Government Libraries Research Articles

IPads, Kindles and Tablets, oh my: using a technology petting zoo to teach about downloadable ebooks

PurposeThis paper aims to describe the technology petting zoo developed and hosted by the National Defense University Library. It highlights the poster presentation given at the Special Libraries Association Conference held in Chicago on July 17, 2012. The project was voted best poster by attendees to the session.Design/methodology/approachFaced with a bring‐your‐own‐device (BYOD) environment, NDU librarians implemented a technology petting zoo to inform patrons about the availability of the library's resources on personal computing devices. They overcame technology and security issues inherent in the NDU computing environment, and used the event to connect patrons directly with the library's downloadable electronic resources.FindingsThe event was successful, with more than 80 patrons in attendance. Through the experience, staff acquired knowledge and experience to better serve patrons with inquiries about online and downloadable materials. Patrons and library staff learned to use personal computers and devices to access library materials, especially downloadable ebooks, remotely.Practical implicationsThe petting zoo model changed the way NDU staff and patrons interact with downloadable resources. Successfully hosting a zoo event is especially difficult in federal settings, but the NDU team established the means of supporting off‐site access while observing regulations.Originality/valueThis project has value for government libraries because it leverages the increasingly popular BYOD environment to connect patrons to important resources. The paper also has broad applications in the corporate sector because many corporate libraries are also working to facilitate increasing access to library resources within stringent security guidelines.

University Investment in the Library: what is the Return? a Case Study at Guru Nanak Dev University

The study calculates Return On Investment (ROI) in GNDU Library by linking the library to income generation by all the faculty members using the library. A well structured questionnaire was designed to elicit the opinions of the faculty members. Personal interviews were conducted to fill in the gaps if any. Responses were gathered from 191 faculty members of the university. ROI Model suggested by Roger Strouse for corporate and government libraries and adapted by Judy Luther to the academic library was used for calculating return on investment in GNDU library. ROI was calculated on the basis of responses received from the faculty members. The following three factors served as part of the model. 69.6% of the faculty use references in grant proposals. 94.2% of the faculty obtained citations/references via the campus network or Library gateway. 93.2% of the faculty state that citations/references are important/essential in securing grant awards. The use of these factors in the model produced a return of Rs 1.01 in grant income to the university for every rupee invested in the library during 2009-2010.

カナダ政府刊行物および議会資料オンラインポータル

カナダ政府刊行物および議会資料オンラインポータル

Value of Libraries Symposium – a summary of the event

On May 31st 2012 the ACTive ALIA Group and Australian Government Libraries Information network (AGLIN) ran a national symposium on the topic of ‘Value of Libraries’. Approximately 80 attended this event which was designed to challenge librarians with conversations that focused on economic and other means of demonstrating our value – value from the perspective of our user community and advocacy skills. The program contained a set of ideas to stimulate thinking: • Have you thought about what is the value proposition for your clients? • In these times of financial restraint how can you position your library to deliver the services that really matter to your organisation? • How can you be a part of your organisation that makes a difference and communicates your value? • Do you want to survive?

Strategies for the Development of Public Libraries: A Survey of Selected Public Libraries in Lagos State, Nigeria

Public libraries serve as valuable assets in meeting a community's strategic goals. This article investigates strategies for the development of public libraries in Lagos State, Nigeria. Observation and questionnaire methods were used as research tools. The population of the study consists of librarians and users of public libraries in Lagos State. The eleven public libraries and twenty local government libraries in the state were surveyed. The major findings were that public libraries in Lagos State were not adequately funded and that the parent body has yet to meet the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) standard of public library establishment. The study highlighted the challenges facing public libraries in Lagos and offered some remedies.

An Overview of Web Archiving

This overview is a study of the methods used at a variety of universities, and international government libraries and archives, to select, acquire, describe and access web resources for their archives. Creating a web archive presents many challenges, and library and information schools should ensure that instruction in web archiving methods and skills is made part of their curricula, to help future practitioners meet those challenges. In preparation for developing a web archiving course, the author conducted a comprehensive literature review. The findings are reported in this paper, along with the author's views on some of the methods in use, such as how traditional archive management concepts and theories can be applied to the organization and description of archived web resources.

