Group items tagged

eIFL.net is a not for profit organisation that supports and advocates for the wide availability of electronic resources by library users in transitional and developing countries. Its core activities are negotiating affordable subscriptions on a multi-country consortial basis, supporting national library consortia and maintaining a global knowledge sharing and capacity building network in related areas, such as open access publishing, intellectual property rights, open s

INASP's work focuses on communication, knowledge and networks, with particular emphasis on the needs of developing and emerging countries. We respond to their national priorities for: * access to national and international scholarly information and knowledge * capacities to use, create, manage and communicate scholarly information and knowledge via appropriate ICTs * national, regional and international co-operation, networking and knowledge exchange We also advise and advocate for improved policy and practice in achieving sustainable and equitable development through effective communication, knowledge and networks.

Available to students in residential and online studies, the Learning Resource Center (LRC) focuses on developing an extensive, integrated online collection of Evidence-Based resources. Accessed via this Web site the LRC's online full text collections include over 2400 journals, over 550 reference and textbooks, and point of care products. The LRC is also an active participant in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

The article is interesting, but I truly question the claim that Amazon will sell $1 Billion dollars worth of Kindle hardware and software by 2010. What is relevant to our study is the reader comments. It's not a scientific random sample, but they are easily accessible opinions of the Kindle.

print on demand Espresso machine

This is an interesting twist on providing access to books: allowing patrons to print their own copy. This article describes a machine that prints and binds books on demand, allowing students and professors to make their own textbooks or study materials for far less than traditional textbooks. Texts must with within copyright regulations and must be in pdf format. While not technically a print-to-digital issue, the texts must be digitized before printing.

"The World Collections Programme (WCP) aims to establish two-way partnerships with institutions in Asia and Africa, and increase their access to the UK collections and expertise."

"Open Journal Systems (OJS) is a journal management and publishing system that has been developed by the Public Knowledge Project through its federally funded efforts to expand and improve access to research." From the Home>Software and Services page.

"Libraries have warned that the rise of digital publishing may make it harder or even impossible to access items in their collections in the future."

Standards for stats evaluating eresource usage. "The use of online information resources is growing rapidly. It is widely agreed by producers and purchasers of information that the use of these resources should be measured in a more consistent way. Librarians want to understand better how the information they buy from a variety of sources is being used; publishers want to know how the information products they disseminate are being accessed. An essential requirement to meet these objectives is an agreed international set of standards and protocols governing the recording and exchange of online usage data. The COUNTER Codes of Practice provide these standards and protocols and are published in full on this website."

Key idea: "The historical narratives that future historians write may not actually look much different from those that are crafted today, but the methodologies they use may need to change radically. If we have, for example, a complete record of everything

This is a great article that looks at the preservation of the cultural and historical record from a historian's perspective. He tackles such questions as how do we establish trust in intangible "documents?" How do we preserve the historical record in such a way that future people can access the materials?

"The digitization of millions of books under programs such as Google Book Search and Microsoft Live Search Books is dramatically expanding our ability to search and find information. The aim of these large-scale projects-to make content accessible-is interwoven with the question of how one keeps that content, whether digital or print, fit for use over time. This report by Oya Y. Rieger examines large-scale digital initiatives (LSDIs) to identify issues that will influence the availability and usability, over time, of the digital books these projects create. Ms. Rieger is interim assistant university librarian for digital library and information technologies at the Cornell University Library." The paper describes four large-scale projects-Google Book Search, Microsoft Live Search Books, Open Content Alliance, and the Million Book Project-and their digitization strategies. It then discusses a range of issues affecting the stewardship of the digital collections they create: selection, quality in content creation, technical infrastructure, and organizational infrastructure. The paper also attempts to foresee the likely impacts of large-scale digitization on book collections.

bob stein

This is not a scholarly article, it is one person trying to relay his thoughts and predictions about the future of publishing. He welcomes comments, and there are several. He discusses a little bit the history of the print to digital transition, like the added interaction between books and authors via author webpages, or a scholars ability to easily access source materials if they are linked to the original article. This may be useful as a historical guide to discuss where book publishing started and how the publishing model is changing.

