Digital Libraries E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 531

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

The very recent emergence of the 'information society' has created new situations that political and economic disciplines have never previously considered. There is a new complexity and many open questions for both individuals and societal macro-structures, which have to maintain, despite this revolution, a satisfactory level of activity and at the same time have to build a new state of stability. With regard to problems identified by many researchers relating to the storage and processing of (semi-)structured digital data, accessibility and sharing, intellectual property, digital documents, information retrieval, information literacy, relevance of information, information profiles of users, etc., the policies envisaged by some for the 'information society' may cause concern and embarrassment from a scientific point of view. This book gathers together 13 contributions from leading information science researchers and presents some of the scientific challenges for these areas, which are also the greatest challenges facing us in the current digital age.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1. The Growth of the Role of Librarians and Information Officers in Digital Libraries

1.1. Changes in the world of documentation

1.2. Transformations in the economic situation of libraries

1.3. Changing a paradigm: changing the object “information”

1.4. Changing a paradigm: information in a network of documentation

1.5. A new way of organizing libraries: the impact of the digital revolution

1.6. New trends

1.7. The digital library

1.8. Introducing different layers to the core sector of the profession

1.9. Broadening skills and responsibilities for all of the library’s staff.

Chapter 2. The Tao of the Digital Library: A Library Without a Librarian?

2.1. The technological supremacy of the concept of the “digital library”

2.2. TSI’s influence on the market

2.3. The virtualization of a document’s function

2.4. Development and changes to job profiles in the CNRS directory 1982–2002

2.5. Supporting professions – the INIST approach

2.6. A new job profile is emerging – the e-serials librarian

2.7. Developments in training requirements – the UKSG workshops 1990–2004

2.8. “He who takes the longest strides…”

2.9. Bibliography

Chapter 3. The Reader Faced with a Digital Library: the Experience of the Pasteur Institute

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Which services should be aimed at what kind of audience?

3.3. How are services used?

3.4. Current problems

Chapter 4. University Students’ Information Strategies: From Institutional Expectations to Real Uses

4.1. Introduction

4.2. Methodological issues

4.3. Relating use and environment

4.4. Resource legitimacy

4.5. The evolution of the figure of the “third party”.

4.6. Conclusion

4.7. Bibliography

Chapter 5. The Digital Spirit: Digital Libraries and Democracy

5.1. Books and libraries function as an objective spirit

5.2. The symbolic value of books stored within a library

5.3. How can the project of a digital library be realized?

5.4. Digital libraries are actually very rare!

5.5. Technical supports and new ways of reading

5.6. Two different types of logic within reading processes

5.7. The sociological significance of different reading processes

5.8. Does the “library of democracy” exist?

5.9. Access and usage

5.10. Tocqueville – a sociological model of democracy

5.11. The library’s devices and the disposition of the public

5.12. Libraries are facing a cultural crisis

5.13. Conclusion

5.14. Bibliography

Chapter 6. Accessing Library Catalogs in the Age of Digital Libraries and Search Engines: Gaps, Disruptions and Transformation?

6.1. Prehistory

6.2. The age of OPAC

6.3. The secret order

6.4. Conclusion

6.5. Bibliography

Chapter 7. Stakes and Prospects of Heuristic Visualization for OPAC Use

7.1. Complexity of information systems

7.2. Sense and visualization

7.3. Visualization and the trail of knowledge

7.4. Interface, intermediaries and amplification of coherence

7.5. Usage and perspectives

7.6. Bibliography

Chapter 8. 3D Interaction for Digital Libraries

8.1. Introduction

8.2. The page as a surface

8.3. The book and reading interfaces

8.4. Research collections and research interfaces

8.5. Conclusion

8.6. Bibliography

Chapter 9. Using Facets to Classify and Access Digital Resources: Proposal and Example

Michèle HUDON

9.1. Introduction

9.2. Examining existing classification structures

9.3. A faceted structure to organize and access resources in a virtual library in education

9.4. General conclusion

9.5. Bibliography

Chapter 10. Digital Libraries: the Publication of Legal Documents Online within the Info-mediation Service

10.1. Availability, instantaneity and simplicity of information: the minimum requirements for legal publications on the Internet

10.2. The relevance of information: from the documentalist’s know-how to the documentalist/info-mediator

10.3. The sharing of judicial information: when the judicial publisher becomes the computer technician

10.4. Conclusion

10.5. Bibliography

Chapter 11. What Scholarly and Pedagogic Material is Available Online for the Virtual User Within French Universities?

11.1. The availability of scholarly and pedagogic material online within French universities: an assessment

11.2. Published digital resources and distance teaching devices: an even weaker synergy

11.3. The evolution of activities for libraries: future priorities?

11.4. Bibliography

Chapter 12. The Revel@Nice Project: the Creation and Prospects of a Pioneering Site of Online Periodicals and Journals

12.1. The project

12.2. Creation

12.3. Sustainability and longevity

12.4. Post-scriptum: today

Chapter 13. Evaluating the Use and Users of Digital Journal Libraries

13.1. Introduction

13.2. Digital libraries evaluated

13.3. Use of digital journals

13.4. Site penetration and “bouncing”

13.5. Reflections on what constitutes a digital library “user”

13.6. Reflecting on the meaning of “use”

13.7. Widespread popular interest in digital journals

13.8. Search approaches

13.9. User diversity

13.10. Conclusions

13.11. Bibliography

Chapter 14. Digital Collections in Libraries: Development and Continuity

14.1. Introduction

14.2. Adaptations and alterations in the document chain.

14.3. Searching and catalogs …

14.4. … searching and mega-catalogs

14.5. Organization of collections

14.6. Physical processing, accessibility and placement online

14.7. Preservation …

14.8. … and dissemination

14.9. Conclusion

14.10. Bibliography

Chapter 15. Ergonomic Standards and the Uses of Digital Libraries

15.1. Introduction

15.2. The evolution of ergonomic standards for user interfaces.

15.3. Study of the uses of digital libraries.

15.4. Conclusion

15.5. Bibliography

Chapter 16. A Document Information System Within the University: From the Project’s Conception to its Installation

16.1. Where do the university and its document information system originate from? Conditions for use of such a system

16.2. The implementation of the document information system

16.3. From the idea to reality: the spread of the document management system and the documentation portal

16.4. The evolution and spread of the document information system

16.5. Uses and feedback

16.6. Prospects and development

Chapter 17. Do Libraries Have a Future in Academia?

