Towards dynamic and evolving digital libraries

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chern Li Liew
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Activity Theory ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Information Ecology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Digital Cultural Heritage ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Holistic Understanding

Purpose – The overarching aim of this paper is to initiate a new conceptualisation of digital cultural heritage libraries' design and development that emphasises a holistic understanding of a digital cultural heritage as part of information ecology and of the activities taking place between and amongst the various elements of the ecology that are governed by social, cultural, political, economical, and technical affordances and constraints. Design/methodology/approach – A research framework is developed based on viewpoints, reviews of existing literature and concepts of information ecology and activity theory. Findings – The conceptual framework comprises of a set of dimensions: content; context; connectivity; consideration; collaboration; construction; confidence and continuity. These dimensions are indicative of the kinds of issues and questions that could be considered in transitioning a digital cultural heritage library into a system that is dynamic, and one which evolves within the stakeholders' socio-cultural contexts. The issues and questions highlighted and outlined under the dimensions may be used to help one to situate their digital cultural heritage in the space and environment it operates in, to discover which direction to take to transition the digital cultural heritage library and to safely navigate the journey for the transitioning. The dimensions may also signal the elements needing ongoing consideration as the digital cultural heritage library evolves on its journey within the ecologies concerned. Practical implications – These dimensions are indicative of the kinds of issues and questions that could be considered in transitioning a digital cultural heritage library into a system that is dynamic and one which evolves within the stakeholders' socio-cultural contexts. The issues and questions highlighted and outlined under the dimensions may be used to help one to situate their digital cultural heritage in the space and environment it operates in, to discover which direction to take to transition the digital cultural heritage library and to safely navigate the journey for the transitioning. The dimensions may also signal the elements needing ongoing consideration as the digital cultural heritage library evolves on its journey within the ecologies concerned. Originality/value – This research presents concepts from information ecology and activity theory that could be incorporated in digital library research, design and development.

scholarly journals A nine dimensional framework for digital cultural heritage organizational sustainability

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin R. Eschenfelder ◽  
Kalpana Shankar ◽  
Rachel D. Williams ◽  
Dorothea Salo ◽  
Mei Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Organizational Sustainability ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Cultural Heritage ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on how library and information science (LIS) as a field operationalizes the concept of organizational sustainability for managing digital resources, projects and infrastructures such as digital libraries and repositories over time. It introduces a nine dimensional framework for organizational sustainability in the digital cultural heritage community. Design/methodology/approach Content analysis of publications from three LIS databases (2000–2015). Findings Comparing the articles to the nine dimension framework shows that most LIS articles discuss technology, financial or management dimensions. Fewer articles describe disaster planning, assessment or policy dimensions. Research limitations/implications Three LIS databases might not include all relevant journals, conferences, white papers and other materials. The data set also did not include books; library management textbooks might include useful material on organizational sustainability. Claims about the prevalence of themes are subject to methodological limits of content analysis. Practical implications Organizations that steward digital collections need to be clear about what they mean when they are referring to organizational sustainability so that they can make appropriate decisions for future-proofing their collections. The analysis would also suggest for a greater need to consider the full range of dimensions of organizational sustainability. Originality/value By introducing a new nine dimensional framework of organizational sustainability the authors hope to promote more and better conversations within the LIS community about organizational sustainability. The authors hope these conversations will lead to productive action and improvements in the arrangements of people and work necessary to keep digital projects and services going over time, given ongoing challenges.

Application of cloud technology in digital cultural heritage: an analysis of public culture cloud platforms in China

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dengdeng Wanyan ◽  
Tong Shang
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Public Culture ◽  
Cultural Construction ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Cloud Technology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Cultural Heritage ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Technology Applications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the significant advantages of cloud technology in digital cultural heritage construction by analyzing public culture cloud platforms in China. The authors hope to provide references for other countries and regions on the applications of cloud computing techniques in digital cultural construction. Design/methodology/approach The primary research methods involved interview and case analysis. A comprehensive understanding of cloud technology and China’s culture cloud platforms were gained through research into extensive amounts of literature. Analyzing 21 culture cloud platforms offers a general understanding of culture clouds, while the Hunan Public Culture Cloud acts as a representative sample that gives detailed insight. Findings This paper explores the considerable advantages of cloud computing in digital cultural construction from four aspects: integration of decentralized heterogeneous resources, coordination and cooperation, accurately matching user needs and promotion of balanced service development. Originality/value Existing studies fall short of comprehensive investigations of culture cloud platforms and in-depth analysis of the advantages of cloud technology applications. This paper uses the construction of public culture cloud platforms in China as the research object. Further, this paper compares the construction status of different culture cloud platforms.

