Use Of Digital Collections Research Articles

Scientific and methodological approaches to the creation of electronic library content

The article analyzes the principles of designing and forming digital collections of electronic libraries. Basic principles such as integration, strategic planning, quality assurance of digital content and its scientific and methodological support are considered. The need to create an expert council and working groups to determine the profile of electronic libraries and form the content of repositories is substantiated. The need to create an integrated electronic catalog of the cultural heritage of libraries, archives and museums to provide readers with information about the availability of archival documents and museum objects in library funds is emphasized. The main principles of its creation and functioning are given: use of a single data presentation format, use of a single method of description and indexing, use of single authoritative files to ensure control of access points; providing a single search interface. It was concluded that based on the results of theoretical research and practical activities of libraries in the field of digital collection formation, it is advisable to prepare a scientific and practical guide "Formation of digital collections", as well as to develop a program of lectures "Formation and use of digital collections.

Libraries and Diminished Patron Privacy During the COVID-19 Health Crisis

The COVID-19 health crisis has ushered in an era of great change in the way individuals and institutions function. With the contagious and deadly nature of COVID-19, libraries geared their efforts to increase access to and use of digital collections. With the introduction of stay-home orders, the option of adopting full virtual services became the go-to solution as a way of protecting library staff and users. Collaboration with third-party vendors that provide online library services heightened like never before. As libraries reopened at a later point in the global pandemic, library staff were asked to conduct health screenings for patrons entering the library and actively monitor whether patrons were socially distanced in the library. The drastic change to library operations due to the pandemic resulted in the increased collection of patrons’ personal information ranging from health information to location data coupled with library records. Much as librarians are traditionally and professionally committed to protecting their patrons’ privacy, undertaking activities like health screening in the absence of data transparency practices can potentially impact library users’ privacy. In this study, we investigated whether the 25 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members with the largest number of titles held developed or modified their privacy policies in response to the increase in data collection during the COVID-19 health crisis. Privacy policies are living documents that should evolve with the times and thus should be updated or modified to reflect the current realities. We also examined whether pre-pandemic privacy policies, if any, of the surveyed 25 ARL member libraries are aligned with the privacy requirements outlined in the American Library Association (ALA) Privacy Toolkit (ALA 2014). Our results show that of the surveyed 25 ARL libraries, none of them developed a new library privacy policy or modified an existing one to reflect their data practices with specific regard to the new realities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The disregard for such adjustments to their privacy policies violated the principle of data transparency. Our results also show that, at the time of the survey, 4 of the surveyed 25 ARL members did not have library privacy policies.

The Role of Museums in a Digital World – Attracting Youth and Overcoming COVID19 Obstacles

In the world of digital technology, overwhelmed with information and content, digitalization is often perceived as a process of alienation. This article will challenge that perception and demonstrate that digital museums actually present a unique opportunity to develop interest in art and attracting people not only to art in general but to on-site cultural institutions as well. Digital museums can, among other roles, assume the role of interpreting cultural heritage, but are also the best way to attract a young au-dience to art. This article examines the opportunities provided by digital technology for museums in terms of communication and dissemination of knowledge. The particular emphasis will be on the use of digital collections as well as on connecting and interacting with the public, particularly with a young au-dience. If there was any doubt about the importance and influence of digital museums, the COVID-19 pandemic was a final proof that digital museums have a much greater value than is generally admitted, and that they have become an indispensable part of the overall museum experience in all museums that have been able to develop them as a part of overall museum strategy.

Assessing large-scale digitization using Web analytics

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the use of digital collections created via the large-scale digitization of archival collections. The large-scale digitization method specifically examined is the reuse of archival description from finding aids to create digital collections that consist mainly of compound digital objects, equivalent to a folder of items, minimally described at the aggregate level. This paper compares Web analytics data for two large-scale digital collections and one digital collection with rich, item-level description. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzed one year of Web analytics for three digital collections. The main research question of this study is: Are digital collections of minimally described compound objects used less than digital collections of richly described single objects? Findings This study found that the large-scale digital collections analyzed received less use than the traditional item-level collection, when examined at the item level. At the object level, the large-scale collections did not always receive less use than the traditional item-level collection. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to three different digital collections from one institution. Web analytics also represent a limited interpretation of “use.” Practical implications This study presents a method for other institutions to assess their own large-scale digitization efforts and contributes to the profession’s understanding of the impact of large-scale digitization. Originality/value This paper is unique because it uses Web analytics to compare the use of large-scale digital collections to the use of traditional boutique digital collections.

Student use of university digital collections: the role of technology and educators

ABSTRACT An increasing number of colleges and universities are beginning to digitize their museum and teaching collections. Digitization has become necessary to improve the educational value of these collections both in the classroom and beyond. The purpose of this research is to better assess the acceptance and use of technology as it relates to students’ use of university digital collections. The framework of this study is based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) which evaluates the adoption and use of information technology. A survey was administered to a random national sample of 401 students. Data was analysed using descriptive, factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. The results of this research indicate that promotion by faculty and librarians is key to the use of digital collections. Furthermore, perceived usefulness was an important influence on students’ intention to use a digital collection.