17.1. The control of knowledge

17.2. The changing use of journals

17.3. Will the serials librarian survive?

17.4. Towards a more efficient system

17.5. The challenge ahead

17.6. The versioning problem

17.7. Developing countries

17.8. Open computation

17.9. Conclusion

17.10. Bibliography

List of Authors

Index

Part of this book adapted from “Les bibliothèques numériques” and “Usages et pratiques dans les bibliothèques numériques” published in France in 2005 and 2007 by Hermes Science/Lavoisier First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2008 by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

ISTE Ltd 6 Fitzroy Square London W1T 5DX UK

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030 USA

www.iste.co.uk

www.wiley.com

© ISTE Ltd, 2008 © LAVOISIER, 2005, 2007

The rights of Fabrice Papy to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Digital libraries / edited by Fabrice Papy.

  p. cm.

"Part of this book adapted from Les bibliotheques numeriques and Usages et pratiques dans les bibliotheques numeriques published in France in 2005 and 2007 by Hermes Science/Lavoisier."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-84821-042-4

1. Digital libraries. I. Papy, Fabrice. II. Bibliotheques numeriques. III. Usages et pratiques dans les bibliotheques numeriques.

ZA4080.D53 2008

025.00285--dc22

2008004044

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA CIP record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN: 978-1-84821-042-4

Preface

Are virtual or digital libraries a step forward in the evolution of those “warehouses of books” which, due to their existence, mission and organization, go hand in hand with the creation and progress of knowledge?

Has the tidal wave of IT only a minor, or in other words technical, impact on the complex structure of a library or does it redefine the libraries’ role and mission?

Does the improved access to information based on the Internet and search engines that may be associated with a phenomenon known as “googlemania” overthrow the intellectual and social institution of the ancient world of libraries?

Are digital libraries not the next step towards the future of the information society that moves away from traditional material and looks for new means of storing, preserving, organizing, restoring and, last but not least, visualizing examples of its very own development?

This preface could, without any doubt, fill several pages with simple questions or even sensitive issues on digital libraries. The questions above should therefore only give an insight into the problematic of the impact digital technologies have on the institutions that preserve and organize knowledge.

It is rather difficult to ignore the digital revolution as it is based on the Internet, a very powerful player also widely known as the World Wide Web.

Supporters of the Internet see it as a source for the production and distribution of information as well as a never-ending matrix which offers solutions when improving search techniques and the organization and structuring of data.

However, the network of a digital library based on the democratization of access to electronic resources has rapidly led to changes in people’s attitude towards it. Doubts about the validity of information have been expressed. Librarians therefore need to develop the skill to retrieve valid data. According to Christian Jacob, the search for digital data delivers a number of works which are interlinked. Their complex connection is based on logical presupposition, genealogy, complementarities and mutual explanations1.

As opposed to the Internet, a library is not only a collection of books which are subject to change, but it has several different missions. One of them is the conservation of books, i.e. archiving. Libraries also represent a privileged environment for intellectual work and research. Users increase their knowledge and adapt their way of thinking to different concepts, as they first need to familiarize themselves with the way the library functions, i.e. its organization as well as the rules and conditions for the use of the library.

This book on digital libraries focuses on new challenges effecting digitized university libraries, public documentation services and privileged partners in teaching and research at French universities.

In the following chapters librarians, information officers, editors and researchers will help the reader to gain an insight into the human, social, organizational, intellectual, political, scientific and technical dimensions of digital libraries.

Fabrice PAPY, Associate Professor, University of Paris 8, Gil-François EUVRARD, Head Archivist, University of Paris 8.

_______________

1 C. Jacob, Rassembler la mémoire. Réflexions sur l’histoire des bibliothèques, Diogène, no. 196, PUF, October–December, p. 56, 2001.

Chapter 11

The Growth of the Role of Librarians and Information Officers in Digital Libraries

1.1. Changes in the world of documentation

Due to the technological and digital revolution, the role of librarians and information officers has undergone important changes.

The transformation of documentation can be established on two different levels:

– for a long time now documents have been produced in a digital format. For 10 years publishers have been using printers that print electronic files which are transferred onto a photocomposition. The programming languages SGML, and later XML, enabled the production chain to work as a digital information channel as well as being able to print scientific documents. No matter whether documents are created in businesses or scientific and cultural institutions, they are all produced in an electronic format. Paper is no longer the only possible way to publish a text;

– the exponential increase of digital documentation has changed people’s perception of digital documents over the past two or three years. Digital documents are no longer an exception, they are becoming increasingly common, not only due to the number of them that is created, but also because they can be accessed easily.

Furthermore, the increasing presence of telecommunications and computers (hardware and software) amongst the general public, and especially within libraries, needs to be taken into account. Without this increased access to virtual infrastructures the digital document could never have become so important in terms of access to information.

It is impossible to entirely understand the digital revolution without considering the normalization process that is taking place in all possible technical fields. Opposed to traditional, parallel running normalization processes that have been observed in other economic sectors, this type of normalization process is not entirely transversal but is at least similar for related forms of economic activity, i.e. the way documents are structured or researched on the Internet. Editors, distribution channels, libraries and archives generally use the same, or very similar, systems.