Collection and Services in Children's Section of the Public Libraries in Chandigarh

Being a most modernised and well planned city of India, it is a feather in a cap that it has finest government and non-government libraries. Public libraries play a greater role in dissemination of information to every user irrespective of his/her gender, age, profession, status etc. The public libraries play a vital role in providing services to the children. All children in a community have a right to access the information through the public libraries. The objective of this study is to judge the existing facilities and services offered to children in the public libraries in Chandigarh and to determine the individual characteristics and use behaviour of the child-member. For collecting data the survey method is used and the present study is carried out in those public libraries that have separate children's section. The study shows that percentage of the children that are utilising the library facilities and services are less as compared with other categories. But public libraries are putting in lots of efforts to encourage the children to come in the library.

Marketing of Information Resources in Selected Public Libraries in Lagos State: A Competitive Intelligence Approach

This paper presented the results of a stu dy which examined the use of marketing techniques in public libraries , and the e xtent to which competitive strategies could be employed in marketing information products and services in the those libraries in order to serve its users better than its competitors. This research is a case study of Lagos State Library Board and Lagos State Local Government Libraries. Descriptive survey method was adopted and questionnaire was the instrument used for data gathering. It was discovered that the most preferred mar keting procedure for the libraries under stud y was photocopying services. However, lack of fund, inadequate manpower, and low capacity building as well as government negative influence were all indicated as factors militating against marketing of public library services in the society.Key Words: Public, libraries, information, resources, marketing, services, competitiveness, intelligence.

I Shall Wear Midnight by T. Pratchett

Pratchett, Terry. I Shall Wear Midnight. New York: Harper, 2010. Print. "I Shall Wear Midnight" opens with our female protagonist and witch, Tiffany Aching, now in her 4th book and grown up to nearly sixteen years old. We were introduced to Tiffany as a young 9-year-old in The Wee Free Men, and followed her in sequels A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith. She is no longer a little girl, but now a young lady who is the sole witch in her hometown of Chalk. This story revolves around the fact that there is a formidable and evil force that is turning the townspeople against witches (who may be considered good or bad in these books, depending on how they use their magic). Also known as “the Cunning Man,” this wicked figure first attacks Tiffany as she is on her way to inform Roland, the son and next-of-kin of the Baron, of the Baron’s recent death. The Cunning Man is supposedly the spirit of a man once slighted by a witch whom he loved, and his angry soul is devoted to exacting his revenge on the witches of the world. In this novel, it is up to Tiffany to come to terms with the Cunning Man and defeat him in order to restore order to her hometown. This fantasy book also brings in important themes that older children will be interested in and can relate to, with somewhat mature themes of unrequited love. It is revealed that Roland had been a love interest to Tiffany, but is now engaged to be married. While she initially battles with this and is somewhat bitter with the prospect, ultimately she comes to terms with what is happening and convinces herself it wasn’t meant to be. Later in the book, she starts a relationship with a guard named Preston, which will hopefully be developed further in books to come. Pratchett uses charming wordplay and puns that makes the book an interesting read. Comic relief comes in way of the Nac Mac Feegles – mischievous little blue men who tend to follow Tiffany around and cause a ruckus, whom we first saw in The Wee Free Men. Originally intended to watch over her and make sure she’s safe, the Nac Mac Feegles have a way of getting into trouble by drinking and fighting; in this novel, they are accused of destroying a pub. These little men are quite rowdy and add to the ‘mature’ theme of the book, which help make it suitable for older children and pre-teens. Overall, this book is an interesting read – one part Harry Potter and one part Monty Python. For older children who are fans of fantasy, this book would be an excellent choice; an added bonus is that reading the previous three novels isn’t a prerequisite for understanding and enjoying this installment. Pratchett’s unique writing style helps develop the imagination of the reader, though it is a bit slow in the beginning. If the reader is patient and takes time to get into the plot, they will be rewarded in the end.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Diana KetoDiana is originally from the Washington, D.C. area, where she worked for several years at a government library. She received her MLIS in 2009 and works at University of Alberta as a Public Services Librarian in the humanities and social sciences library.