"Established in 1997, the California Digital Library has a wholly digital charter and two complementary but distinct roles. As an arm of systemwide library planning, CDL supports the University of California libraries in their mission of providing access to the world's knowledge for the UC campuses and the communities they serve. In so doing, it directly supports UC's mission of teaching, research, and public service. The CDL also maintains its own distinctive programs emphasizing the development and management of digital collections, innovation in scholarly publishing, and the long-term preservation of digital information."

his research will evaluate the potential of a new generation of electronic document readers that present information across multiple displays - a design that anticipates the future availability of fast, bi-stable, display technology. Despite the fact that e-book readers have been available to the general public for several years, paper remains far more popular as a medium for reading and annotating documents. Although electronic devices for reading can provide unique affordances such as a large storage capacity, keyword search, indexing, and some interactivity, they remain unpopular probably because they fail to offer several core affordances of paper such as efficient page-to-page navigation, quick access to multiple documents, and efficient handling of annotations. Starting from an existing proof of concept, this project will design a fully functional prototype that addresses a large spectrum of reading activities that include: reading a book or magazine, lateral reading, and active reading. A set of deployable prototypes will be used to evaluate the potential of the design through a series of longitudinal studies. In producing prototypes of a next generation electronic document reader, this project will systematically study the design parameters that might enhance the reading experience on such devices in a wide variety of scenarios encompassing a diversity of reading activities. It is possible that digital displays will become the predominant technology for consuming text information. However, digital reading devices will be used only if they combine physical design, software infrastructure, and interface features that support a wide variety of reading patterns. Increasing amounts of reading material (both classic and modern) are available through digital distribution. By making it convenient and enjoyable to access this wealth of digital content, this project will spur new interest in reading both for work and pleasure.

A study to design and evaluate e-book readers. May not be relevant to our study.

Link to PLANETS "Report of Usage models for Libraries, Archives, and Data Centres." This report is a .pdf document that discusses the results of a study or user requirements for digital documents. The study discusses the following topics as they relate to digital documents: access, trustworthiness, retrieval, and flexibility.

"What about the books, you say? In addition to an array of flat screens, Fresno State librarian Peter McDonald said the library includes the largest single floor public-access compact shelving unit in the world (according to Space Saver), capable of holding over 1.3 million volumes on one floor. The library currently has about 915,000 there, so there's room to grow. Periodicals are housed on the library's second floor."

CIBER projects Live projects Digital Lives for the Arts & Humanities Research Council (September 2007 to April 2009). Evaluating the Usage and Impact of E-Journals in the UK for the Research Information Network (January to November 2008). UK National E-Books Observatory for JISC Collections (January 2008 to April 2009). Recently completed projects MaxData for the US Institute of Museum & Library Studies. Completed December 2007. SuperBook for a consortium of publishers. Completed December 2007. The Impact of Open Access Journal Publishing II for Oxford University Press. Completed November 2007. The Researcher of the Future for the British Library and JISC. Completed November 2007.

Evaluating e-books nationwide - JISC national e-books observatory project In this ground-breaking project over 120 UK universities will receive two years free access to reading materials in e-book form to support students studying in Business and Management, Medicine, Media Studies and Engineering. Titles will be licensed from a variety of publishers / aggregator in order to create mulit-publisher subject collections that are based on demand. During September to December 2007 these titles will be embedded in host institutions and their existence promoted. Then for a period of 12 months from January 2008 the use and impact of these titles in universities will be monitored by CIBER UCL employing deep log analysis (DLA) and follow-up qualitative work will be undertaken by University of Wales (Aberystwyth). Altogether it is expected that the National E-books Observatory will monitor and evaluate the behaviour of tens of thousands of UK students and faculty.

"When CSUMB was founded in 1994, the initial intent articulated by then-CSU Chancellor Barry Munitz was to create a virtual library, full of electronic content, that students could access from anywhere. While that 1994 view of information delivery assumed that traditional information resources would disappear or significantly diminish, print publications and other physical media such as DVDs have, in fact, increased annually over the past decade. Thus, ten years later, the CSUMB Library effectively delivers both electronic information and a significant component of traditional print and multimedia from inadequate space in half of a small former military building located off the main campus quad."

Prognostications on the future of publishing: "There is no doubt that the industry is in a period of significant transition. What can we expect 10 to 15 years from now? Someday, all data and applications will be "in the cloud"-that is, existing independently from, but accessible by, digital devices. All the devices most used every day will then need almost no memory. When we say "screens" in that context, it will mean the same thing as saying "devices" or "computers." The screens of the future will all connect to all the information and all the computing power all the time."