Furthermore, the possibility of retrieving documents which previously were only accessible within documentation centers or libraries has undergone a transformation process. These documents are now made available to a larger audience as they can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Libraries and documentation centers are benefiting from this change.

The Internet has imposed itself as the universal tool used for retrieving information that can be presented on a screen. Its ergonomics are simple and there is no link between search functions and the actual content that is being researched. This type of ergonomics is similar to any other classification system. Experts in the field of information and research state that the simplicity of this type of search engine stops the user from finding the required information. These, however, are very rare cases. This type of search engine has certain advantages over traditional classification systems. Libraries now use the same type of search engine for their own catalogs.

1.1.1. Transformations in society

It is not only technology that has changed, but also the general public.

It is clear that we are faced with a different kind of general public which is marked by three main characteristics:

– readers no longer concentrate on one single type of activity. At their workstation they easily move from evaluation tasks to social activities. Work and social activities are highly interlinked. Technological innovations open up these possibilities and the user’s behavior is adapting to them;

– the general public likes this type of search as no further requirements are needed. The Internet is used for empirical research as well as for entertainment-based activities;

– this new generation of users is also able to choose not to rely on information systems. This is not an entirely new trend but now technology also supports it. Professionals also have to review their position instead of resisting or ignoring this new trend. The general public actually resolves most questions on their own. However, after working with intuitive search tools the public will become aware of their limits and seek professional support. The reader no longer depends on professionals to retrieve information which could be classed as a revolutionary step forward in the field of research.

Moreover, changes which are introduced by new movements within the field of documentation also have to be taken into account.

1.2. Transformations in the economic situation of libraries

1.2.1. Too many hits?! The new trend of vague search entries

Traditionally, librarians and information officers used search engines that retrieved documents which were 100% related to the user’s question. The following fundamental problems occur with this type of search engine:

– a full understanding of the user’s question is a prerequisite;

– librarians have always found it very difficult to understand exactly what the user was looking for. However, is the idea of completely understanding the user’s question not simply an illusion? What if the user simply has difficulties expressing his/her question in a standardized way? A mediator between the user and the system was needed in the 1980s as technological limitations imposed a rather complex language used in the research process. This mediation is no longer needed as the reader carries out his/her own research by establishing their own search criteria to obtain the required information;

– by finding the exact documents, there is no space left for those hits that might only be partly relevant to the given question.

The information officer’s reluctance towards material that is not entirely relevant or the problem of vague research is, however, only happening inside his/her head. How many search engines have been criticized without them even being tested? OLCL was used in the 1980s and was based on two different search keys, author-title 4,4 indicating the first four letters of the author and the title, and 3,2,2,1 which indicated the number of characters of every word in the title. These systems are, of course, old-fashioned but without any doubt highly efficient. They also never produced too many hits. People who are used to online search engines also know how to choose the right key words that will give them the required material in the first three entries on the page.

A system that works very precisely and only delivers results that are 100% relevant to the user’s questions requires a professional librarian or information officer. However, general users are therefore unable to use such a system on their own.

Advantages of intuitive search

Since systems are able to limit the number of results, the phenomenon of too many hits within a search process has been regarded as negative for such a long time that its advantages have been forgotten. Intuitive search engines provide the user, who has previously established the boundaries of his/her research, with an overview of all possible data to be found on this topic. The retrieved data includes more information than the user actually needs and not all of it might relate 100% to the given subject. However, all of this data might, to some extent, be relevant to the user’s search entry. This is why it provides the user with an overview of all resources that might relate to the subject.

Intuitive searches help to establish the boundaries of the question on their own and indicate ways to ask a certain question.

1.2.2. The integration of heterogenous services

The Internet and its easy navigation allows for applications to become more interdisciplinary. The user moves from one application to the next and sometimes also moves towards more entertainment based activities. This is why the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) needs to be created as some sort of portal that allows access to many different applications.

1.2.3. The librarian’s challenge to reach customer satisfaction

That a user might be happy with the responses obtained from the search engine is something rather shocking and worrying for librarians.

It is shocking because librarians know that the user of the system has missed out on relevant answers, not only from the system used because he/she lacks experience in research, but also because other systems of documentation that are different from the one used have not been taken into consideration.

This is worrying because the user is satisfied with incomplete information, as the research target was badly set. The user even accepts the risk of missing out on important aspects.

Furthermore, librarians see that the user ignores, or remains indifferent, to the role they play within the library.

There are certain points to be made with regards to this phenomenon:

– the average user looks for one answer, not all possible answers. The librarian’s obsession with delivering all possible answers is a surplus in quality that is not appreciated by the user;

– librarians are only ignored when the research to be carried out does not cause any problems or is carried out on data that is not complex. This is only the first step in research. Librarians can therefore concentrate on complex problems where their help is needed and where their intervention makes sense;

– librarians are not completely deprived of the research process, but no longer play the role of the mediator between the user and the system. Librarians fulfill their role when structuring primary data and metadata which is classified by search engines. Their tasks are focused on the more sophisticated levels of the process of documentation.

1.3. Changing a paradigm: changing the object “information”

1.3.1. Breaking with the traditional way of managing physical objects

The transition from an analog to a digital environment can be considered as a cultural revolution since the physical aspect of objects is changing.

1.3.1.1. From a manufactured object to information objects

Traditionally, libraries consist of manufactured objects such as books, magazines and CDs that are classed as volumes, series or disks. Their content is subject to the support which is used to store the information.

In the digital environment, the document is independent of its support and leaves room for experiments. The interpretation of its content, its structure and its additional metadata gives it its own force in the field of documentation.