Go, Dog, Go! by P. D. Eastman

Eastman, P D. Go, Dog, Go! New York: Random House Children’s Books, 2011. Print. This classic children’s book by P.D. Eastman has been re-released in 2011 in a special 50th Anniversary Party edition format, complete with a shiny and colourful foil-like cover. Written exclusively for children just learning how to read, this story takes the reader on a whimsical and light-hearted course through colours, numbers, time, and more. Dogs in all shapes, sizes, and colours are doing multiple actions on various forms of vehicles, and a large number of them are on their way to an unnamed location, which we find out at the end is a party atop a tree. Kids can explore movement and direction with lines like “The blue dog is in. The red dog is out.” The book also teaches prepositions and proximity to other objects with declarations such as “Two dogs in a house on a boat in the water. A dog over the water. A dog under the water.” The book consists of large print and sentences being broken down into 2-3 words per line: “Three dogs at a party on a boat at night.” This approach makes the book much less intimidating for beginning readers, and allows them to explore the book at an appropriate pace. The words are simple and easier for pronunciation, so children trying to read along with parents will likely not be frustrated by this book. The words are often repeated so the reader will actually recognize phrases and terms previously used in the book, and “Go, dog. Go!” is an amusing repeated chant used to encourage the dogs on their journey. Along with this, colourful and quirky drawings accompany each of the phrases, allowing kids to understand the context better through visual reinforcement. Aside from being a great tool for teaching, this book is also a humorous tale for the reader. Several times throughout the book, one dog wearing a simple hat asks another dog whether or not he likes it. He bluntly replies, “I do not like that hat,” and the two part ways. This happens several more times with several more plain hats, and each time the dog replies “I do not like that hat.” At the large dog party at the end of the book, the first dog is wearing an over-the-top, outlandish party hat that is borderline ridiculous; it is at this time that the second dog agrees that it is a great hat, and the two ride off into the sunset together. Overall, this book is great for preschool and beginning readers, and would also be an excellent read-along book for parents to share with their toddlers as part of an early literacy program. The variety of words and pictures are exciting for the new reader, and will prove to be an enjoyable first reading experience. This book has a unique and timeless appeal; it has been a popular go-to book for beginning literacy for the past 50 years and will continue to enchant young readers well into the future.Highly-recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Diana KetoDiana is originally from the Washington, D.C. area, where she worked for several years at a government library. She received her MLIS in 2009 and works at University of Alberta as a Public Services Librarian in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library.

Library and Information Studies and Open-source Intelligence

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. Doyon, Louise M., “One Year Through: Taking Stock of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)'s Program of Outreach to Experts,” International Studies Association Convention, New Orleans, February 2010. (New Orleans, LA: Canadian Security Intelligence Service, 2010). http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/pblctns/cdmctrch/takngstck-eng.asp (accessed October 7, 2010). 2. Best, Richard A., and Alfred Cumming, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT): Issues for Congress. Report Rl34270 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2009). 3. Doyon, Louise M. ibid. p.1. 4. Doyon, Louise M. ibid. p.3. 5. Treverton, Gregory F., and C. Bryan Gabbard, Assessing the Tradecraft of Intelligence Analysis (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2008). 6. “GCHQ Careers: Library and Information Scientist; Your Colleague Martin.” s.l.: [GCHQ]; 2002. Accessed June 14, 2002. 7. “Information Specialists (Librarians)—GCHQ”. [Cheltenham], GCHQ. 2009. http://www.gchq-careers.co.uk/Jobs/Information-specialists/ (accessed October 7, 2010). 8. The University of Toronto has experimented with a postgraduate certificate program in OSINT, incorporating an existing Competitive Intelligence course with newly devised workshops on analysis. Nearby McMaster University includes counter-terrorism in its police studies program, and similar courses are abundant elsewhere. 9. Dr. Reid's article on applying Bloom's Revised Taxonomy to the skill sets of librarians and analysts appears in: Reid, Edna, “Information Professionals as Intelligence Analysts: Making the Transition,” In Change: Managing It, Surviving It, Thriving On It. Best Practices for Government Libraries. Lexis-Nexis Government Solutions, 2009. http://www.governmentinfopro.com/federal_info_pro/2010/01/information-professionals-as-intelligence-analysts-making-the-transition.html (accessed March 14, 2011). 10. cf. Anderson, Lorin W., David R. Krathwohl, and Benjamin Samuel Bloom, A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, complete ed. (New York: Longman, 2001).

