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Purpose - This study proposes a mobile learning model that employs digital libraries to support investigative learning activities. A student-centered mobile learning activity with self-guided exploration for physical ecology observation has been conducted to demonstrate the benefits of using digital libraries to support investigation-based ecology learning activities. Design/methodology/approach - An investigation-based mobile learning model is proposed and an experiment is designed to show the effectiveness of the learning model, in which the students are asked to answer a series of questions by observing the real-world learning objects and searching for supplemental materials from a digital library. Findings - The instructional experiment conducted in an elementary school with 64 sixth grade students shows that the innovative approach is able to improve the learning achievement, learning effectiveness, as well as the learning attitudes of the students. Practical implications - The findings of this paper imply that the use of the investigative learning model will significantly promote the utilization rate of digital libraries. Originality/value - An investigative model for using digital libraries to support mobile learning is proposed in this paper. It provides good guidance to teachers for designing learning activities with digital libraries, and a good way for students to learn, utilizing the materials in digital libraries. [Abstract from ESC ProQuest Research Library database] Link: http://search.proquest.com.library.esc.edu/pqrl/docview/888251730/288B8D1870394980PQ/1?accountid=8067 Ju-Ling, S., Hwang, G., Yu-Chung, C., & Chien-Wen, C. (2011). An investigation-based learning model for using digital libraries to support mobile learning activities. The Electronic Library, 29(4), 488-505. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02640471111156759

Marcum (1997) uses a quote from Jarislav Pelikan to establish the need for archival commitment to preserve information (knowledge) in establishments such as libraries, museums, archives (federal, state and local municipalities) and the like as illustrating "embalming of the dead". To this end, a task force was formed by combining the Commission on Preservation and Access and the Research Libraries Group formed a Task Force on the Archiving of Digital Information. This task force identified a short list of five challenges associated with the preservation of digital artifacts. Specifically, organizational in nature: − "The first line of defense against loss of valuable digital information rests with the creators, providers, and owners of digital information. − Long-term preservation of digital information on a scale adequate for the demands of future research and scholarship will require a deep infrastructure capable of supporting a distributed system of digital archives. − A sufficient number of trusted organizations must exist that are capable of storing, migrating, and providing access to digital collections. − A process of certification for digital archives is needed to create an overall climate of trust about the prospects of preserving digital information. − Certified digital archives must have the right and duty to exercise an aggressive rescue function as a fail-safe mechanism for preserving valuable digital information that is in jeopardy of destruction, neglect, or abandonment by its current custodian" (pp. 358-359). The task force also established a list of greatest organizational challenges opposing support for the preservation of digital information. This list includes the following items: − "Legal bases for deposit and rescue. In individual countries and internationally, legislation and agreements are needed to encourage legal deposit of electronic resources with archival repositories, to enable rescue of abandoned resource

The preservation of cultural memory falls upon custodians of cultural memory. "Separating usage [allowing users to utilize exact replicas] from the original, digital technology affords multiple, simultaneous uses from a single original in ways that are simply not possible for materials stored in any other form" (p. 2). Although digital technologies afford advantages in the digital preservation of information, using digital technologies for preservation of original works poses ethical and moral concerns not previously encountered. Again, the continual evolution of technological devices and software severely challenges archival efforts. "…technological obsolescence represents a far greater threat to information in digital form than the inherent physical fragility of many digital media" (p. 5). "Jeff Rothenberg, for example, has recently suggested that there may be sufficient demand for entrepreneurs to create and archive emulators of software and operating systems that would allow the contents of digital information to be carried forward and used in its original format" (p. 6). Perhaps the greatest challenges facing digital archiving are "costs and the technical, legal and organizational complexities of moving digital information forward into the future raise our greatest fear about the life of information in the digital future: namely, that owners or custodians who can no longer bear the expense and difficulty will deliberately or inadvertently, through a simple failure to act, destroy the objects without regard for future use" (p. 7). To this end, the "Commission on Preservation and Access and the Research Libraries Group (RLG) have joined together in charging the Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information to take this first essential step toward a national system of digital preservation. They have asked the Task Force to "consult broadly among librarians, archivists, curators, technologists, relevant government and private sector or

