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5856 results in Facet Publishing

Page 285 of 293

  • 9 - Ways to engage widening participation students

  • from THEME 2 - THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USER NEEDS, INFORMATION SKILLS AND INFORMATION LITERACIES
    • By Lynne Rutter, Student Support Lecturer, Bournemouth University, UK, Penny Dale, Subject Librarian, Bournemouth University, UK
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Book:
    Libraries Without Walls 5
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 87-96

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Widening participation (WP) students are so-called ‘non-traditional’ students from diverse backgrounds who are being encouraged to consider further and higher education. This paper seeks to show that by identifying the learning issues of two different groups of WP students it is possible to find better ways of responding to their needs. Without this understanding we are relying on ‘what the teacher does’ rather than ‘what the student does’ within the learning environment and thus failing to engage the student fully (Biggs, 1999).

    In the absence of engagement, information skills work cannot be embedded or integrated, and is thus perceived to be unconnected with study, work or professional practice. It is seen as a means to an end only – encouraging a surface learning approach (Marton and Saljo, 1984). It can also be counter-productive as students who are not engaged can display negative behaviour, be disruptive and spoil the group dynamic. At a surface level there can be little real engagement for the student, no matter how well sessions are planned or how good the content.

    The previous and current learning experiences of students affect their perceptions and expectations and can be associated with the three barriers to learning as identified by Cross (1981) and cited by Merrill (2000). Within new situations these perceptions and barriers can have a significant influence on learning approaches and styles (Prosser and Trigwell, 1999). WP students from FE (further education) or a professional background are likely to have more varied learning experiences than traditional students. To understand this relationship and determine how students perceive their situation is a further step towards developing appropriate learning and teaching contexts for successful engagement and deeper learning.

  • 4 - What to buy? Assessing and acquiring the electronic resource

  • Stuart D. Lee, Frances Boyle
  • Book:
    Building an Electronic Resource Collection
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 73-111

  • Summary

    Introduction

    So far we have been concentrating on introducing the beginner to the various electronic resources available for purchase. It is the contention of these authors that this is absolutely crucial. Without an awareness of the range of products, their particular nuances, and the overall problems that emerge when moving to acquiring digital material, the collection developer cannot be expected to make informed decisions when evaluating and purchasing these resources. It is now time, however, to turn more fully to the task of building up the digital collection itself.

    The life cycle of digital collection development

    In Chapter 1 we argued that building up a library of digital resources had many similarities to traditional collection development, though at the same time there were some notable differences. At that point we suggested the stages involved in collection development. It is now time to look at these in more detail with reference to digital resources. In Figure 4.1 the steps involved in acquiring a digital resource are outlined in full, up to the point where the invoice is paid (note that there are significant steps to be taken after this point which will be discussed in Chapter 5).

    General comments

    To begin with it is clear that there are two ‘paths’ or tracks apparent in Figure 4.1. The first represents traditional content development (i.e. print resources) and the second, more developed one, concentrates on the digital arena. Both can be seen to stem from the same collection development policy, and, as is increasingly the norm, from the same budget. Furthermore, central to both is a pool of expertise consisting of subject specialists, users, technical experts, and so on. These ‘stakeholders’, that is to say the people involved in the decision-making process, will be discussed in Chapter 5.

    Formulating a collection development policy

    It cannot be stressed enough that the collection development policy for digital materials must be part of the overall strategy in terms of acquisitions for your company or department (e.g. see the Arizona Public Libraries’ guides, www.dlapr.lib.az.us/cdt/slrer.htm, where this link is reinforced). This is the first step in Figure 4.1, from which the two paths branch. This is increasingly important now that the link between print and electronic (as with e-journals) has become more and more established.