1.3.1.2. From an exogenous catalog to endogenous metadata

Traditional documents such as paper, tape and disks do not comprise elements of documentation that enable the user to retrieve them. This is why librarians and information officers have invented certain techniques and rules to classify and retrieve these documents. The elements used to classify documents and create an index are, of course, taken from the documents. However, this is done in an artificial way by a librarian who will create data and transmit it to an exogenous catalog.

From the minute digital documents are created, they contain descriptive elements that enable the user to classify and manage them. This metadata is endogenous, i.e. integrated into the document. Furthermore, within the process of documentation additional metadata is integrated into the document. The general trend is moving towards a completely automatic process of administrating data, as the capacities are far too large for any human intervention. The way this data is processed therefore needs to be programmed. Here again, the librarian’s expertise is required to process the given data.

1.3.2. New objects in documentation

Dematerialized documents that do not require any form of support

The first step in the digital revolution is the dematerialization of a document. This does not only mean that the document can be accessed from any possible location, which introduces the concept of ubiquity, but also that the processing of this document is carried out automatically. It takes a tangible form which allows for the visualization of its form, its reality and its integrity.

Furthermore, as the document does not need to rely on any kind of support, the importance of the layout changes. Its layout is subject to its structure.

Without a stable support, the question of how to materialize the document is not a question of how stable a support is, but only deals with the question of which role the content plays within its environment.

Hybrid objects (multitypes) represent the next generation of objects. They are based on multimedia and can read texts, icons, maps, videos and even 3D images as well as tables and programs. The term multimedia, which was previously used in a different sense, finally measures up to its meaning here. Complex objects are not only created, but are also managed and presented to the user.

These new documents are structured documents. The way the information is structured, based on XML’s standards for example, integrates the semantic significance of the document. This enables the user to retrieve information inside the document, i.e. internal navigation.

The adjustable level of granularity in these objects is also a revolutionary trend in the field of documentation. Traditionally, libraries or documentation centers only addressed one level of granularity. These are the number or title of a series, an article in a periodical or the chapter of a book. Traditionally, libraries or documentation centers only processed one level of granularity. A book and a reference, an article in a magazine, and a video as well as an illustration and a manuscript, are now processed simultaneously. This form of processing is based on the use of tree-diagrams.

Direct access to pieces of information is a great advantage of this concept as it is also possible to preserve the visibility of the entire document and therefore keep its coherence.

Understanding all functionalities and transformations in concepts and techniques is vital for librarians if they would like to gain full insight into the transformation of tomorrow’s documents on the Internet, which works very differently from the librarian’s traditional research techniques.

1.4. Changing a paradigm: information in a network of documentation

1.4.1. Information is linked to a network of information

Digital documents can no longer be a simple back-up of paper documents. They should be navigated with the help of internal links as well as links that are created between different documents. This technique goes further than the reference system used in paper documents. It is a philosophy that includes alternative routes and allows for the personalization of the order in which the information is read depending on reactions of the public (e.g. open lectures) or a previously established set-up.

With the digital document being “active” it can actually process itself. Linguistic structures or statistics, in particular within the semantic environment of the document, could be automatically linked to the document therefore allowing for a better understanding of the document.

1.4.2. Processing a high flux of dematerialized information

The fact that traditional administration systems in libraries are no longer used also stems from the large amount of digital documents that are transmitted to libraries. It is therefore impossible to process every single one of them, even more so since the documents only consist of files and bits.

Automatic processing is therefore required to enter data, process it and manage it. Visitors to a library have to use programs to deal with this enormous amount of information.

Professionals intervene at a higher level. They set the parameters for the automatic manipulation of this information.

This also means that the trend is moving from manually administrating every single document towards an era where sampling is added to manual administration.

Digital processing of documents requires the introduction of identification procedures and troubleshooting (faults, rejection, etc.). These are of a rather industrialized nature.

1.5. A new way of organizing libraries: the impact of the digital revolution

1.5.1. Impact on the functioning of a library

If the traditional aims of a library are to remain the same, research techniques have to undergo profound change due to the developments that are linked to the appearance of digital documents.

The task of acquisition can technically be subdivided into two different forms:

– harvesting and the appropriation of the entire content, or parts of it;

– the acquisition of files requires an at least technical agreement between the supplier and the client.

Processing data will then include the following steps: extracting metadata from the documents received from outside the institution, as well as from documents produced inside the institution, structuring these documents, and tagging and enriching the metadata.

The storage capacity of these systems is linked to the architecture of the information system used. It is, however, extremely important that librarians are familiar with this system. They therefore need to broaden their knowledge and skills in this field.

The library’s task of preserving information cannot be confused with the pure storage of it. The preservation of data, even in the digital era, remains a task that can only be carried out by a library. Documents therefore need to be processed in a way that enables the user to find and exploit them in the future.

The job profile of librarians and information officers therefore adapts itself very well to researching digital data. Research strategies, such as hyperlinks, need to be reviewed by professionals in the field of documentation, including the usage of the most powerful technology that is available today. This new trend needs to be taken into account and the readers need to be supported during this transition period.

1.5.2. Impact on the concept of information

Digital documents work “intelligently” if they are programmed in an intelligent way. This is why the acquisition of know-how is needed in the fields of tags, integrated metadata, weighting system, and how widely the document is known in the scientific community. The concept and the perception of information are changing.

1.5.3. Impact on distribution

The distribution of a digital document on the Internet can no longer be compared to the traditional distribution of paper volumes, even if they were categorized and accessible from several libraries. Its distribution has increased 1,000 times over. This increase can be applied universally. This is why digital documents raise so many questions that could already have been applied to paper documents but were never discussed to such an extent because their distribution remained more limited.