Great article from Gale: ARL is Association of Research Libraries. In December 2009 the Libraries Copyright Task Force (LCTF) of Colorado State University Libraries (CSUL) presented its findings to the CSUL interim dean and assistant deans. As part of its charge the LCTF was asked to "identify ... current practice in responding to questions and issues regarding copyright in the Libraries" as well as "determine what the Libraries purview is in regard to copyright vs. other units in the University community ... and any external role [the] Libraries can/should play". The LCTF was also asked, as its charge, to "define content for a Libraries web site and possibly produce the content" (Negrucci, et al., 2009, [pp. 1-5]). This task force was the most recent of three internal committees that had examined copyright issues germane to the library and university community over the course of the past five years, as the transition from print to digital materials, the expansion of document delivery services, and the increase of local digitization initiatives prompted CSUL staff to address intellectual property issues with ever-increasing scrutiny.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to evaluate open source software (OSS) for digital libraries and collection management and to propose different utilization scenarios based on the characteristics of the tools. Design/methodology/approach - The tools are assessed on the basis of their technical features and options, the type of the content they manage, the support for common library operations such as cataloging and circulation, the searching support and the interoperability options. Then they are evaluated by users and finally a number of usage scenarios are analyzed based on the results of the evaluation. Findings - The basic findings of the study is that open source digital library and collection management tools offer advanced operations and support various metadata and interoperability protocols with easy and user-friendly interfaces. Most of the tools are extensively used under various settings and establishments already. Language support for the interfaces should be extended with more languages and some tools with limited operations should be improved to be of practical use. Practical implications - The findings of the paper could be used support the selection of specific open source tools for various types of establishments. Originality/value - The study reviews the characteristics of a few OSS for digital libraries and collection management and reveals their specific strengths and weaknesses. It also presents a number of realistic scenarios and proposes the usage of specific tools based on time, technology and staff constraints

From Gale: Russell is not alone in opposing the use of an ECL system. David Hansen, a clinical assistant professor and faculty research librarian at University of North Carolina School of Law, also served as the University of California-Berkeley School of Law's Digital Library Fellow for the Digital Library Copyright Project. His research has focused on how libraries and related information intermediaries can overcome copyright and other legal obstacles to provide better access to their collections online. He has written about copyright exceptions for libraries and archives under Section 108 of the Copyright Act, orphan works, mass digitization, copyright protection of metadata, and issues related to expanding copyright protection of traditional knowledge. Hansen is one of the facilitators for a project to create the Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use of Collections Containing Orphan Works for Libraries, Archives, and Other Memory Institutions, which was released in December 2014.

This paper provides an overview of some of the major copyright issues for libraries in a digital environment. It explores how statutory and case law determine the path libraries must take to accomplish their mission. Copyright law is complex and ambiguous. It poses many challenges for librarians, but it is crucial that librarians have a basic understanding of the various provisions of the law in order to make informed decisions. However, the law is only one part of the equation. The interpretation of the law by the courts must also be constantly evaluated for potential impact to libraries.

The article looks at the role of teachers in developing digital citizenship in youth. In particular a five-factor Digital Citizenship Scale called S.A.F.E. is examined that supports digital citizenship education for youth. Findings include the need to consider a multidimensiona​​l approach to digital citizenship education that goes beyond learning how to use tools.

This paper provides an overview of some of the major copyright issues for libraries in a digital environment. It explores how statutory and case law determine the path libraries must take to accomplish their mission. Copyright law is complex and ambiguous. It poses many challenges for librarians, but it is crucial that librarians have a basic understanding of the various provisions of the law in order to make informed decisions. However, the law is only one part of the equation. The interpretation of the law by the courts must also be constantly evaluated for potential impact to libraries.

This paper provides a brief overview of the current state of copyright law in the United States, focusing on the negative impacts of these policies on libraries and patrons. The article discusses four challenges current copyright law presents to libraries and the public in general, highlighting three concrete ways intellectual property law interferes with digital library services and systems. Finally, the author suggests that a greater emphasis on copyright literacy and a commitment among the library community to advocate for fairer policies is vital to correcting the imbalance between the interests of the public and those of copyright holders

Academic libraries are creating copyright positions to respond to the evolving and litigious copyright environment associated with digital content and services. This paper reports on a study of advertisement trends for copyright positions available in academic libraries. A content analysis of job advertisement data was carried out on data generated from JobLIST , an electronic listserv of the American Library Association (ALA) where library positions from the United States and Canada are posted. Job data were generated by searching the JobLIST database using the following search terms: copyright , intellectual property , scholarly communication , repository , electronic resources , licensing , and digital.

