Online Public Access Research Articles

Enhancing Features of Library Automation Package by Integrating with Discovery Tool: A Case Study

The main objective of this paper is to explore the possibility of enhancing search and retrieval features of library automation package by integrating it with a discovery tool. PMB, a library automation package and Vufind, a discovery tool are used for demonstration purposes. PMB was selected as it uses simple LAMP architecture and hence is easy to install and use. But the Online Public Access (OPAC) of PMB does not have many features of new generation OAPCs. However, by integrating PMB into Vufind, which has most of the new generation OPAC features, enhanced features of the OPAC are made available in PMB itself. Also, PMB provides excellent and unique options for record import/export in various formats. This feature is used to export records from PMB and import it to Vufind. Generally, any integrated library automation package (ILAP) contains two modules: staff-client module and Online Public Access catalogue (OPAC). PMB is compatible with international standards: it makes use of Z39.50 server and supports UNIMARC format. Another unique feature in PMB is the facility to convert/ export of records using which records from one format can be converted to about 39 other formats. Though it has many good features, because it uses MySQL as back-end, it lacks many advanced search features in the OPAC. On the other hand, Vufind, a discovery tool uses Solr (Lucene java search library) as its back-end and has good search and retrieval features. For indexing bibliographic records, Vufind uses MARCSolr, through which MARC records are indexed using Solr search engine. This paper reports a study carried out to integrate into PMB search and retrieval features of Vufind.

DIGITISING UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN GHANA: HOW TECHNOLOGY IS FACILITATING ACCESS TO DIGITAL CONTENT AND SERVICES

The study investigated the extent to which technological advances are affecting the development of digital libraries in universities in Ghana. Using the case study approach, interviews were conducted with university librarians and information technology (IT) officers of three public universities in Ghana. In all, six staff members (i.e., two representatives each from the three libraries at the University of Ghana (UG), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the University of Cape Coast (UCC)) were interviewed. Their views on the available information communications technology (ICT) infrastructure which would enable access to digital content and services, such as online databases, institutional repositories, online public access catalogues (OPACs) and World Wide Web (www) resources, were obtained. The findings revealed that all three universities have the basic ICT infrastructure to enable users to access digital content. However, there was restricted access to the OPAC; lack of visibility of the library website; and inadequate use of Web 2.0 tools in some of the libraries. Therefore, the study recommends the hiring of more multi-skilled librarians who would provide the necessary support for digital resources and services.

Remarkable Daguerreotype of an Academy Founder

The Academy Library & Archives is home to millions of images on multiple media, from woodcut engravings on 16th century rag paper, to the famous hand-colored copperplate engravings of Audubon, to the photographs that span from photography’s 19th century invention through today’s high resolution X-ray Computed Tomography images. Here we share an early genre, the daguerreotype that features a subject of importance to the Bicentennial Year of the founding of the Academy of Natural Sciences: a photograph of Academy Founder Gerard Troost. Named for its inventor Louis Daguerre, the daguerreotype is recognized as the earliest form of publicly available photography and dates back to 1839. Each daguerreotype is a multi-layered work of art comprised of an emulsioncovered copper plate that is slowly exposed through a camera, sometimes requiring the subject to sit still for up to 20 minutes. Thereafter the resulting exposed plate is bathed in hot gaseous mercury. Typically the exposed plate might be hand-tinted, framed in a brass mat, protected by a sheet of glass, mounted in a delicate hinged wooden case lined with silk or velvet and covered with a thin sheet of tooled leather. This jewel-case display was meant to underscore the rarity and value of the photograph within, for each daguerreotype is a “one off.” Since no negative is involved, there is no potential for (contemporaneous) duplication. In 1812 seven natural philosophers founded the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia for the study of nature “divested of egotism” and pledged to remain“... unwarped by religious theses, views, and prepossessions” (ANSP Archives Coll. 527: Constitutional Act, 21 March 1812). They were Messrs. Gilliams, McMann, Parmentier, Say, Shinn, Speakman, and Troost. The lattermost, Gerardus Zacharius Troost (1776-1850), medical doctor and mineraling to December 1817. Troost’s natural-history interests are revealed in his publications, which include numerous descriptions of crystalline forms of minerals from apophylte to zinc, as well as a geological survey of the environs of Philadelphia. According to the Academy Library’s Online Public Access

Finding Primary Sources: Using the National Archives’ New “Online Public Access” System

Finding Primary Sources: Using the National Archives’ New “Online Public Access” System

Privacy and Access to Public Records in the Digital Age

Online public record access brings a wealth of benefits ranging from greater government access and accountability to increased cost-savings and efficiencies. However, due to the presence of highly sensitive, personal data, an increase in public records access also brings potential dangers, including heightened risk of identity theft and frivolous snooping into the affairs of others. Historically, public records have had some measure of public accessibility in order to empower citizens with the ability to observe the goings-on of government, leading to greater government accountability. Until the rise of the internet, citizens have had their privacy protected through practical obscurity (the notion that to actually look at public records, a person would have to physically visit the record holder's office to see a record). Expanding on lessons learned from the experiences of the Privacy and Public Access Sub-Committee of the Supreme Court of Ohio Advisory Committee on Technology and the Courts, this paper will discuss the controversies surrounding online access to public records. In addition, it will offer recommendations as to how government can, by modifying public records laws and rules so that public record information is the same online and off-line, embrace the opportunities provided by online public records while securing the privacy of its citizens.

Online Public Access Catalogs: Remote Access and the Invisible User

Looks at the needs to begin planning for remote access to online public access catalogs (OPACs), and to consider the special needs of the remote user – beginning at the institutional level – for example, how well does the campus network match up to the ideal service level of easy access for every faculty member and student? Considers other possibilities, such as dial access, dedicated workstations or local area networks. Makes the point that the existence of the service must be advertised, potential users of remote services are unlikely to be aware of its existence if it has not been advertised outside of the library itself. Document delivery is another important issue that needs to be addressed if the remote user is to receive satisfactory service levels.

MULTILIS: A Description of the System Design and Operational Features

MultiLIS is an integrated library software product that can be purchased on a modular basis or as a turnkey system encompassing both hardware and software. Acquisitions, cataloging, online public access, circulation, book exchange, local policy management, management and statistical report modules, and a report generator are currently available. An enhanced serials management module will be released in 1989. The software is written in PASCAL and C languages, and is available in either VMS or EUNIX V operating system versions. The VMS version is designed to run on Digital VAX computers, while UNIX V will run on a wider range of machines, including NCR Tower machines. MultiLIS features a strong network option, as well as a low cost annual software support agreement, providing users with telephone support services and all software updates.