JPEG 2000: guide for digital libraries

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-263
Author(s):  
David Barina ◽  
Ondrej Klima
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Rate Distortion ◽  
Jpeg 2000 ◽  
Heritage Preservation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Compression Performance ◽  
Digital Heritage ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Cultural Heritage Preservation

Purpose The joint photographic experts group (JPEG) 2000 image compression system is being used for cultural heritage preservation. The authors are aware of over a dozen of big memory institutions worldwide using this format. This paper aims to review and explain choices for end users to help resolve trade-offs that these users are likely to encounter in practice. Design/methodology/approach The JPEG 2000 format is quite complex and therefore sometimes considered as a preservation risk. A lossy compression is governed by a number of parameters that control compression speed and rate-distortion trade-off. Their inappropriate adjustment may fairly easily lead to sub-optimal compression performance. This paper provides general guidelines for selecting the most appropriate parameters for a specific application. Findings This paper serves as a guide for the preservation of digital heritage in cultural heritage institutions, including libraries, archives and museums. Originality/value This paper serves as a guide for the preservation of digital heritage in cultural heritage institutions, including libraries, archives and museums.

HerCulB: content-based information extraction and retrieval for cultural heritage of the Balkans

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 905-918
Author(s):  
Ivana Tanasijević ◽  
Gordana Pavlović-Lažetić
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Intangible Cultural Heritage ◽  
Automatic Annotation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Named Entity ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Rule Based Approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodology for automatic annotation of a multimedia collection of intangible cultural heritage mostly in the form of interviews. Assigned annotations provide a way to search the collection. Design/methodology/approach Annotation is based on automatic extraction of metadata and is conducted by named entity and topic extraction from textual descriptions with a rule-based approach supported by vocabulary resources, a compiled domain-specific classification scheme and domain-oriented corpus analysis. Findings The proposed methodology for automatic annotation of a collection of intangible cultural heritage, applied on the cultural heritage of the Balkans, has very good results according to F measure, which is 0.87 for the named entity and 0.90 for topic annotation. The overall methodology enables encapsulating domain-specific and language-specific knowledge into collections of finite state transducers and allows further improvements. Originality/value Although cultural heritage has a significant role in the development of identity of a group or an individual, it is one of those specific domains that have not yet been fully explored in case of many languages. A methodology is proposed that can be used for incorporating natural language processing techniques into digital libraries of cultural heritage.

Digital cultural heritage of rural tourism facilities in Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karol Król
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Rural Tourism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internet Archive ◽  
Digital Cultural Heritage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Floating Objects ◽  
Website Content

PurposeAt the turn of 2018 and 2019, a certain era in the history of Polish Internet came to an end. Most of the websites of rural tourism facilities hosted on free servers no longer exist; however, the very phenomenon has significantly distinguished itself in the promotion of rural tourism in Poland. The paper presents archaic websites or rural tourism facilities in Poland as digital cultural heritage assets. Its purpose is to propose attributes potentially indicative of content or phenomenon being part of digital cultural heritage.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 211 websites of rural tourism facilities in Poland, hosted on free servers, were analysed. The study investigated digital artefacts, i.e. only the websites that no longer exist but whose archival copies are found at the Internet Archive (IA).FindingsThe structure of most websites of rural tourism facilities was based on tables. None of the websites were responsive. The graphics of 132 websites (65%) were never changed, with the oldest recorded copies dating back to 2001 and the newest ones to 2018. On many websites, components that are relatively rarely found these days were noted, e.g. “marquee”-type “floating” objects or online surveys.Originality/valueThe phenomenon of using free-of-charge hosting services by rural tourism facilities in Poland in the years 2004–2012 is part of the history of Polish Internet and an example of digital cultural heritage. Archaic websites of rural tourism facilities in Poland are digital artefacts but not all of them have cultural values. In total, three groups of attributes are proposed that can be important for determining whether a website, content or phenomenon can be considered digital cultural heritage assets.

scholarly journals Cognitive styles within an exploratory search system for digital libraries

