. How legislatures, the courts, and the commercial marketplace treat these issues will strongly influence the future of digital information for good or ill
Toward a Twenty-First Century Catalog
No full textLibrary catalogs have represented stagnant technology for close to twenty years. Moving toward a next-generation catalog, North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries purchased Endeca’s Information Access Platform to give its users relevance-ranked keyword search results and to leverage the rich metadata trapped in the MARC record to enhance collection browsing. This paper discusses the new functionality that has been enabled, the implementation process and system architecture, assessment of the new catalog’s performance, and future directions