  • 3 - Staff without walls: developing library and information staff for e-learning

  • from THEME 1 - THE INTEGRATION OF LIBRARY SERVICES AND VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
    • By Coral Black, User Services Manager, Learning Services, Edge Hill College of Higher Education, UK, Sue Roberts, Head of Learning Services, Edge Hill College of Higher Education, UK
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Book:
    Libraries Without Walls 5
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 19-30

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Recent research and case studies have predominantly focused on the integration of resources into virtual learning environments (VLEs) or on the development and adaptation of services for the e-learning environment. This paper argues that such integration presupposes the successful development of library and information services staff, with awareness, new skills and new roles simply a given. The findings of the Investigating Portals for Information Resources and Learning (INSPIRAL) report (Currier, 2002) point to new staff development needs and the emergence of new roles and more complex teams in response to the e-learning imperative. However, these issues have not been explored and articulated in any great depth or detail. Staff development within this context is a significant challenge and requires creative and flexible approaches that are not simply based on technology or competencies. This paper discusses the current e-learning context in relation to staff roles, the skills required and potential staff development strategies, with a particular focus on one case study where e-learning and e-skills are embedded within the staff development life cycle. The paper argues for a lifecycle approach rather than ‘one off’ training sessions, and explores the characteristics of an appropriate learning environment – both real and virtual – to support and develop staff in such a demanding context.

    Context

    E-learning and UK higher education

    E-learning has rapidly become an integral feature of UK higher education whether for distance or blended learning approaches or as a supplement to face-to-face learning. Library and information services staff became involved in e-learning initiatives and developments at an early stage in some institutions. While this is far from consistent either within or across higher education institutions, staff are undoubtedly becoming increasingly involved in e-learning at all levels, for example in the discovery and embedding of electronic resources, design of materials, esupport and tutoring. Allan's (2002, 1) judgement that ‘E-learning is becoming an increasingly important approach to user education, information literacy and also staff development’ can now almost be viewed as an underestimation of the pervasive impact of e-learning. Such developments could also potentially lead to a crisis in library and information services management. Student and academic staff expectations are beginning to stretch the limits of services, resources and roles, with support and resources demanded via the VLE when required regardless of time or place.

  • 19 - Denmark's electronic research library: from national project to permanent activity

  • from THEME 4 - DESIGNING THE INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT: NATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVES
    • By Bo Öhrström, Deputy Director, Danish National Library Authority, Denmark
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Book:
    Libraries Without Walls 5
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 195-203

  • Summary

    Introduction

    During 1998 to 2002, Denmark's Electronic Research Library (DEF – Danmarks Elektroniske Forskningsbibliotek) was a large government-funded project that aimed to build a national virtual research library in Denmark. The project had a vision of a single virtual research library focused on the need to provide easy access to scientific information for researchers and students in Denmark.

    In spring 2002 the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation evaluated the project. The project's results proved to be so successful that DEF was placed as a permanent activity on the government's budget proposal. In December 2002 the budget was approved, and the continuation of DEF became a reality. This paper describes the development of the project. A new organization has been set up and a framework for future activities has been designed.

    The budget for the permanent DEF was reduced significantly compared with the budget allocated to it in the project period. However, it was a major achievement to get any funding – the initial planning was to give no money at all – and the resulting budget allows important activities to continue and new ones to start. The reduced budget stresses the need for there to be even closer co-operation in the library sector, and the existing co-operation has to be carefully maintained and developed.

    With the same reasoning the existing international co-operation should be strengthened. International co-operation is crucial in order to get more fair terms and prices for the libraries, especially for licences for electronic resources. Other international activities such as SPARC (www.sparceurope.org/) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative should support these efforts in order to create change and to achieve some competition in the market.

    Background to DEF

    The national project – Denmark's Electronic Research Library – aimed to move the Danish libraries from being automated, conventional, co-operating individual libraries to the state of one large, coherent, electronic library structure providing integrated information services.

    The project was defined in a project description of September 1996 by the three ministries involved: the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Research and the Ministry of Education. A governmental agency, UNI-C, and the management consulting firm, Ernst & Young, then conducted a study, and published a report (Denmark, Ministry of Culture, 1997), which described a vision for the development of the research libraries in Denmark.