1.5.4. Impact on intellectual property

The question of intellectual property, copyright, quotations, etc. has a negative impact on the researcher and editor’s image of electronic documents. Even if these problems increase due to the high speed and universal access to electronic documents, digitization also allows for those problems to be addressed far more efficiently. If the document is not public its access can be protected. Above all, it is possible to link access authorizations given on one single document to general access authorizations that are valid for the general public. A document can therefore only be accessed by its target audience. Abuse is quickly established by the server. In the case of public documents, it is important that they are used by other people, while at the same time the author needs to be protected from plagiarism. The idea that plagiarism is much easier with documents that can be accessed on the Internet is not a valid one since the intellectual property of a document that is quoted, read and therefore widely known is much easier to protect. Furthermore, it enables the researcher to give a perfect quotation by using the copy/paste function and therefore minimizes the risk of giving a false quotation.

1.6. New trends

1.6.1. Introducing administrative aspects of documentation into the document

Digital documents are far more than just an edited document. They are also objects of documentation, i.e. pieces of information which can be accessed and inside which we can navigate to its metadata. The way in which the document is structured is significant; its tagging and the introduction of administrative metadata must be carried out with great care when the document is created or handled later on.

The document is not an isolated entity. It is part of a network of a series of documents accessible on the Internet which is now transforming into a documentary system. Documents which are published on the Internet are connected through links in the hypertext. In the case of archived material digitization, this often leads to problems in identifying a specific document amongst all others. In some cases a website has to be considered as a tool in the documentation process similar to a collection of articles.

1.6.2. The librarian’s role in the editing process

The librarian’s know-how is increasingly required in the editing process. In the future, librarians will assist authors, especially in the field of university-based research, in order to help them to produce intelligent documents. They will also work with editors and underline the fact that additional documentation is of great importance to a document, even if it is fiction (e.g. bonus tracks such as documentaries that give added value to a DVD).

Previously, librarians played an important role in the institutionalized diffusion of information. Their role is changing and they will also be involved with, and guarantee the quality of, information distributed on the Internet.

The most important sector requiring librarians in the future is preserving digital documents in the long-term. In this sector the tradition of libraries is needed to develop the necessary know-how, as a library gives priority to cultural aspects over economic interests.

Future job descriptions for librarians and information officers will clearly contain the fact that they represent the link between the library and the publisher.

1.7. The digital library

1.7.1. The virtual library

A virtual library is a library where documents are virtual, i.e. without a stable support. There are several advantages to virtual libraries.

First of all, they are dematerialized and their location therefore becomes insignificant. Digital libraries have the advantage of universal access.

Digital documents can also be accessed by several users at a time. Thousands of people can visualize and download a document without hindering others doing the same.

This type of library is far from being homogenous. Its sources, structures and documents are highly diversified, they stem from internal (institutional) production, commercial production, online collections etc.

Their documents are real multimedia documents, i.e. hybrids of different forms of media. These documents need to be organized, and standardized access to them must be provided.

1.7.2. A “real” library

A digital library is a real library since its collection is organized, selected and well presented. Its documents are processed and administrated and their access can be controlled. A digital library also responds to the need to develop collections of documents such as digital resources, articles, books, etc.

1.8. Introducing different layers to the core sector of the profession

Rather than believing that the profession of librarians will change, which is only applicable to some cases, the introduction of different layers in the core sector of the profession should be taken into consideration. The core sector of this profession re-invents itself each time a new field of work is discovered.

1.8.1. Support for online library users

The librarian’s task of advising and offering support to users is also changing within the digital environment. Librarians work in shifts throughout the world to provide a service which is up and running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Legal questions regarding the creation and distribution of documents, which were already worrying in the times of traditional libraries, have come a step further in the digital environment as it increases distribution.

1.8.2. Providing training for users

If providing training for users is part of a librarian’s duties, this task becomes much more diversified with documents developing an internal structure.

Other than knowing how to use traditional resources, users also need to be shown how to use electronic sources. The latter does not replace the use of traditional resources, but completes them.

1.8.3. Managing materialized objects as well as digital documents

Managing materialized objects is a principal part of a librarian’s work. However, they also need to know how to manage virtual documents of a complex structure and how to work under a certain format. Librarians have to become experts. Limits have to be established that indicate when analog systems are an advantage and when they become a handicap. It is up to the librarians to conquer this new territory.

1.9. Broadening skills and responsibilities for all of the library’s staff

1.9.1. Managing old and new techniques simultaneously

As previously illustrated, new technologies do not replace the old ones, they actually complete each other. In libraries the traditional and the new technologies amplify each other.

Librarians need to pay attention and react to new techniques and methods that come up in their field of work. On the other hand, they do not have to forget about their traditional tasks as the documents they are in charge of, as well as their clients, belong both to the old and the new era.

By learning how to use traditional methods and understanding the cultural aspects of a library, librarians will find it easier to use future technology without jeopardizing the library’s essence.

1.9.2. Increasing qualifications and responsibilities

The digital environment requires an increase in skills as these new competencies need to be added to the old ones. Furthermore, an increase in quality is needed as a digital working environment requires a higher level of analysis.

In the digital environment the librarian’s responsibility in terms of content increases since their choices are made public when the documents are distributed on a large scale.

The digital environment increases the relevance of the institution’s strategic and political decisions.

With new technology, these choices become increasingly risky as the position of the institution partly depends on the library’s capacity to transform itself into a modern institution.

The legal responsibility of every single librarian, and not only their director, is based on the increasing number of documents produced by the institution that are distributed online. Access to these documents also needs to be protected and access conditions must be created.

During this transition period librarians need pedagogical capacities when creating digital documents, i.e. the technical side of production as well as a profound knowledge in the field of heuristic research in the digital environment.