Alberta’s Oil Sands: Hard Evidence, Missing Data, New Promises

Pitched battles are a regular occurrence in northern Alberta, Canada, as development of the province’s oil sands continues to expand. One ongoing battle—with another salvo launched in February 2011 with the leak of a European Commission report1—concerns how dirty oil sands are, relative to other fuels. Another concerns the influence of the oil sands industry in monitoring its own activity.2 In an effort to cut through the rhetoric of health advocates, industry representatives, environmentalists, government officials, and local residents, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) selected and covered expenses for an expert panel to winnow out the facts. In a report issued 15 December 20103 the panel cited substantial evidence that efforts to extract oil from the Alberta deposits have degraded air, land, and water quality to varying degrees. The extent of the degradation is sometimes controversial; water quality data, in particular, are subject to differing interpretations and attributions of causality. However, the panel says that, based on publicly available evidence, there appear to be no significant human health threats to the general population either now or from development anticipated in the next decade or so. But the panel also warns that their conclusions come with a major caveat: there are major gaps in health and environmental data, risk assessments, government oversight, information transparency, industry efforts, and disaster preparedness. The health of the region could hinge on these gaps being addressed, particularly since, according to Travis Davies, a spokesman for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, 97% of projected oil extraction and processing is still to come. After the RSC panel reviewed reams of publicly available information on factors such as health status, air and water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, land disturbance, and energy and water consumption, it concluded that “[t]he claim by some critics of the oil sands industry that it is the most environmentally destructive project on earth is not supported by the evidence. However, for Canada and Alberta, the oil sands industry involves major environmental issues on many fronts which must be addressed as a high priority.”3p293

We Must Think Strategically

We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction. --Bill Gates, The Road Ahead, 1996 Bill Gates could probably have used even more extreme adverbs. That is, we vastly underestimate the change that will occur in ten years. Think of 1999 and compare it to today. Think of webinars, going digital, investment bubbles, e-readers, chat reference, handheld computers, cloud computing, Twitter, Facebook, Google Books, Flickr, social networking, and Library 2.0. This is the second column examining the statements of concerns from 105 candidates who have run for an elected position in RUSA in the past three years (2007-9). The method is described in the following note. (1) In the Winter 2009 RUSQ, I examined issues related to association participation. In this column I analyze the candidates' statements to determine implications for our strategic planning process. I know, strategic planning is not always interesting, but it is necessary and should act as a roadmap for our future. Sometimes it's nice to see where we are headed, and I hope to make it fun, or at the very least educational! I hope you will find this discussion interesting because it is from the membership's perspective (RUSA candidates who have run for office). I must again remind you that when the candidates created their statements for election, they did not write them for the purpose of this analysis. The idea to use them in RUSA's strategic planning process came later. In September 2009, leaders from ALA's executive board, divisions, round tables, and senior staff met for a strategic planning retreat in Itasca, Illinois. This meeting was the first step in the process of developing ALAS next strategic plan to guide the association over the next five years. To help inform our members, ALA created an environmental scan containing documents on major issues and trends affecting libraries, posting it on ALA Connect (http://connect.ala.org/2015scan). The environmental scan includes documents on these topics: * academic libraries * cultural environment * economic environment * educational environment * media environment * nonprofits and associations * political environment * public libraries * school libraries * societal environment * special and government libraries * technological environment * the American Library Association The document that came out of the Itasca planning retreat identified five goal areas to guide the planning process: * advocacy and public policy * building the profession * transforming libraries * member engagement * organizational excellence The planning document was reviewed and refined at the 2009 ALA Executive Board Fall Meeting in Chicago. The revised plan was disseminated before the 2010 ALA Midwinter Meeting for further member review. The intent is for the plan to go into effect after ALA Council approval at the Annual Conference in Washington, DC, in June 2010. Each October, all of ALAS division leadership and the ALA executive board gather in Chicago to discuss both division- and ALA-wide issues. RUSA's executive committee includes the Three P's (RUSA's current, past and future presidents), our ALA councilor, and the RUSA board secretary. The 2009 committee was Susan J. Beck, Neal Wyatt, Barry Trott, Kathleen Kern, and Theresa Mudrock. The RUSA committee meets in the morning to discuss RUSA issues, and then all the ALA leaders come together in the afternoon to discuss a common issue. This year we contributed to the development of ALA's next strategic plan. The following morning, the RUSA executive committee met again to review our current strategic plan and establish new strategies for this year. …