  • 23 - Librarians in digital communities of practice

  • from THEME 5 - THE CREATION OF DIGITAL RESOURCES BY USER COMMUNITIES
    • By Andrew Cox, Research Student, Department of Information Science, Loughborough University, UK, Anne Morris, Reader, Department of Information Science, Loughborough University, UK
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Book:
    Libraries Without Walls 5
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 238-247

  • Summary

    Introduction

    In Cultivating Communities of Practice, Etienne Wenger and his co-authors explicitly define only two member roles in a community of practice (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002). One is the co-ordinator, which is the community leadership role. The other is what they call the ‘community librarian’. By this the authors refer to activities such as current awareness, making notes on meetings and subject organization of material, and boundary work – connecting members to other experts in their field (2002, 102–3).

    Given the level of excitement in the business world about communities of practice, and the increasing take-up of knowledge management ideas generally in government and the non-profit sector, that an information role is seen as central by influential authors is encouraging for the profession. Perhaps this is one path for librarians to take ‘out of the library into the organization’, as Davenport and Prusak put it (though not necessarily, as they advocate, having first ‘blown up the library’!) (Davenport and Prusak, 1993).

    This paper explores the value of the ‘community of practice’ concept as a model of virtual work communities. It starts by defining the term and pointing to several problems with it as an ideal. It proposes, rather, that looser knit communities of interest or networks of practice are more common. Therefore, it is argued, community of practice might be better used as an ‘ideal type’ against which to explore social and informational dynamics, rather than as an ideal. A case study of one specialist IT community is explored to illustrate the approach. The paper concludes by arguing that if a community librarian role can contribute to user knowledge creation, it must be performed in a way that is sensitive to the specific culture that has developed in the community, with an awareness of social dynamics as well as informational issues.

    What are communities of practice?

    Definition

    There is increasing interest in the communities of practice concept in many domains. Thus in the same month as Libraries Without Walls 5 (LWW5) was held, the annual UK learning technologists conference, Alt-C, was entitled ‘Communities of Practice’. The topic was also a significant strand in the Communities and Technology conference, which was taking place at the same time as LWW5 in Amsterdam. The commercial event organizers, Ark Group, had also organized a ‘Communities of Practice Masterclass’ in Brussels in the same month.

  • 1 - Preliminary issues

  • Stuart D. Lee, Frances Boyle
  • Book:
    Building an Electronic Resource Collection
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 1-16

  • Summary

    Current legal deposit legislation, passed in 1911, covers printed publications, yet over 60,000 non-print items were published in the UK last year – a figure that will increase by a factor of four or five by 2005. Non-commercial publications, including websites, add enormously to this number. At present, there are no systematic or comprehensive arrangements in place for the collection and preservation of such non-print publications. Without new legislation to ensure non-print materials are saved for future generations, the 21st century will be seen as a cultural Dark Age …

    (Extension of legal deposit to non-print materials, www.bl.uk/news/webcase.html)

    The development of new carriers for the storage of information, trad - itionally produced on paper, has brought about a fundamental change in thinking within national libraries about future collection policies and storage requirements and an awareness that in order to maintain comprehensive collections of national publications for present and future generations of users, it will be necessary to obtain an increasing amount of non-print material.

    (The Legal Deposit of Electronic Publications, UNESCO, 1996)

    Background

    The story of the ‘electronic resource’ is an ever-changing one. In a sense, it goes back to the earliest library and mankind's first attempt to store and order data. For centuries the focus had always been on the codex, and then in the mid-twentieth century the digital age was upon us. Efforts were still centred on the compilation, distribution, and referencing of the printed or handwritten work, but in the latter decades of the century there was increasing awareness of the emergence of information and data stored in electronic form, which was falling under the remit of the librarian. For authors and readers alike, the internal structure of the book had been the subject of continued development, and readers witnessed the appearance of numerous navigational aids (for example, indexes, tables of contents, footnotes, annotated editions, and cross-referencing). Publishers too had been focusing entirely on this one area – the printing, marketing, and selling of the paper-based medium. Yet with the advent of the electronic resource there was a feeling that all this had changed, and that new understandings about the use and procurement of information in digital format needed to be developed.

