Ithaka S+R's Research Support Services program's most recent project, "Supporting Big Data Research," focused specifically on the rapidly emerging use of big data in research across disciplines and fields. As part of this study, they partnered with librarians from more than 20 colleges and universities, who then conducted over 200…

As a concept, the next-generation catalog (NGC) is not new to librarians, who have been wishing for better OPAC interfaces for their integrated library systems (ILSs). The NGC has been the focus of discussion for more than 5 years now, from the 2006 report of the implementation of Endeca at North Carolina State University, to Marshall Breeding's…

Academic library home pages are not only access points to the resources and services of a library, they are virtual representations of the library itself. The content placed on the page, where it is placed, and the amount of space allotted are all choices that send a message about the character of the library, the resources a user should start…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to examine the various features and components of web-based online public access catalogues (OPACs) of IIT libraries in India with the help of a specially designed evaluation checklist. Design/methodology/approach: The various features of the web-based OPACs in six IIT libraries (IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT…

Libraries today face an increasing challenge: to provide relevant information to diverse populations with differing needs while competing with Web search engines like Google. In 2009, a large group of libraries, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, joined with Innovative Interfaces as development partners to design a new type of…

This article presents a case study in user-centered design that explores the needs and preferences of undergraduate users. An analysis of LibQual+ and other user surveys, interviews with public service staff, and a formal American with Disabilities Act accessibility review served as the basis for planning a redesign of the Brown University…

The Informedia Project at Carnegie Mellon University has created a multi-terabyte digital video library consisting of thousands of hours of video, segmented into over 50,000 stories, or documents. Since Informedia's inception in 1994, numerous interfaces have been developed and tested for accessing this library, including work on multimedia…

Reports findings from an exploratory study investigating working notes created during encoding and external storage (EES) processes by human search intermediaries (librarians at the University of North Texas) using a Boolean information retrieval (IR) system. Implications for the design of IR interfaces and further research is discussed.…

Discusses client-server architecture in dumb terminals, personal computers, local area networks, and graphical user interfaces. Focuses on functions offered by client personal computers: individualized environments; flexibility in running operating systems; advanced operating system features; multiuser environments; and centralized data…

The rapid adoption of information technology and ubiquitous networking has transformed the research and education landscape. Central to this transformation are scientific and engineering digital data collections. The life cycle management challenges associated with these intellectual assets are substantial. This is a report of a two-day workshop…