Analysing and understanding news consumption patterns by tracking online user behaviour with a multimodal research design

Understanding people's online behaviour has traditionally been a field of interest of commercial research agencies. However, academic researchers in a variety of fields are interested in the same type of data to gain insights in the Web behaviour of users. Digital Humanities scholars interested in the use of digital collections are, e.g., interested in the navigation paths of users to these collections. In our case we wanted (1) to analyse the way news consumers visit news websites and (2) understand how these websites fit in their daily news consumption patterns. Until now most common applied scholarly research methods to analyse online user behaviour focus on analyses of log files provided by website owners or recalled user behaviour by survey, diary, or interview methods. Only recently scholars started to experiment with gathering real-world data of Web behaviour by monitoring a group of respondents. In this article we describe the set-up of 'The Newstracker', a tool that primarily allowed us to analyse online news consumption of a group of young Dutch news users on their desktop and laptop computers. We demonstrate the workflow of the Newstracker and how we designed the data collection and pre-processing phase. By reflecting on the technical, methodological, and analytical challenges we encountered, we illustrate the potential of online monitoring tools such as the Newstracker. We end our article with discussing its limitations by stressing the need for a multimethod study design when aiming not only to analyse but also to understand online user behaviour.

Making the Most of Digital Collections through Training and Outreach: The Innovative Librarian’s Guide. By Nicholas Tanzi. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2016. Pp. x+140. $50.00 (paper). ISBN 978-1-4408-4072-2.

<i>Making the Most of Digital Collections through Training and Outreach: The Innovative Librarian’s Guide</i>. By Nicholas Tanzi. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2016. Pp. x+140. $50.00 (paper). ISBN 978-1-4408-4072-2.

Curating the Scottish Built Heritage Record: Canmore as an Open Digital Archive

In recent times heritage institutions have been re-assessing their relationship with members of the public both in terms of their use of digital collections and their potential contribution to increasingly rich digital resource environments (Terras, 2011). This paper reports on a study which applied virtual ethnographic methods to the investigation of Canmore, the digital archive of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), opened to public contribution in 2009. The study examined the nature of the online environment, users' contributions and participation dynamics, which were found to mirror traditional patterns, with mostly expert users contributing high-quality data to the record. Less evidence emerged of collaborative engagement and dialogical exchanges more typical of online sociality. The paper considers the merits of, and possible reasons for, such an outcome, also touching on more recent initiatives which show RCAHMS embracing new opportunities for innovative co-curation practices.

Digital cultural collections in an age of reuse and remixes

This paper explores the question of under what circumstances CI should seek to control non-commercial reuse of digital cultural works. It describes the results of a 2008 survey of CI professionals at U.S. archives, libraries and museums which gathered data on motivations to control access to and use of digital collections, factors discouraging control, and levels of concern associated with different types of unauthorized reuse. Analysis presents three general themes that explain many of the CI motivations for control:“Controlling descriptions and representations,” “Legal risks and complexities” and “Getting credit: fiscal and social costs and revenue.” It concludes by offering a set of examples of varying levels of reuse control (from none to complete) to serve as heuristics.

Identifying, evaluating and recommending digital collections: A social community approach

AbstractWe are developing a community based digital collection repository. The goal of the system is to increase the visibility and use of digital collections by forming a publicly accessible online social community where everyone can share their knowledge and experience of using different collections. In this poster, we present our design of a digital collection system that will respond to the challenges of identification and organization of digital collections as well as incorporate a process for reviewing, ranking and recommending digital collections through the creation of an online digital collection community.

An analysis of the use of digital collections in a scientific research library network: Part two of a case study from CSIC, Madrid, Spain

Serials: The Journal for the Serials Community has been digitised and can be accessed in full on this website. All content is freely available on an open-access basis. Serials was published between 1988 and 2011. In 2012, the journal was retitled and is now published as Insights: the UKSG journal.

Points of View

ABSTRACT In an effort to assist users in the identification of significant Internet resources, libraries and librarians have begun to apply established library classification and subject schemes as the organizational framework for accessing and navigating these electronic sources. We will profile selected notable applications of national and international library classification schemes for organizing World Wide Web (WWW) resources as well as sites that have applied controlled vocabularies to facilitate access to selected collections of Net resources. With these and similar efforts as a conceptual foundation, we then focus on the potential application of new and emerging technologies to further enhance use of digital collections, notably intelligent software agents, information visualization techniques, auditory displays, and haptic interactive devices. We conclude with a review of significant Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies and computer-based ontologies, and speculate on their potential application for representing, accessing, and navigating digital resources.