The digital environment requires a higher level of technical skill not only to carry out editorial tasks or those linked to the organization of a library, but also to make the right strategic choices for the library as an institution.

__________

1 Chapter written by Christian LUPOVICI.

Chapter 21

The Tao of the Digital Library: A Library Without a Librarian?

“Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub. It is the center hole that makes it useful” [Tao-te-Ching, Book I, 11].

The image of a wheel that turns around an empty space could represent the digital library of the future - a virtual space, a portal that allows access without mediation, a platform of information, a tool for users who are far away from the actual library. It is an efficient tool, a wheel that turns a vehicle which moves. But what is to be found at its center?

“It is the center hole that makes it useful.” The conclusion of Laozi’s The Book of the Way and its Virtue could be the ancestor of marketing strategies published by STM editors and suppliers of content management systems. What is their main argument when promoting their products? Their latest products and services are directed towards the end-user, i.e. researchers in front of their computers. In their eyes the actual space of a library and the work of librarians is rather unnecessary and will disappear sooner or later; to them it is a niche in the market.

The center hole, i.e. an empty space, is currently being created. Libraries will first be transformed into a virtual space and later into learning centers, i.e. multimedia resource centers. They will become a feature of education and teaching, just as e-learning is an accessory to traditional teaching methods [BEN 04]. With the “hyperelectronification” of campuses [ARN 03], information has now moved from inside the library to the outside world.

The librarian is called an information officer, or even facilitator, and finally becomes a technician specialized in the field of troubleshooting or carries out rather simple tasks at the helpdesk. Following this logic of relocating traditional tasks, the next step would be to replace libraries with call centers located in Morocco or India!

Debates at conferences often call into question the librarian’s professional identity. Where are we going? Do we know where to go? Do we want to go there? Is it only a simple image problem as Bernat [BER 03] suggests? Is the disappearance of the library as we know it not simply a very negative and unrealistic outlook on the future?

“Is there a future for librarians now?” In 1990 Dick Fletcher (New Media) asked this question on the occasion of the 13th conference of the UK Serials Group and even now it is a relevant question since it has still not been answered.

At the beginning of 2004 Bruce Heterick from JSTOR ended his report on the future of libraries with the ironic statement: “There are three types of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who don’t know what hit them.” [HET 04].

Let us try and understand what he meant with “those who don’t know what hit them”. Let us take a look at some aspects of the transformation that the job profile of librarians and other library staff has undergone. Where does the concept of a digitized library come from and what is the driving force behind it? What kind of impact has this revolution had on the library’s professions and the skills of those professionals? How can this revolution be accommodated by activities within the field? Which direction should we move in? What should we do if we do not only want to “watch things happen”?

2.1. The technological supremacy of the concept of the “digital library”

The concept of the digital library appeared in the middle of the 1970s but only gained increasing popularity 15 years later, i.e. at the end of the 1980s. At the beginning, this concept was entirely based on IT and had nothing in common with the library as a work environment where people study and carry out research in order to broaden their knowledge.

After analyzing the publications of scientific journals since 1990 (a sample of 1,086 articles that appeared in 13,000 journals was used) the following figures were established. 75% of all articles published in digital libraries appeared in IT journals, 15% in journals that focused on humanities and social sciences, and only 5% in journals specialized in documentation and the organization of libraries.

When checking the year of publication it becomes evident to what extent technology dominates the concept of digital libraries. 75% of all articles on digital libraries published in the field of human science appeared in the last five years, which shows a large gap between human science and the field of technology. Librarians are even further behind when it comes to addressing the subject. Most studies on the organization and human resources of digital libraries (e.g. positions, training, recruitment) only appeared in 2002 and 2003.

When the human factor becomes the object of scientific studies this implies the following questions: to what extent does the user accept new services and functions and how does the interaction between humans and a machine work (system, ergonomics)? Studies that focus on professional librarians as the main players and not simply as a technical operators are recent and relatively rare.

At the beginning of digital libraries there was technology, engineering, as well as the development and the installation of tools. Professional librarians who are directly concerned by this new technology ignored this development for too long. Studies on how, where and by whom these technologies could be used, as well as research on the impact on human resource management, only appeared 5 to 10 years after those carried out on computer science. On this point, the digital library had already become a reality in the field of IT. At the occasion of the 3rd congress of French information officers, Le Monde stated that “technological developments were a step ahead of attempts to solve problems between humans” [DEG 79]. This asymmetric development has had an impact on the library professions up until now.

With the birth of personal computing and the introduction of TSI in Germany, big university servers were declared to be part of the “computer scientist’s tasks as they are part of IT”. Information officers and librarians suddenly found themselves in the role of the end-user which inversed the ratio between supply and demand. This trend is similar to what happened in other industrial sectors where technical progress determined behavior and therefore new requirements that also had to be satisfied.

On the one hand, IT sets out a framework that determines the structure for the content and the tools to be used. On the other hand, people use these technologies to create and distribute a certain content or access it (peer-to-peer). The first digital archives were set up by researchers and computer scientists, not by librarians. This sometimes leads to the disagreeable impression that librarians are only used as beta testers of new IT systems.

2.2. TSI’s influence on the market

The recent increase in the speed required to access information online is not the only driving force behind digital libraries. In the context of a financial and economic crisis, another factor has an increasing impact on the development of libraries: it is a commercial strategy of companies that create and publish scientific information. After heavily investing in the field of research they seem to have decided that mediation by other professionals such as agencies or libraries is no longer required.

It was not that long ago that people had to enter a library in order to access resources. Searching a database required specific skills catered for by professionals working in the field of documentation.