  • Preface

  • Stuart D. Lee, Frances Boyle
  • Book:
    Building an Electronic Resource Collection
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp ix-x

  • Summary

    Three years ago the first edition of this book was launched. Even by the time the preliminary reviews had reached the presses it was clear that some of the material was already out of date. Such, it is argued, is the nature of the beast. The world of electronic resources moves on apace, and the previous distinctive boundaries which originally existed between such sectors as digital libraries and e-learning are increasingly blurred. Three years on from the original text the time is ripe for a new edition. Many of the principles originally outlined are still valid, and are therefore built upon in this edition. Yet to reflect the changes in the field new sections have had to be added, for example, those that explore Virtual Learning Environments/Learning Management Systems, and reading and resource list software and issues. References have been checked, revised, and added to; and suggestions for additional material received from readers of the first edition have been included. We hope that this new edition will prove of use to librarians, information specialists, students, and publishers alike.

  • 2 - What is on offer? The electronic resources landscape

  • Stuart D. Lee, Frances Boyle
  • Book:
    Building an Electronic Resource Collection
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 17-47

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The old adage ‘know your enemy’ perhaps best sums up the aim of this chapter. It is important that anyone new to the area of electronic resources should be familiar with the types of products that are available and some of the main issues that surround them. In order to facilitate this, therefore, in this chapter we approach both aspects of the subject. The first section deals with the major generic issues, unique in many cases, that arise when it comes to dealing with electronic resources. These range from the broad, sweeping implications of remote versus local access, to the finer issues surrounding such emerging technologies as connection files, OpenURL resolvers etc. The second section attempts to present an overall survey of the types of products currently available (e-journals, reference works, and so on).

    This chapter can therefore be seen as an attempt to landscape the world of electronic resources. In so doing, however, it should be noted that the terms and categorizations used below are often unique to this book and would not meet with universal agreement. Furthermore, because of the vastness of the subject and the constant changes that are occurring, this summary will inevitably miss out some of the areas that certain subject specialists may deem to be important. To compensate for this readers are directed to Marian Dworaczek's exhaustive index and bibliography (http://library. usask.ca/∼dworacze/SUB_INT.HTM), Gerry McKier nan's ‘Beyond Bookmarks’ project (www.public.iastate.edu/∼CYBERSTACKS/CTW. htm), Laurence and Miller's (2000) subject guides to resources on the internet, Novak's (2003) look at the evolution of internet searching, and the Resource Guides offered by the UK's Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) (www.jisc.ac.uk/subject/). Nevertheless, as an introductory guide to the issues, products, and pitfalls a collection developer will encounter, this survey will be of general use (NB the terms are further defined in the Glossary at the end of the book).

    The complexity of the landscape of electronic resources was originally addressed in 2000 by the United Kingdom's Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER) (JISC, 2000). In an attempt to bring together electronic resources in a seamless fashion for universities and colleges in the UK, the DNER had to confront the problem of mapping their collections so as to ascertain where there are gaps in provision.

  • 3 - E-books and e-journals

  • Stuart D. Lee, Frances Boyle
  • Book:
    Building an Electronic Resource Collection
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 48-72

  • Summary

    Introduction

    In Chapter 2 we outlined some of the issues that surround electronic resources which differentiate them from print publications. Furthermore we presented a general map of the range of products one might encounter with a few examples where appropriate. Here we focus on two of these types of product, e-books and e-journals. There are obviously clear differences in the issues these present to the collection developer (notably ebooks, for example, which can be marketed to individuals and may require special devices to read them, as we shall see), but there are clearly some strong similarities. Points to note include:

  • 1 E-journals and e-books are extremely topical at the moment

  • 2 E-journals command particular attention as on average a collection developer in a standard academic library spends about 90% of the acquisition budget on serials

  • 3 There are a range of suppliers (many of them small companies with uncertain futures), deals, licensing models, and so on, for both products

  • 4 Collection developers are trying to build models to cope with both ejournals and e-books. It is clear that those modelled in the print world will not suffice

  • 5 The number of individual titles that can be purchased is much larger than those in other areas (e.g. multimedia collections, statistical datasets, and so on), and therefore it is more common to see bulk deals (bundles or umbrella products)

