Surviving digital Darwinism in the library

Ifla Journal, 1998

RBM, 2014

Libraries have been essentiaL to my role as a physician-historian working for twenty-six years in an academic health sciences center. They are the repositories of thousands of years of medical evidence, even if it comes in forms that are increasingly disparaged: paper and anecdote. While writing my dissertation in Paris, I fell in love with old books and manuscripts. Reading, holding, and touching those beautiful-if barely legible-papers instilled a joyful and durable eagerness to work with them and to expose my students to their power.

2005

Digital libraries are large, organized collections of information objects. Well-designed digital library software has the potential to enable non-specialist people to conceive, assemble, build, and disseminate new information collections. This has great social import because, by democratizing information dissemination, it provides a counterbalance to disturbing commercialization initiatives in the information and entertainment industries. This article reviews trends in today's information environment, introduces digital library technology and explores the use of digital libraries for disseminating humanitarian information in developing countries, a context that is both innovative and socially motivated. We demonstrate how currently available technology empowers users to build and publish information collections.

Advances in electronic government, digital divide, and regional development book series, 2014

Libraries may be on the verge of a revolutionary phase of integrating technology in all their services in order for them to become effective information providers in the digital economy. In much of the literature on the potential of ICTs in academic libraries, it is argued that advancements in ICTs are changing the way people are accessing and using information. Hence, integration of ICTs in library services is necessary if libraries are to effectively provide information at anytime and anywhere. This chapter seeks to address this issue with a focus on the Copperbelt University library in Kitwe, Zambia. The chapter reviews various similar sources that looked at technology and its impact on library services. Additionally, in the African context, there has been massive adoption of Internet-enabled technologies. For example many people have smart phones such as Blackberries, Samsung, Nokia and Apple iPhones, which enable them access Internet ubiquitously. The emergence of these technologies and their abilities to provide tailor made applications for pervasive access to information resources entails that even library content may now be provided on electronic platforms. Whereas the rest of the world has done a substantial amount towards electronic library systems, not much has been done in Africa. Despite such challenges, libraries are taking steps in modernizing their services in an effort to fully satisfy the ever-changing needs of their information users. Additionally, recommendations on what libraries ought to do in order for them to bridge the widening gap in terms of how people are accessing and using information are given.

Research in Economics and Management, 2020

In the 21st Century, the pace of globalization and the growth of Information Communication Technology (ICT) facilities, such as computers and the Internet are fuelling human advancement. The development of ICT applications plays a vital role in providing information access. Access to the Internet is not enough, but ICT applications and the intellectual knowledge, expertise and skills to use them to find relevant information and solve problems is what is essential. It is critical that people who have access are in a better position as compared to those who lack access. This gap is known as the “digital divide”. In this digital era of information, people who do not have access to the Internet are at a disadvantage. This paper examines the role of a Legal Deposit Library in managing the Digital Divide in the Pietermaritzburg area. This is informed by the idea that libraries play a significant role in helping to bridge the digital divide by providing free access to the Internet and othe...

Digital Libraries as systems are converging with digital libraries as institutions, particularly as we consider the service aspects. They are enabling technologies for applications such as classroom instructions, information retrieval, and electronic commerce. Because usability depends heavily upon context, research on uses and users of digital libraries needs to be conducted in a wide array of environments. Interoperability and scaling continue to be major issues, but the problems are better understood. While technical work on interoperability and scaling continues, institutional collaboration is an emerging focus. Concerns for an information infrastructure to support digital libraries is moving toward the concept of ‘Cyberinfrastructure’, now that distributed networks are widely deployed and access is becoming ubiquitous. Appropriate evaluation methods and metrics are requirements for sustainable digital libraries that have received little attention until recently.

Patrons embrace new technologies – and would welcome more. But many still want printed books to hold their central place

2007

Information technology and globalization are the two most influential forces of the modern times. IT has given new meanings to the transmission, dissemination and storage of information; whereas globalisation is reducing the importance of geographical boundaries. Libraries as an important social institution have been affected by these changes. Information retrieval, information storage and information transmission are the core competencies of the libraries. Digital age characterized by efficient graphic user interface, digital imaging, efficient transfer and storage of texts, is presenting important challenges for the libraries. Information privacy, copyrights, and information security are some of the challenging issues faced by the libraries in digital age. This paper is an attempt to present as well as to discuss the implications of these issues so that strategies can be devised to address them effectively and efficiently.

2015

 My wife, Lorraine, the pillar of my strength for support and patience, for taking care of the children during my absence and making sure that I get that coffee.  My boys Katlego and Tshegofatso for understanding and accepting their absent father.  My Supervisor, Dr Henry Lotz, for his guidance, wisdom, patience and many hours of dedication towards this dissertation.  All other family, in laws and friends for their support and interest shown over this period.  My colleagues and all the employees that have spent time on completing the questionnaires.  Mostly I would like to thank God for the spiritual guidance, talent and opportunities He gave me throughout my life.

Exploring Digital Libraries

This chapter provides a high-level view of the key themes, current position and challenges of digital libraries and their technologies, social aspects, collections and communities. It begins by identifying the key themes of the second decade (2002-2012) of progress in the diverse, multidisciplinary, international field of digital libraries. A concept map visualizes the results of an analysis of second-decade digital library literature. The map provides new insights into this complex field by exposing thematic connections between technologies, collections, social forces and online community building. The chapter concludes with a consideration of key challenges facing digital libraries: interoperability, community engagement, intellectual property rights, and sustainability. The key themes of digital library work Existing research to identify core topics Jeffrey Pomerantz and colleagues (2006) produced a curriculum for digital library education that was aligned with the "5S framework" for digital libraries discussed in chapter 1 (see also Yang et al. 2009). They validated their selection of curriculum module topics by manually classifying papers from 1996 to 2005 from two sources: (1) 543 papers in the proceedings of two renowned digital library conferences; and (2) 502 articles published in D-Lib Magazine. Their analysis revealed concentrations from both sources in digital library services; architecture and