Virtual Reference Library

A Follow-up to My Posts on Digital Libraries

For those of you who have been following my blog posts about digital libraries, I came across this article today on THE Journal website. It discusses a virtual reference library that has been made available to all Texas students. To see the full article with comments, please go to All Texas Public Schools Get Virtual Reference Libraries, Historic Archives.

Texas Public Schools Get Virtual Reference Libraries, Historic Archives

• By David Nagel
• 05/13/14

Beginning in mid-June, more than 9,000 schools in Texas will have free access to a virtual reference library and other resources, including two historic primary source archives from Adam Matthew Digital and 16 collections from Gale.

According to information released by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, the resources will be free to schools through the 2014–2015 school year, after which access will require schools to pay at a rate of $0.22 per pupil, should the choose to continue their subscriptions. The deal was made possible through funding from the Texas state legislature, which allowed TSL to reinstate the statewide program.

The resources include Adam Matthew’s The American West and American Indian Histories and Cultures; and Gale’s Student Resources in Context, GreenR, Literature Resource Center, Health & Wellness Resource Center, Gale Virtual Reference Library, InfoTrac Newsstand, National Geographic Kids, ¡Informe!, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Kids InfoBits, Academic OneFile, Scribner Writers Series, Educator’s Reference Complete, Student Resource Center Junior, General OneFile and Twayne’s Authors Series.

Schools will be able to apply for free access beginning this month.

Additional details for Texas schools can be found on TSL’s site.

To see comments made on David’s article, please visit: All Texas Public Schools Get Virtual Reference Libraries, Historic Archives

Digital Library - Part Two

Digital Library Part Two - Guidelines to Consider

In researching existing literature for guidelines and suggestions on what is involved in planning for a digital library, there were a few resources that were particularly useful. There are many resources about what is involved in creating a digital library, from the Library of Congress’s Challenges to Building an Effective Digital Library to texts such as How to Build a Digital Library. Suiting my personal curiosities, I found the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2010) publication Planning Tool for Developing a Digital Library of Monitoring and Evaluation Resources to be particularly useful and it serves as a basis for much of what I have presented below.

The following are considerations to be made when planning a digital library. Even though this post provides a basic set of guidelines and information for establishing a digital library, the final details will depend upon the actual planning and development process for a given digital library and will be determined by its target audience and needs.

1. Who Are the Patrons?

It is of great importance at the onset of the project to define the digital library’s target users. Once these users and their communities are identified, it is then essential to establish their needs, abilities, and access related to the library.

2. Collaboration

For the library concept to develop and eventually succeed it is essential to identify stakeholders and collaborators who will be instrumental in establishing and maintaining the library and in developing and applying the criteria for content inclusion and to acquire the holdings.

3. Operating and Managing

Determine the organization structure, operation, and sustainability of the library.  

              

4. Digital Library Technologies

Identify and address issues related to the digital existence and operations of the library. This includes such considerations as hardware, software, meta-data structure, and converting non-digital media to digital media.

5. Accessibility and Usability

Identify and address issues related to the usability of the library including functionality issues, the user interface, the user experience, and policies that govern the use of a digital library.

6. The Content

Decide upon the content and the materials to be contained in the digital library.

7. Maintenance

Determine what is needed for the short-term and long-term upkeep of the digital library.

8. Legal Concerns

Define and address the legal implications of providing materials in the library including copyrights, intellectual property rights, and fair use of materials

9. Access and Security

Incorporates the issues to be addressed when determining who will access the library, how they will access it, and what security needs to be considered to safeguard the library and its patrons.

10. Support

 Support requirements and mechanisms for the digital library and its patrons.

                             

11. Professional Development and Training

Identify library staff and patron development and learning needs.

              

12. Communications / Media

Establish the means for internal and external communications such as announcements, notifications, contacts, discussions and feedback

                

13. Cost Implications

Identify the key factors affecting the cost of developing and maintaining a digital library.

14. Outreach

Create a social media plan, a marketing strategy and external partnerships.

Reflection Point – A library is not a luxury, but of the necessities of life. ~Henry Ward Beecher

A Digital Library - Part One

A Digital Library for Education – What and Why?

Given the increased acceptance of online education, having access to electronic versions of library materials and services facilitates the learning process and addresses the mobile needs of learners. A digital library provides a central access point for those resources that are similar to ones found in a traditional library such as books, papers, journals, magazines, audio sources, video productions, and web-based materials. With the variety and volume of content, the digital resources are often locally managed through a common interface such as a custom website, but are delivered from an assortment of cloud-based services. Because these are available through the Internet, the electronic resources are available through devices such as personal computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. 

Traditional Library

With this occurring within the realm of electronic networks, new approaches beyond the traditional library can be integrated into the fabric of the educational environment. Connections can be created between digital libraries, other digital repositories, and learning management systems. This online storehouse is capable of distributing educational information to a great number of primary, secondary and higher education students across geographic, economic, and cultural boundaries.

For the digital learner, social media can be tied in with the library to create an engaging and enriching social aspect. This and other educational technologies can be used to create sharing and collaborative efforts between students, which is one of the cornerstones of 21st Century Learning. It also enables the teacher to have multiple students make simultaneous use of a single resource such as a publication or video. 

e-Reader

On the logistical front, digital libraries can allow services to be made available to a greater number of individuals at a lower per patron cost than traditional libraries. The preservation and storage of existing and future acquisitions becomes more easily and readily possible. An electronic system also tackles issues concerning the collection and retrieval of the exponentially increasing global knowledge base. Digital libraries remove the concerns and expense of non-returned materials, damaged books, checking-out /checking-in, theft, and following up with patrons.

A Digital Library for Education, Part II will outline what is involved in creating a digital library. 

Reflection Point: The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man. ~T.S. Eliot