The Mission of "Little Star": Juana Manrique de Lara's Contributions to Mexican Librarianship

The Mission of "Little Star":Juana Manrique de Lara's Contributions to Mexican Librarianship Phillip Jones (bio) In the wake of the Mexican Revolution and after a year studying library science in the United States, Juana Manrique de Lara returned to Mexico City to begin work as library inspector for the Federal District. The story of her life and career in public and children's library service and library education is an historical narrative of both her emerging profession and her nation. This study focuses on Manrique de Lara's formative years (1899–1925) as she acquired an education and began her life's work in the midst of Mexico's prolonged civil war and subsequent reconstruction. Foremost, this study is a tribute, intended to share what too few librarians, even in Mexico, know: Juana Manrique de Lara helped establish librarianship in Mexico and passed her enthusiasm for the profession to a generation of librarians. Every society of the West today needs a certain number of doctors, magistrates, soldiers, and librarians—to cure their citizens when sick, to administer justice to them, to defend them, and to make them read. —José Ortega y Gasset, "Misión del bibliotecario" You have no idea of the enthusiasm I had, the love I felt for my profession. Indeed, it was my life, and they paid me. —Estela Morales Campos, "Entrevista: Juana Manrique de Lara" In the summer of 1924 and in the wake of the Mexican Revolution, twenty-seven-year-old Juana Manrique de Lara returned to Mexico City fresh from a year of study at the Library School of the New York Public Library to begin work as inspectora de bibliotecas (library inspector) for the Federal District. Manrique de Lara's mission, so well articulated over the course of her nearly forty-year career, was to recognize and respond to the needs of Mexicans of all ages for reading and for public libraries. In the midst of civil war she acquired an education, forged a career, and [End Page 469] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Juana Manrique de Lara, first professional librarian of the Departamento de Bibliotecas. In Estela Morales Campos, Educación bibliotecológica en México, 1915–1954 (Mexico City: UNAM, 1988), 97. made lasting contributions to librarianship in her homeland. The depth and reach of Manrique de Lara's work are reflected in her professional passions, which first encompassed children's library service, expanded to public library management, and then found tandem expression in teaching library education and as a government-appointed library consultant. Remarkably, as a young professional she succeeded by both conforming to and defying bureaucratic practice to bring children's library service, public libraries, and library education to the federal government's attention in the midst of and following the Mexican Revolution. There is very little scholarship that mentions Manrique de Lara and even less that examines her life and work in any depth. Accordingly, piecing together Manrique de Lara's early life and career is a challenging task. To do so, one must draw from a limited number of articles or sections of monographs, a single interview, contemporaneous government sources, and Manrique de Lara's own writings, almost all of which are Spanish-language materials published in Mexico and found in few public, university, or research libraries across North America. The foremost scholarship on Manrique de Lara is the work of Mexican library historian Martha Alicia Añorve Guillén, whose master's thesis led to two published articles on Manrique de Lara's contributions to the federal [End Page 470] government's library programs and to children's library services during the 1920s. Her conclusion, based on close comparisons of Manrique de Lara's early articles and Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) documents, is that although no official attribution was ever made, we can infer that the SEP heard and incorporated Manrique de Lara's suggestions into its now-landmark library planning between 1920 and 1924.1 Ample, yet not abundant in number, Manrique de Lara's own writings comprise the most compelling testament to her life, work, and ideas. With the exception of children's stories...

