Showing papers in "Computers in libraries in 2014"

Patron-Driven Acquisitions (PDA) of E-books: New Life for the Library Catalog?

Abstract: This paper highlights an overview of the conceptual approach to e-resource discoverability in academic libraries with a focus on research on the assessment of library catalog performance in the Patron-Driven Acquisitions (PDA) model for e-book collection development. Although the published literature stresses the key role of the library catalog in the PDA model for e-book acquisitions, the findings in this paper show that, until now, there has been a lack of research on users’ e-resources searching behavior and PDA. As a conclusion, the authors think that in such a large universe of digital information on the Web, a new branded local catalog could be the way to visualize a more “tangible” experience between users and e-book collections

Ongoing Challenges in Digitization

Abstract: PRESERVATION. I n the course of my career, I have been for­ tunate to be involved in a variety of digi­ tization projects. During my tenure at the Vanderbilt University’s libraries, I led the digi­ tization of its Television News Archive collec­ tion of 50,000 hours of video and participated in many other projects involving digital audio (such as the Global Music Archive, archival documents for the Ecclesiastical and Secular Sources for Slave Societies, as well as many photographic collections). In my travels, I’ve had opportunities to observe and learn about the digitization operations in many national li­ braries and other cultural institutions around the world. My interest in digitization is carried out in my personal life as well, through the scanning of thousands of photographs taken by family members through the years and manag­ ing an even larger number accumulated since the advent of digital photography. It has been interesting to see the tools and technologies evolve through the decades. The costs of storage and equipment have dropped dramatically, and there are more applications and platforms for managing digitized collec­ tions, ranging from those available as open source to more expensive high-end products. The quantities of digital content are explod­ ing, which presents many challenges for stor­ age, management, access, and preservation. Through the digital projects carried out in li­ braries, the body of interesting and important content available to scholars and the general public has seen dramatic expansion.