LibriVOLUME 49, NUMBER 4, DECEMBER 1999
Table of Contents
International Journal of Libraries and Information Services
Vol 49 (1999), No 4, pages 181-260
ISSN 0024-2667Digital Libraries: Assumptions and Concepts
DAVID BAWDEN AND IAN ROWLANDSAbstract. This paper clarifies some terms and concepts surrounding the idea of the 'digital library'. A set of twenty underlying assumptions, often expressed implicitly rather than explicitly in the literature, is outlined, and variant forms are compared. There follows an explication of a series of terms, essential to the understanding of the concept of the digital library and its components, which are often used nebulously or with different meanings. It is suggested that the lack of a common conceptual framework for the subject presents problems for the practitioner as well as the theorist.
Digital Libraries: A Conceptual Framework
IAN ROWLANDS AND DAVID BAWDENAbstract. This article presents an approach to a conceptual framework for understanding the concept of digital libraries. A typology of digital library research is described, based on Yates' model of information work, and comprising three interlinked domains: informational, technological and social. A conceptual framework for digital libraries, or complex libraries in Walt Crawford's (1999) terminology, is developed on this basis.
Actively Encouraging the Use of Electronic Resources at a UK Academic Library
CHRISTINE DUGDALEAbstract. Today's students require the skills necessary to access and retrieve information from the global electronic environment. They will need to exercise such skills throughout their lives - now and long after they have left their present centres of learning. Many students, however, are reluctant to learn such skills. They often feel that these skills are irrelevant to the specific demands of the modules or the subject knowledge set under current study. They may be particularly reluctant to attend any additional faculty-run courses on IT or bibliographical skills or any library-provided demonstrations or training sessions. These are often perceived to be unnecessary as well as irrelevant sessions. The Library Services at the University of the West of England, Bristol in the UK are investigating ways in which students might be encouraged to use electronic resources and to develop important lifelong learning skills through the ResIDe. (Research, Information, Delivery) Electronic Library. Working in close partnership with academics leading one module in the Bristol Business School, they are also trying to devise ways in which a joint academic/librarian team might, through ResIDe, encourage a more comprehensive and heuristic approach to accessing, retrieving and evaluating information. End-of-year results indicate that this approach has been successful.
Somali Refugees in London. Oral Culture in a Western Information Environment
ANTHONY OLDENAbstract. Political upheaval and civil war led to hundreds of thousands of Somalis fleeing their country in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some made their way to the United Kingdom. This paper gives an overview of the experiences of these people from an oral culture in a Western information environment. Twenty-five Somalis were interviewed in London. The rationale for their selection is discussed. The research found that Somalis communicate by telephone extensively. Adults who can receive it via satellite dish listen to the BBC Somali Service - broadcast to the Horn of Africa - in London. Young Somalis face problems due to their prior lack of schooling in the rural parts of Somalia and in the refugee camps, and because English is their third or fourth language. Word of mouth is the main way of finding out about study opportunities and jobs. Community associations help single parents with little English. Somali language publications are few. Use of the Internet is common among Somali professionals and university students. Research conducted over a number of years would be of value in assessing adaptation to a new information environment. Research on the information needs and interests of children born to Somali parents in the UK would also be of value.
Library Use Pattern of Malaysian Agricultural Scientists
SHAHEEN MAJID, TAMARA S. EISENSCHITZ, AND MUMTAZ ALI ANWARAbstract. The library is considered an integral component of any efficient research system. It plays a vital role in the improvement of scientific and technological research and the acceleration of the innovation process. An understanding of the information needs as well as the ways scientists use their libraries is crucial for efficiently meeting their information needs. This paper explores the methods used by Malaysian agricultural scientists to get information from their libraries, the factors influencing library visits and the occasions for extensive library use. It was found that most scientists visit libraries personally when they need to search the library OPAC, scan periodicals, or use other sources for identifying new information on their topics. However, they send junior scientists or paraprofessionals to get photocopies of articles, to check out books or to get information from sources already known to them. It was also found that scientists used their library extensively while preparing research proposals and writing reports.
Doctoral Research in Library and Information Science in India: Some Observations and Comments
M.P. SATIJAAbstract. This article gives a state-of-the-art overview of library and information science (LIS) education in India as a background to reviewing the doctoral research in the field. It traces the origin and growth of Ph.D. programmes in LIS in India and highlights the initiative and efforts of Dr S. R. Ranganathan (1892-1972). The article provides annual data on the quantitative output of LIS Ph.D. theses and ranks major Indian universities by their output. It includes lists of the major areas of research and identifies some arid areas. The author laments the irrelevance and lack of use of research results in library schools and libraries. He attributes this to a low quality of research work because of a mindless proliferation of programmes and a lack of co-operation and resources for research.
The Library of Congress Jefferson Building, a 19th-Century Neo-Baroque Monument
MATHILDE V. ROVELSTADAbstract. The Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress was designed as the national library of the United States; it is also now recognised as a national monument of art. The Baroque embellishments that prevail in the building's architectural composition characterise the Library's style as Neo-Baroque. This style continues a tradition that identifies a significant and vibrant epoch in the architectural history of Western European libraries under different circumstances and on a different continent.
While the Jefferson Building's Baroque architecture and décor proclaim its sponsors' national significance and prestige, the symbolism adds a message that is unique to America: the new Nation's vision of its democratic philosophy. The iconography illustrates the principles of the American Public Library Movement that link education to the progress of society. It reflects the 19th-century brand of American democracy by opening its national library as a institution of learning and advancement open to all its citizens.