Those times have changed. After studying behavior and requirements the producers of TSI developed services that directly address the end-user. The functions of these services are simple and intuitive, a Google effect can be observed. With the emergence of a search function that combines research and access to information in one single function, every other type of search engine ends up with a marketing problem [ARN 04]. Search engines like Google and Scirus are integrated into a portal or platform. This link enables everybody to find the required information without having to consult a professional.

From a professional point of view, this form of research does not necessarily guarantee the quality of the sources given, neither their relevance nor how thoroughly they address the respective topic. Baltz, for example, states that information officers should not be frightened by the “scary amount of autodocumentation” since there will always be a place for them in between IT and the communication of ideas [BAL 03]. From a user’s point of view, this argument remains theoretical because, due to the ever-increasing performance of research tools, this type of autodocumentation corresponds to his/her needs. The success of a portal with a simple appearance, such as VASCODA which provides access to multiple German TSI resources, seems to back up the user’s point of view which is mentioned above.

Currently TSI’s producers still need professionals that sell their products. The supplier-client relationship is currently changing. Large TSI companies (Wolters Kluwer, Reed, Thomson, etc.) see themselves as education companies. Their client is not the library but the scientific community. Alternative editors such as BiomedCentral or IOP are directly financed by researchers/authors or their institution without having to rely on the acquisition budget of libraries. Integrating the costs of TSI into the budget of research organizations is a leitmotif of the open access movement. Only very recently have STM editors also taken an interest in this new concept. What is happing to the library as a center that purchases new publications?

When an editor like Elsevier organizes a seminar for librarians, content and services are no longer discussed. Instead, new functions are presented and explanations are given on how to promote these products in the respective community. In this context, a “good librarian” is someone who manages to increase the use of these resources and secure the loyalty of the client. The library is transforming into a commercial platform of TSI producers. The competition of the “best advertising” which was introduced by an important STM publisher is an example of the negative aspects of this transformation.

2.3. The virtualization of a document’s function

Traditional scientific and technical information has only one aim when integrating information technology and telecommunications: to improve, research, exploit and evaluate the information received and transmitted by the researcher. The entire problematic of the function of documentation can be resumed in the two prepositions by and for. Is there a link between the supplier and the end-user of information? If yes, what kind of link is this?

Without a doubt some scientific circles need databases, catalogs and a personalized service. But who manages the technical features of common access, technical support and the development of protocols? Who decides upon and co-ordinates the acquisition of resources? Remote access and developing efficient tools (e.g. search engines that search several databases and mulitprotocols via portals) shift the focus onto the user’s needs when it comes to documentation services. However, who controls access, who decides who uses what and how?

Shifting the focus to the user’s needs is generally not a bad choice for libraries, but when analyzing the situation in great detail, it becomes evident that if service providers are responsible for creating libraries, these libraries only consist of marketing strategies. If the needs of scientific circles are addressed by the suppliers of information, the library transforms into an additional service of the TSI industry without having any added value to it.

According to the last opinion poll carried out by JSTOR covering 7,000 teaching fellows and researchers in the field of human science [HET 02, HET 04], the actual location of the library was the last point mentioned when being asked about carrying out research. It was far behind search engines and other specialized services (portals, databases, etc.).

American researchers and teachers consider the function of the library as still being important, especially when it comes to buying resources (budget), but less so when it comes to access (gateway) and archiving. However, all of them stated that their research was not very dependent on the library, especially if they were not working on large campuses. Generally, they estimated that the importance of a library will decrease in the next five years. “In fact, many faculties can foresee a future in which they will never actually go to the library” [HET 02].

Researchers and teaching staff often only give the library a polite nod when it comes to researching information [ARN 04]. What is important to them is access to electronic resources and the guarantee of durability for that access. They require an archive. However, in the electronic era this archive does not necessarily need to be in the library or on the university’s campus. In the words of Tao-te-Ching, it could also be in the center hole.

2.4. Development and changes to job profiles in the CNRS directory 1982-2002

The Tao also says not to pity feel sorry for yourself if you want to endure [Book I, 22]. Let us now see how this idea can be applied to the professions of a library. Several approaches have been chosen for a better understanding. The development of professions in the CNRS, France’s biggest research organization, and those of the INIST, as well as changes in training programs in the UK will be analyzed.

For more than 20 years the professions and positions within the CNRS have been regularly subject to formalized studies which are published in a directory. When comparing the directories of 1982, 1991, 1998 and 2002 the following question arises. What is the impact of new technologies on libraries and documentation centers?

From 1982 onwards job profiles in the CNRS reflected the way laboratories used information and documentation services. This phenomenon could be observed on all possible levels, from the simple controller who updated a computer-based catalog to a documentation engineer who managed the entire system and adapted it to new technologies. Another job profile could be found in the directory of 1982 indicating a librarian who was “specialized in the automatic organization and management of collections”.

In the middle of the 1990s the informatization of the workplace as well as activities and skills became increasingly important. Knowledge of documentary IT and the know-how to create project specifications and choose the required tools became one of the indispensable skills of category A library staff. Only in 2002 did the CNRS’s directory become similar to the REFERENS, the directory for higher education [HIC 04] and indicated that the digital library had become a reality. There are three examples of this trend:

– simple controllers and technicians need to know how to convert printed documents into digitized documents;

– engineers need to know how to create electronic content management systems;

– from the level of engineering assistants onwards (a diploma of higher education being a prerequisite) a good knowledge of the legal environment is required. We will come back to this later.

This adaptation can be subdivided into three different levels:

1) The amount of IT used for different activities is now affecting more job categories. IT that was previously only used by job category A (engineers, assistants) is now also used by categories B and C (technicians, controllers). The knowledge and skills in the usage of IT which were part of the job profiles of engineers in the 1980s were suddenly also part of technicians’ job profiles. In other words, around 10 to 15 years later technicians needed to have the same skills and knowledge that was expected of engineers in the 1980s. Furthermore, the level of the required qualification has been increasing as Christian Lupovici observed [LUP 04]. We must add that this process is still not being reflected in the salary structure.