Government Information Literacy in the “century of information” (Brown 2007)

There are currently numerous drivers for change within the Scottish Government (SG), including the changing nature of the workforce and the changing skills and abilities required by the SG to undertake its work and achieve its goals in policy-making. The SG’s Government Economic Strategy (Scottish Government 2007a), its Skills for Scotland: A Lifelong Skills Strategy (Scottish Government 2007b) as well as the internally focused Skills and Learning Strategy (Scottish Government 2007c) and Information Strategy (Scottish Government 2008a) all point to a number of developments that are creating demands for new skills and behaviours across the Scottish Government. Taking these strategies as a starting point, the authors have developed an Information Literacy Strategy for the Scottish Government (Scottish Government 2008b), informed by local and national information literacy studies and recommendations from research carried out by the Scottish Information Literacy Project (Crawford and Irving 2009) and a survey of information use within the Scottish Government (Scottish Government 2008c). The focus of this study is information literacy in the workplace. Using interview based research and an online survey, the Scottish Information Literacy Project and the Scottish Government Library Services sought to provide a picture of information literacy in the Scottish Government. Information literacy was identified as an essential workplace decision making skill for Scottish Government staff. Information seeking skills were identified as a key area of deficit amongst Scottish Government staff, together with an awareness of the need for access to a wide range of information sources, and critical thinking and evaluation skills to support high quality decision making, was generally lacking. As a result of the research findings, the authors have developed and are rolling out an information literacy programme across the Scottish Government. The authors have also established stronger internal partnerships within the Scottish Government with those areas engaging in training and skills.

Blooming knowledge society and information literacy in India

The revolution of the technology that allows people to transmit and receive information has opened a new age in the history of mankind. Alongside the rise of e-commerce, e-health and even e-democracy, the Internet has been positioned as a potential saviour of lifelong learning and learning society. The information technology revolution is creating a new form of electronic, interactive education that should blossom into a lifelong learning system that allows almost anyone to learn anything from anywhere at anytime. This paper discusses the e-governance initiatives undertaken by the Government of India, non-profit and non-government organisations. The role of different types of libraries in providing e-government information and services to the population is discussed with more emphasis on public and government libraries. Also highlights the importance of information literacy and lifelong learning in effectively utilizing the e-governance initiatives undertaken in different parts of rural India and proposes possible programs and initiatives for implementation of information literacy and lifelong learning. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sllim.v3i1.443 Sri Lankan Journal of Librarianship and Information Management Volume 3, No. 1(2007) pp. 1-13The full text of this article is available on the NILIS website.

Understanding and practice of information literacy in Australian government libraries

Most research on information literacy has emerged from the academic sector and there is a lack of research undertaken in the workplace. To further expand on this area of study, a survey was undertaken to investigate librarians’ understanding of information literacy and the application of information literacy in government libraries in Australia. Of particular interest is that many government librarians either do not include ‘critical thinking’ skills in their definition of information literacy, or if they do include it, they do not believe that they should have the responsibility for teaching it. This most likely reflects the difference in client base, students compared with adult professionals. There was a high response for instruction for online library services (catalogue, journals, databases and library website). This indicates a recognised need for instruction and the development of courses and support materials in these services.