  • 6 Bulk deals are often the complete list of journals or books of a publisher or a series of publishers; this can cause notable problems (especially with books) where very few institutions would want to buy such a selection

  • 7 The separation of data from access via a single supplier is extremely noticeable with these products – publishers of both journals and books are marketing their content through a variety of suppliers at the same time

  • 8 Aggregators or intermediaries are very common in both markets, acting as middle points between the consumer and the publisher (as they traditionally have in the purchases of serials and monographs)

  • 9 Most e-books and e-journals are delivered in a proprietary standard (i.e. the publisher's own method or, more commonly, Adobe's PDF)

  • 10 Linkage services are common to both (see below)

  • 11 This area continues to be a dynamic marketplace with an ongoing shift between all the stakeholders in the information chain.

  • 5 - Library services and virtual learning: the DEViL project

  • from THEME 1 - THE INTEGRATION OF LIBRARY SERVICES AND VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
    • By Non Scantlebury, Team Leader and Subject Information Specialist, Arts, IET and Maths and Computing, Open University Library, UK, Liz Stevenson, Electronic Publications Librarian, Edinburgh University Library, UK
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Book:
    Libraries Without Walls 5
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 49-55

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Many see the recent scale and pace of global e-learning developments as providing one of the biggest challenges to the library profession since its inception. Technological advances constantly pose new challenges to the way that we support the e-learning experience. In the education sector virtual learning environments (VLEs) are now considered to be an essential tool by a growing number of traditional learning providers who until recently concerned themselves purely with face-to-face delivery. The perception is that the VLEs bring a new competitive edge to provision.

    Equally, traditional distance learning organizations, which previously monopolized the distance learning market, are having to respond to increasing competition by looking for new ways of engaging e-learners with quality learning experiences that directly result in increased retention and progression. Much of this agenda is driven by political and economic strategy at a national and global level.

    It is against this backdrop, and taking account of the competing perspectives of academics, librarians and learning technologists, that the DEViL project sought to identify and address key issues for e-learning stakeholders.

    DEViL (Dynamically Enhancing Virtual Learning Environments from within the Library) is a UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) funded project forming part of JISC's ‘Linking Digital Libraries with Virtual Learning Environments’ Programme (JISC, 2002), and was undertaken in partnership between the University of Edinburgh and the Open University.

    Disintermediated approaches to supporting the Learner

    A key technical part of the project undertook to develop a prototype software tool that would enable the exposure of a range of previously non-interoperable digital repositories to proprietary and non-proprietary virtual learning platforms. The meta-evaluation strand of the project considered the implications for intermediating digital collections at the object or asset level, while disintermediating some of the traditional learner support services that libraries have provided.

    The evaluation methodology employed a range of strategies, including developing scenarios from use cases, carrying out face-to-face and telephone interviews, presentations and brief workshops with library staff, and analysis of reflective reports from team members engaged in delivering various parts of the project within their respective institutions.

Libraries Without Walls 5
  • The Distributed Delivery of Library and Information Services
  • Volume 5, Libraries Without Walls
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004
  • Distributed learning is now in the mainstream of educational practice. Learning is routinely delivered to citizens in their locality, at home or at work as well as in more formal settings in educational institutions. Supporting such endeavours, professional librarians have moved from the theoretical 'library without walls' of little more than a decade ago to widespread implementation across the world. Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are now almost universally exploited by libraries to deliver their services, utilizing the world wide web as the medium of choice, so that more and more users are accessing services remotely. As a result libraries have broken down the barriers of physical location and take for granted that their services will be delivered to their clients wherever they may be. Ever more sophisticated applications are being launched to meet escalating demand from users. This edited collection is drawn from the fifth Libraries Without Walls Conference, held in 2003, which addressed the key strategic issues arising from international, regional and cross-sectoral approaches to the provision of library services to distant users. It is recognized as the premier resource for all needing to keep updated on distance learner and virtual library issues.