2) New technologies make the old boundaries between documentation and the organization of libraries obsolete. Studies on job profiles within the CNRS from 1995 to 1997 have shown that the fields of technicians and assistant engineers have been merged. The human resource department was not brave enough to actually merge the job profile of engineers and researchers even though studies showed that in reality these two fields were already starting to integrate. In 1998, on the other hand, a new type of position, a hybrid between the fields of documentation and IT, was created - an engineer and administrator of databases in documentation. In 2002 the traditional three fields of information officers, librarians and archivists were losing their importance due to this newly created position.

3) Technology’s rapid evolution demands skills that are not part of initial job training. 2002’s directory not only contains the introduction of new technologies, but also states that TSI professionals need to “take part in regular training sessions in order to remain up to date with new technologies in their field”. In other words, keeping up with technological innovations, which was already mentioned in 1998, and continuous training has become a principal part of their work, as this is vital for the organization as a whole.

This is especially applicable to the legal environment (e.g. authors’ rights, copyright, legal obligation when keeping documents, intellectual property) which, according to 2002’s directory, should be part of the skills for positions within category A. When it comes to technological developments and the know-how of professions linked to a library, the library as an actual place, i.e. a physical space, seems an outdated idea that is no longer relevant. Recently, Didier Frochot claimed that the professions of IT documentation were “not very well informed on legal questions” or even “completely ignorant towards them” as they lacked serious and thorough training. He particularly accuses the institutions that provide training for these jobs of only focusing on technical aspects while ignoring organization and management. Moreover, he states that before actual changes in the profession will take place, the librarian’s employers should organize the acquisition of this knowledge. ISIDROIT is an example of how this criticism could be taken on board. This interdisciplinary network comprises the CNRS’s information officers and is subdivided by region. In the Rhone-Alpes province it is called ISIDORA.

2.5. Supporting professions - the INIST approach

With 350 TSI professionals, 100 of whom work at the library, the INIST (Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of the CNRS) is directly affected by all technological developments [SCH 03]. From 1998 onwards the INIST has produced reports on the challenges of new technology and online information. With the help of a large number of its employees, the INIST 2000 project set out the main standards for the acquisition, management, storage and distribution of electronic resources, as well as transforming its products and services in order for them to be able to enter the Internet era [INI 99].

In order to observe and anticipate the development of job profiles and skills of TSI, the INIST introduced a permanent training program known as “competences metiers” in 2002. This project is directed by a committee which consists of human resource managers whose chairman is also the director of the INIST. This procedure avoids problems that have been observed elsewhere, i.e. the “absence of any form of management, no defined positions, no idea of future developments nor the existence of acquisition strategies” [BEN 04]. Instead, a decent support for the staff involved with the project should be guaranteed. This approach is carried out in three steps:

– creating a directory of skills and professions the INIST currently requires. This directory is based on that of the CNRS and is enriched by the ADBS’s directories (ECIA);

– an impact study on current developments in the field of TSI is carried out on the basis of this directory;

– suggestions which should function as guidelines in decision-making processes, as well as scenarios on the development of skills required by certain professions will be made in the immediate future (3 to 5 years).

Developments in IT and telecommunications, users’ needs, products and services of the INIST must be observed. Furthermore, all players need to be interconnected during all steps of the project, i.e. there has to be good internal communication between all parties. This project is being carried out for all professions in the fields of documentation, library, IT and communication.

Job descriptions in the directory are discussed in all of the INIST’s departments and are then put together as a coherent document. This writing process goes hand in hand with discussions in the individual departments which will then define possible development scenarios. Every scenario will need to state the skills the department needs to acquire in the future. Once this work is completed and put into one document, it will serve as a decision-making tool as it allows for the visualization of current skills that will help to determine training or recruitment.

This is a long-term project which is closely linked to TSI developments within the INIST and the CNRS. It also increases the quality of libraries and advertises the concept of the digital library. Questioning traditional methods and activities (e.g. cataloging, periodical subscription purchase and renewal) sometimes leads to negative reactions, but on the other hand opens up new perspectives for departments as well as for individuals. It leads to the merging of several activities, changing of procedures and opening up towards the outside world.

The project is also based on an exchange with other public organizations (e.g. INSERM, CEMAGREF, INRA, INRIA, CIRAD, IRD). The aim is to prepare the staff to take on different responsibilities in a new and often complex environment, or give them responsibility for other tasks. The think-tank, in co-operation with the CEMAGREF, focused mainly on the relationship between the researcher in the field of documentation and the management of knowledge.

Every project in a digital library has its own “biography” [GRE 02]. That of the INIST’s library follows several directives:

– instead of creating new structures, new activities and skills are integrated into acquisition, management and production services;

– a limited number of new positions is created. These pilot positions are created to co-ordinate the development of activities and skills for all functions (e.g. editors of electronic magazines, researchers responsible for licensing, digitization operators). This development goes hand in hand with the employment of interns from local universities (from 2nd year students up to students studying postgraduate courses). They work on specific issues such as managing electronic magazines, analyzing user statistics and the creation of databases with open access;

– new training requirements (e.g. legal environment, TSI, IT and telecommunications market) are analyzed in the individual departments and integrated into the annual planning for training. As external training cannot be provided, part of the training is provided internally or is carried out by the employees themselves (e.g. electronic magazines, copyrights, managing licenses, statistics, the production of catalogs);

– the transformation process of the library’s function is spearheaded by different projects which are carried out by specialists in the respective fields (e.g. producing catalogs, delivering documents in PDF format, managing access authorizations).