Digital initiatives and metadata use in Thailand

PurposeThis paper aims to provide information about various digital initiatives in libraries in Thailand and especially use of Dublin Core metadata in cataloguing digitized objects in academic and government digital databases. Design/methodology/approach – The author began researching metadata use in Thailand in 2003 and 2004 while on sabbatical from the University of Vermont. A small number of government libraries were in the process of building up their digital databases. These were identified from a survey conducted by the author at that time. The author continues to monitor the development of digital initiatives and has identified several new digital initiatives created by academic institutions since then. The digital initiatives operated by Thai government agencies and academic institutions that existed in 2007 are presented, along with one example of a metadata record randomly selected from each of these projects. These examples illustrate Dublin Core metadata use and cataloguing practice employed in these digital databases. The author's current research on the development of digital initiatives is included. Findings – This paper presents what the author feels are some significant technical and legal issues facing Thai digital initiatives. A major copyright issue in Thailand, the ineffective enforcement of intellectual property laws relating to access rights, is presented. Also discussed is the significant obstacle to record retrieval created by the structure and complexity of the Thai language. Originality/value – This paper identifies important issues and problems related to Thai digital initiatives and offers suggestions and comments aimed at enhancing the development and progress of digital initiatives both in the Thai library community and internationally.

The Role of the National Library of Korea in the Competitiveness Enhancement of Libraries

The paper describes projects initiated by the National Library of Korea (NLK) with the aim of improving the nation's information competitiveness. The Library set up a library automation team in 1979, working for library automation in Korea generally as well as in the NLK. Firstly, the NLK developed an automation system for the national bibliography, which was collected and catalogued by the NLK. Secondly, the NLK developed the Korean Library Automation System (KOLAS), which has been distributed to both public libraries and government libraries throughout the entire nation. The system enables individual libraries to establish their own databases by downloading the national bibliographic database without performing original cataloguing locally. The NLK has provided libraries with the national bibliographic database on magnetic tapes, CD-ROMs, and online, according to changes in the technology environment. The NLK next developed a cost-effective resource sharing network system by launching the National Electronic Library in collaboration with major Korean libraries. This resource sharing system allows users to access library materials in cyberspace without visiting a specific library. The NLK has also been establishing a contents database for publications published in Korea. As of 2006, the NLK is planning to select outstanding materials from its legal deposit collection and provide links to the selected materials on the official NLK website, helping public libraries to select valuable works from legal deposit publications. With a library management information system introduced in 2005, the NLK can make decisions on open access stock for each reading room after analysing statistical reports for both open and closed stacks. Until now, the collections have been shelved by the year of publication. The library management information system will help library patrons use the library collection more conveniently and will be distributed to public libraries nationwide.

The medical digital library landscape

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify two medical digital libraries from each of the following three countries: Canada, the USA and the UK. It aims to discuss strengths and weaknesses in system design in an effort to provide a basis on which to improve both the organisation of, and the access to, electronic, scholarly information.Design/methodology/approachInclusion criteria for identifying the medical digital libraries were, those who: had primarily text‐based collections, intended for use by researchers or healthcare professionals; were freely accessible, and fulfilled the author's definition of a digital library as opposed to an online database. (Medical digital libraries with either a historical focus or that had primarily image/video collections were excluded.) To identify suitable medical digital libraries, the following resources were used: scholarly databases, online search engines, government and national library web sites, lists of online medical resources, and university web sites. Selection preference was given to those libraries with the most recent launch dates and service features. Each library was systematically evaluated, qualitatively and quantitatively, from the user's perspective in six distinct areas: administrative overview and site architecture, knowledge organisation, results management, interaction with the collection, additional information services, usability, and personalisation.FindingsThe study finds that each digital library had a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. Each offered different services to help users identify relevant material and to quickly understand and assess their contents. However, this required that each library have a team of experts to obtain, assess, catalogue, and annotate the information. Where available, user comments were supportive of each effort and very positive.Research limitations/implicationsMedical digital libraries are an excellent conduit between authors and practitioners. However, they require intensive resources for establishment and maintenance. For these libraries to realise their full potential, emphasis must be placed on the currency and quality of their collections, maintaining pace with the technology employed by their users, providing services that facilitate the access and digestion of complex, scholarly information, and ensuring that online users are aware of the existence of these libraries.Practical implicationsThis paper contributes to the overall improvement of existing and future medical digital libraries.Originality/valueThis is the first ever evaluation and comparison of freely available medical digital libraries from three countries.