  • 17 - Supporting learning, teaching and research at Manchester Metropolitan University

  • from THEME 4 - DESIGNING THE INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT: NATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVES
    • By Caroline Williams, Library Services Manager (Electronic Services Development), Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Book:
    Libraries Without Walls 5
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 175-183

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The UK higher education (HE) information environment is amorphous. It is difficult to define and is constantly changing shape. The language that describes it can feel abstract and be difficult to grasp. The information environment is changing in form and nature. The government provides the canvas or frame that dictates the Higher Education Funding Council for England's (HEFCE) funding agenda, which in turn shapes the strategic plans and modus operandi of HE institutions. The objects within this, including the information environment, then take their shape, size and direction.

    None of us know what the future holds, but we are all effectively aiming for a one stop shop at the press of a button to academic information relevant and accessible to a wide variety of users within the HE sector. This paper will not present a big new idea or grandiose vision. It will not try to predict the future, or shoehorn the evolving information environment into a rigid framework. Instead it will take four key themes of HE in the UK and look at how a university library, Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Library, is playing its part in supporting the objectives of its parent institution. I will paint a picture of a changing environment; describe what we are trying to do and how we are doing it. Many of the areas covered will be familiar to you, your own institutions may be doing similar work, but it will give a full case study of how a fairly typical large UK university library is moving towards the future. The four key themes are: learning and teaching, research, widening participation and reaching out to business and local communities. First some brief background about MMU, its Library and electronic development.

    Background

    Manchester Metropolitan University (www.mmu.ac.uk/) is widely recognized for its diversity and flexible approaches to learning. It offers 1628 study programmes (part-time, sandwich, graduate apprenticeship, distance, online, foundation to PhD) and is constantly building in new modes of learning to widen access to quality education. It has seven campuses, five in the Manchester area and two at Alsager and Crewe in Cheshire. It is one of the largest universities in the UK with over 30,000 students.

  • 24 - X4L: Exchange for Learning

  • from THEME 5 - THE CREATION OF DIGITAL RESOURCES BY USER COMMUNITIES
    • By Susan Eales, Programme Manager X4L, JISC Executive, King's College London, UK, Andrew Comrie, Assistant Principal, Lauder College, Scotland, UK
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Book:
    Libraries Without Walls 5
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 248-258

  • Summary

    Introduction

    This paper introduces the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC, www.jisc.ac.uk) funded Exchange for Learning (X4L, www.jisc.ac.uk/index. cfm?name=programme_x4l) programme and highlights the approach of one particular project within the programme: Learning for a Healthier Nation.

    JISC is a strategic advisory body, funded by all the UK post-16 funding councils, which provides the network infrastructure for learning, teaching and research, offers support and guidance in the use of information and communication technology (ICT), and acts as a national and international leadership body for collaboration across education and research.

    The JISC Information Environment Development vision has evolved from an earlier initiative known as the Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER) and aims to enable seamless access to a diverse range of quality resources for learning, teaching and research in a secure way. Funding has been allocated to a number of development programmes that will contribute to the realization of this vision including:

  • • authentication and middleware tools to bring together distributed collections of resources

  • • demonstrator portals, subject portals and a learning and teaching portal to allow cross-searching of these collections

  • • work with commercial publishers to explore the challenges and benefits to them of engaging with the information environment

  • • influencing the development of common standards to allow resources to be shared

  • • interoperability and communication with international education bodies.

    • X4L

    X4L is part of the JISC Information Environment Development since, for the evolving information environment to be more directly useful for learning and teaching as well as research, it must be populated with suitable learning materials and case studies.

    The motivation for X4L is the imperative to make the most of the considerable investment that has taken place in a range of content that has high potential value for use in learning, but needs a pedagogical framework and robust tools to ensure that it can be more easily slotted into programmes of study by the teacher or lecturer. The programme is led by 25 projects from across the UK and involves more than 100 institutions and teams from colleges, universities, libraries, JISC services, local authorities and commercial companies. X4L is a three-year programme, running from June 2002 to July 2005 with a funding allocation of around £4 million.