The article discusses survey results regarding the involvement that libraries have with digital technologies. Topics discussed in the article include the way in which libraries use mobile technologies to expand their reach to additional clients, mobile services that librarians would like to be able to offer to their clients, such as electronic resources, and difficulties that libraries face in offering digital technology services to their clients. [Abstract from ESC Academic Search Complete database]

This is right up my alley as a librarian. This article was delivered at a library conference concerning ethics in digital libraries. The article attempts to answer questions relevant to this module such as: How can a democratic right of access to knowledge be guaranteed? How is the integrity and sustainability of these collections economically, technically and culturally guaranteed? SOme of the answers include: How to recognize and articulate ethical conflicts in the information field. To activate their sense of responsibility with regard to the consequences of individual and collective interactions in the information field.

From Gale database. Perhaps fittingly, when Google decided in the early 2000s to digitize the world's books, it began by partnering with large libraries to copy portions of their collections, including many that are now out of print. Those libraries generally held no copyright interest in the books they provided to Google, but rather held unique, expansive physical collections of books that made them a good fit for Google's project. Partnering with libraries (rather than, for instance, buying up books from bookstores) was clever on Google's part: It put Google in league with academic and research institutions, who are more often on the fair use side of the copyright infringement equation.

Document i​ncludes a list of surveys for assessing the digital literacy skills of adults.

The article identifies common archival issues (i.e., listing and cataloging) associated with archiving digitally created information, due to rapidly changing technologies used to create digital information. This makes it challenging to appropriately list and catalog the moral impacts created by the rapidly emerging technologies. The article (n.d.) states, "ever morphing nature of information technology is changing our ability to even fully understand moral values as they change. Lorenzo Magnani claims that acquiring knowledge of how that change confounds our ability to reason morally '…has become a duty in our technological world'" (section 1.1). The article alerts to impending moral and ethical dilemmas created by smart phone apps that will be soon be capable of streaming biometric data (e.g., vital signs, physical activity logs, caloric intake, etc.) and linking it with GPS tracking to identify geo-locators tied to fluctuations in biometric data via phone applications. The advantage of such technology can lead to promotion of more healthy lifestyles. However, streaming such sensitive biometric information (data) leads to privacy and ethical concerns that are not easily resolved. Other moral, ethical and privacy issues are created surreptitiously when browsing websites on the Internet. "Browser software records all manner of data about our visits to various websites which can, for example, make webpages load faster next time you visit them. Even the websites themselves use various means to record information when your computer has accessed them and they may leave bits of information on your computer which the site can use the next time you visit. Some websites are able to detect which other sites you have visited or which pages on the website you spend the most time on. If someone were following you around a library noting down this kind of information you might find it uncomfortable or hostile, but online this kind of behavior takes place behin

This article looks at the youngest users of technological media and the division between "digital natives and digital immigrants." Digital natives have a lower risk perception of friending and contacting people online. Education is suggested to understand the gravity of carrying out inappropriate online behaviors.

This article looks at how parental guidance can reinforce digital etiquette and safety for children and teens with regard to technology use. The results supported that teens developed better digital citizenship with the direction of parents in higher economics circumstances.

Basics of Open access in Academic libraries. "A commitment to scholarly work carries with it a responsibility to circulate that work as widely as possible: this is the access principle. In the digital age, that responsibility includes exploring new publishing technologies and economic models to improve access to scholarly work. Wide circulation adds value to published work; it is a significant aspect of its claim to be knowledge. The right to know and the right to be known are inextricably mixed. Open Access can benefit both" (Willinsky, 2010). Increasingly, this capacity to close the gap between developed and less developed countries through access to information becomes more important for educational, cultural, and scientific development.

This article was taken from the Academic Search Premier database accessible in the SUNY Empire library. "The article focuses on a study related to roles and ethics of digital technologies in the healthcare industry." Some of the issues discussed in the article include the use of smartphones, sensors and monitors for medical documentation and in measurement of one's health. Other pertinent issues include keeping the privacy of patient records in the digital age.