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 970-996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Goodale ◽  
Paul David Clough ◽  
Samuel Fernando ◽  
Nigel Ford ◽  
Mark Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cognitive Style ◽  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Search System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
User Attitudes ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of cognitive style on navigating a large digital library of cultural heritage information; specifically, the paper focus on the wholist/analytic dimension as experienced in the field of educational informatics. The hypothesis is that wholist and analytic users have characteristically different approaches when they explore, search and interact with digital libraries, which may have implications for system design. Design/methodology/approach – A detailed interactive IR evaluation of a large cultural heritage digital library was undertaken, along with the Riding CSA test. Participants carried out a range of information tasks, and the authors analysed their task performance, interactions and attitudes. Findings – The hypothesis on the differences in performance and behaviour between wholist and analytic users is supported. However, the authors also find that user attitudes towards the system are opposite to expectations and that users give positive feedback for functionality that supports activities in which they are cognitively weaker. Research limitations/implications – There is scope for testing results in a larger scale study, and/or with different systems. In particular, the findings on user attitudes warrant further investigation. Practical implications – Findings on user attitudes suggest that systems which support areas of weakness in users’ cognitive abilities are valued, indicating an opportunity to offer diverse functionality to support different cognitive weaknesses. Originality/value – A model is proposed suggesting a converse relationship between behaviour and attitudes; to support individual users displaying search/navigation behaviour mapped onto the strengths of their cognitive style, but placing greater value on interface features that support aspects in which they are weaker.

Exploring digital library usage for getting information from the ELM perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianjin Zha ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Yalan Yan ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Gang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Information Need ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Likelihood Model ◽  
Route Information

Purpose – The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) provides a general framework for understanding the basic processes underlying the effectiveness of persuasion. The purpose of this paper is to utilize the ELM to understand the basic processes underlying the effectiveness of persuasion to use digital libraries for getting information. Design/methodology/approach – The survey data collection was conducted in one comprehensive university. The partial least squares structured equation modelling was employed to verify the research model. Findings – Source credibility and reputation have positive effects on information usefulness which further significantly impacts digital library usage for getting information. The effect of information quality on information usefulness is overpowered by reputation. Information need positively moderates the effect of information quality on information usefulness and negatively moderates the effect of reputation on information usefulness. Practical implications – Digital libraries enormously influence the way how individuals gather information over the world. However, the important status of digital libraries as conventional information sources in practice invites appreciation by more and more people. The authors believe the findings of this study provide useful insights for facilitating digital libraries to be fully accessed and utilized. Originality/value – This study explores the effects of the central route (information quality) and the peripheral route (source credibility and reputation) on digital library usage for getting information by extending the ELM with information need as a motivation variable, presenting a new lens for digital library research and practice alike.

scholarly journals The role of the national university in developing nations' digital cultural heritage projects

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Dowding
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Visibility ◽  
Digital Cultural Heritage ◽  
National University ◽  
The University ◽  
Cultural Heritage Preservation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the national university in developing sustainable cultural heritage digital preservation practices. Design/methodology/approach – Using Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan as an example, this paper discusses current development of cultural heritage digital collections, and looks to the university library's impact on nationwide digital practices development. Findings – While the university and its digital collections are still nascent, NU will likely have a large impact on the creation of sustainable digital cultural heritage preservation practices due to its international visibility and direct connection to stakeholders. Originality/value – Focused on developing nations, this paper will be of special interest to librarians working in countries facing similar challenges, such as other CIS nations.

Synthesizing visual digital library research to formulate a user-centered evaluation framework

2015 ◽  
Vol 116 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 122-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Albertson
Keyword(s):  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Digital Collections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Generalized Framework ◽  
Library Evaluation ◽  
User Centered

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to synthesize prior user-centered research to develop and present a generalized framework for evaluating visual, i.e. both image and video digital libraries. The primary objectives include comprehensively examining the current state of visual digital library research to: develop a generalized framework applicable for designing user-centered evaluations of visual digital libraries; identify influential experimental factors warranting assessment evaluation as part of specific contexts; and provide examples of applied methods that have been used in research, demonstrating notable findings. Design/methodology/approach – The framework presented in the present study depicts a set of user-centered methodological considerations and examples, synthesized from a review of prior research that provides significant understanding of users and uses of visual information. Findings – Primary components for digital library evaluation, pertaining to user, interaction, system and domain and topic, and their implications for interactive research are presented. Methods, examples and discussion are presented for each primary evaluation component of the framework. Practical implications – Previously applied evaluations and their significance are described and presented as part of the developed framework, providing the importance of each component for practical application in future research and development of interactive visual digital libraries. Originality/value – Visual digital libraries warrant individual assessment, apart from other types of digital collections, as they offer users more ways to retrieve and interact with collection items. The present study complements prior digital library evaluation research by demonstrating the need for a separate framework due to variations influenced by visual information and reporting on evaluations from different perspectives.

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