In the very near future, students are likely to expect their universities to provide seamless access to e-books through online library catalogues and virtual learning environments. A paradigm change in terms of the format of books, and especially textbooks, which could have far-reaching impact, is on the horizon. Based on interviews with a number…

The list of barriers and enablers that influence the use of open educational resources (OER) is extensive. Factors and influences relating to reuse may have been noted within projects, operating within a short time span, or within specific conditions which limit generalizability. Evidence of reuse in practice has often emerged as isolated examples…

The silo is a well-worn metaphor in information systems used to illustrate separateness, isolation, and lack of connectivity. Through the many iterations of system development, libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs) have sought to avoid silos and find the sweet spot between interface design and metadata interoperability. This effort is being…

One activity-rich way to utilize collaborative learning, team-based learning (TBL), can present students and teachers with both opportunities and challenges. TBL requires students to prepare for each class, where they are then assessed for their "readiness" to apply the concepts learned during their pre-class preparation. This study addresses two…

Resource Description and Access (RDA) represents both a revised set of cataloging rules and a completely new framework in which to catalog. It aims for backward compatibility with AACR2 at the same time that it seeks to facilitate moving library data to the Semantic Web. Given these competing goals, it's not surprising that RDA's implementation…

The use of video lectures in distance learning involves the two major problems of searchability and active user participation. In this paper, we promote the implementation and usage of a collaborative educational video annotation functionality to overcome these two challenges. Different use cases and requirements, as well as details of the…

This article describes a recently introduced module at University College Dublin School of Information and Library Studies (SILS), entitled "Information Architecture: Designing the Web." The module provides students with a realistic experience of how information architects apply their skills to produce usable web sites, via a project to…

Integrating advanced imaging and processing capabilities in libraries, archives, and museums requires effective systems and information management to ensure that the large amounts of digital data about cultural artifacts can be readily acquired, stored, archived, accessed, processed, and linked to other data. The Library of Congress is developing…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show that knowledge of the Machine-Readable Cataloguing (MARC) format is useful in all aspects of librarianship, not just for cataloguing, and how MARC knowledge can address indexing limitations of the online catalogue. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs examples and scenarios to show the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the issues surrounding the cataloguing of maps in archives and libraries. An investigation into appropriate metadata formats, such as MARC21, EAD and Dublin Core with RDF, shows how particular map data can be stored. Mathematical map elements, specifically co-ordinates, are…

Mobile assisted language learning (MALL) and open access repositories for language learning resources are both topics that have attracted the interest of researchers and practitioners in technology enhanced learning (TeL). Yet, there is limited experimental evidence about possible factors that can influence and potentially enhance reuse of MALL…

This article proposes a metadata dictionary (MDD) be used as a tool for metadata management. The MDD is a repository of critical data necessary for managing metadata to create "shareable" digital collections. An operational definition of metadata management is provided. The authors explore activities involved in metadata management in…

In the wake of the September 2001 attacks, the U.S. government founded the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with responsibility to develop a National Infrastructure Protection Plan for securing critical infrastructures and key resources. DHS established interdisciplinary networks of academic expertise administered through Centers of…

When staff at the Wisconsin State Law Library began compiling a wish list for a new website, the topic of a new domain name came up almost immediately. Their old website was located at http://wsll.state.wi.us. Spelling that relatively complex domain over the phone day after day provided the impetus to explore other options. Whatever domain name…

It has become widely recognised across the academic and research libraries sector that special collections and archives play a key role in differentiating each institution from its peers. In recognition of this, Research Libraries UK (RLUK) established the workstrand "Unique and Distinctive Collections" (UDC) in support of its strategic…