  • 14 - Digital library services at the Italian National Health Institute library

  • from THEME 3 - USABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF DIGITAL LIBRARY SERVICES
    • By Franco Toni, Biblioteca dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Book:
    Libraries Without Walls 5
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 140-150

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The library of the National Health Institute (ISS) is the most important Italian library in the biomedical science field. It is primarily used by researchers, scientific and administrative personnel of the Institute (more than 2000 people) but it is also open to external users.

    A brief glance at its structure is useful to explain the duties of our Institute and our researchers’ fields of interest. The ISS is currently made up of 20 laboratories – in an already approved reorganization they will soon merge into seven departments and two national centres – embracing several biomedical disciplines, such as cell biology, epidemiology, haematology, pharmacology, physics, environmental hygiene, veterinary medicine, toxicology and virology.

    The library holds more than 200,000 volumes and almost 9000 periodicals. Total annual expenditure is €2.2 million, with €1.6 million invested in serials and journal subscriptions. The continual advance of information technology has greatly modified the way scientists and researchers use the libraries. All this has brought about the need to redefine the duties of libraries completely, modifying policies and strategies in order to manage the flow of information better so that we satisfy the new requirements of users.

    In 2000 the ISS library began to develop a project to implement an intranet site that could provide access to any area of the Institute, to online services and to electronic resources related to information needs. Our efforts are especially concentrated on databases and electronic journals. For this purpose our library signed an agreement with CIBER/CASPUR, one of the three large Italian consortia for information sharing in electronic format. The initial terms of this agreement provided access to the Science Direct database with a link to more than 600 periodicals published by Elsevier, the most important scientific publisher.

    The new intranet site was launched at the beginning of 2001 and, at first, internal users had free access to about 1100 online full-text journals and to a restricted selection of online databases. This scenario rapidly evolved under the pressure of numerous requests from our researchers and after two years we have activated connections with Kluwer, Wiley and Nature Publishing Group databases, as well as the principal scientific journals such as Science, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and others.

  • 15 - The information-deprived continent: can we do something?

  • from THEME 3 - USABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF DIGITAL LIBRARY SERVICES
    • By Marié Botha, Technikon Southern Africa, Gauteng, South Africa
  • Edited by Peter Brophy, Shelagh Fisher, Jenny Craven
  • Book:
    Libraries Without Walls 5
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    15 June 2004, pp 151-160

  • Summary

    The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing

    (Socrates)

    Background

    For a long time Africa was the centre stage for communication activities. Hieroglyphics, clay tablets, paintings on cave walls and drum messages were a few methods known to, and used by, the African inhabitants to convey messages over great distances. Then came Gutenberg, the invention of the printing press and printing, and eventually the birth of e-books – the rise of the First World and the fall of the Third World?

    Libraries in Africa

    African culture was, and still is, communicated orally and a large number of Africans are still influenced by oral tradition. Africa also has little to no reading culture. It was even reported that African academics did not show much interest in material published in Africa, and in some instances did not even bother to visit the library. For example, Kenyan University Library reported that 50% of its academics never enter the library (Rosenberg, 1997).

    Most libraries in Africa were established as post World War 2 institutions. At the time of their establishment, university libraries in Africa were the bestequipped libraries on the African continent. The economic situation of libraries led to a considerable deterioration of services offered, and forced libraries to rely on donor funding from Book Aid International and the World Bank Book Project to build and sustain their individual library collections. It is still a concern that the collections of Africa's academic institutions did not really grow as they should have, owing to the small budgets that the libraries received from their parent institutions, ranging from 3 to 8% of the total university budgets (Alemna, 1994, 15–17). From 1995 onwards library growth showed a sharp decline or became nonexistent in a number of African countries. It became evident that library budgets were mainly spent on salaries and not on stock (Rosenberg, 1997).

    African libraries face a variety of other difficulties. For example, the University of Sierra Leone reported that its library's roof was leaking and that there were no electrical lights available for studying. Sierra Leone and University of Kenyatta reported that they managed to acquire generators to generate electricity to bind and to run the computers. Also in Sierra Leone, the library needs to close at 1700 hours daily, because of the political instability.

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