D-Lib (Volume 17, Number 3/4)
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Articles
Discovering the Information Needs of Humanists When Planning an Institutional Repository
Article by David Seaman, Dartmouth College Library
Abstract: Through in-person interviews with humanities faculty members, this study examines what information needs are expressed by humanities scholars that an institutional repository (IR) can address. It also asks what concerns humanists have about IRs, and whether there is a repository model other than an institutional one that better suits how they work. Humanists make relatively low use of existing IRs, but this research indicates that an institutional repository can offer services to humanities faculty that are desired by them, especially the digitization, online storage, curation, and sharing of their research materials and publications. If presented in terms that make sense to humanities faculty, and designed consciously with their needs and concerns in mind, an IR can be of real benefit to their teaching, scholarship, collaborations, and publishing.
Resource Sharing in Australia: Find and Get in Trove – Making “Getting” Better
Article by Rose Holley, National Library of Australia
Abstract: Trove is the Australian discovery service focusing on Australia and Australians, launched at the end of 2009. It has been created and is managed by the National Library of Australia. Trove harvests metadata from over 1,000 Australian libraries and other cultural heritage institutions and organisations, giving the public free access to over 100 million items. A guiding principle of Trove is ‘Find and Get’. The first principle to ‘find’ has been achieved well. A user can find a wealth of information and format types in a single search, aggregated from many sources. The relevance ranking and zoning of results makes finding quick and easy. Therefore, the focus of the Trove team for the latter half of 2010 and into 2011 has been to improve the ‘get’ options. This article gives an overview of how ‘getting’ has been improved so far, current work underway, and ideas for the future. ‘Get’ includes buy, borrow (national loans), copy, digital view, print on demand and digitise on demand.
The Conference on World Affairs Archive Online: Digitization and Metadata for a Digital Audio Pilot
Article by Michael Dulock and Holley Long, University of Colorado at Boulder
Abstract: The University of Colorado Archives holds a substantial collection of audio recordings from the Conference on World Affairs (CWA), held annually at the University since 1948. Recordings of Conference sessions from the 1950s to the present comprise approximately 8000 hours of material on reel-to-reel, cassette, and audio-only VHS tapes. In 2009 the Archives, along with other units of the CU Libraries and the offices of the CWA, began the pilot phase of a project to digitize these materials to make them accessible to the public. Between December 2009 and March 2010, the pilot produced 80 digitized recordings, with 15 receiving full metadata provision and presentation in the CU Digital Library in time for the 2010 Conference on 05 April. This paper describes the history and significance of the Conference and the collection; the project team; the planning and funding of the pilot; physical characteristics of the collection; the digitization rationale, specifications and process; metadata design and creation; and delivery of the content to the public.
Teaching Use of Digital Primary Sources for K-12 Settings
Article by Anne R. Diekema, Heather Leary, Sheri Haderlie, and Cheryl D. Walters, Utah State University
Abstract: This paper describes learning outcomes of a three-day workshop on integrating primary sources into K-12 teaching. The short curriculum — intended for teams of teachers and school librarians — combined visits to a museum and a library’s special collections with an introduction to significant national and local digital collections of primary sources. The paper draws on focus group data, reflection papers, and a conference presentation by the workshop participants as well as curricular artifacts presented to the workshop instructors. Using their workshop experience, teachers integrated digitized primary sources into their curricula thereby creating quality instructional content that engaged students’ interest. School librarians and teachers worked together during the workshop, establishing a model for future collaboration. They were exposed to readily accessible digital sources they can draw upon for scholastic projects and lifelong learning. Primary source sets created by workshop participants were added to local and national educational websites for others to use.
Towards Transparent and Scalable OpenURL Quality Metrics
Article by Adam Chandler, Glen Wiley and Jim LeBlanc, Cornell University Library
Abstract: The development of link resolvers and the OpenURL framework over a decade ago paved the way for open-ended, context-sensitive linkage from databases, indexes, and abstracting services to the appropriate resources and services to meet library users’ needs. Library patrons can now retrieve more comprehensively linked scholarly information than ever before. However, even with today’s link resolver technology and the OpenURLs on which the link resolvers depend, following a reference link all the way to full-text can still frustrate library users all too often. In this article, the authors present research on why OpenURLs fail so frequently. They also describe a model for measuring the quality of OpenURL metadata, using a log processor and reporting software. The results of this study demonstrate the potential applicability of such a system as a scalable, stand-alone service for all libraries, OpenURL and full-text content providers, and link resolver vendors to evaluate and improve the completeness and consistency of their links.
Conference Reports
+ The Open Access Open Data Conference
+ “Next Steps in Research, Education and Practice in Digital Curation and Publishing”
and
In the News; In Brief; Clips & Pointers; Meetings, Conferences, Workshops
D-Lib (Volume 17, Number 3/4)
Direct to Table of Contents
About Gary Price
