Design and usability of digital libraries : case studies in the Asia-Pacific (2005)
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- Abstract
- Design and Usability of Digital Libraries: Case Studies in the Asia Pacific showcases some of the best digital library practices from organizations in the Asia Pacific. Particular emphasis has been placed on the design, use and usability of digital libraries. Not only are digital libraries examined, but related technologies, the management of knowledge in digital libraries, and the associated usability and social issues surrounding digital libraries are all examined. Design and Usability of Digital Libraries will benefit practitioners, researchers, educators and policy makers from a variety of disciplines. In particular developers/designers of digital libraries, librarians, users and researchers will all find this collection of case studies a valuable tool to understanding digital libraries.
- Footnote
- Rez. in: JASIST 58(2007) no.1, S.152-153 (J.P. Bolstad): "Over the past decade, digital library research and technology have evolved and progressed rapidly. The desire to create new and better digital library systems has inspired researchers and academics worldwide to join forces and work together to develop more efficient and user-friendly technologies. Primarily inspired by ideas presented at the Fourth International Conference on Asian Digital Libraries, which was held in 2002 in Singapore, this book illustrates a selection of diverse digital library systems that have been created in recent years, as researchers have continued to further their ideas about new developments and trends in digital libraries. In Design and Usability of Digital Libraries, the editors, Theng and Foo, compile a collection of 20 valuable case studies written by various researchers. These case studies address not only the successes that have been achieved in improving digital library research and technology, but also the problems and failures that have been discovered. Thus, researchers can perhaps learn from the errors that have occurred in these case studies and prevent the same mistakes from happening in the future. This book also demonstrates the large amount of collaboration that has occurred among various research groups throughout different countries in the Asia Pacific region. The representation of such diverse perspectives from different places is what makes the book interesting because it is particularly enlightening to read about what other countries have developed in terms of digital libraries. In general, the book is organized uniformly and is easy to follow. Each chapter represents one case study and the order of the chapters makes complete sense, as the text flows smoothly from beginning to end. The first chapter begins with a basic history of digital libraries, which helps to familiarize readers with the concept of what a digital library is and provides a brief introduction to how digital libraries came to be. The next few chapters touch on such topics as the design architecture and systems of digital libraries, implementation issues and challenges when designing digital libraries, use and impact of these libraries in societies, considerations that need to be taken into account regarding users and usability, as well as projections of future trends of digital libraries. The editors brilliantly piece together all of the chapters to make the entire book cohesive.
The chapters are generally less than 20 pages, which allows for concise presentations of each case study. Each chapter contains, more or less, a brief abstract, introduction, related works section, methodology section, conclusion, and references. The chapters are further categorized into six thematic sections. Section I focuses on the history of digital libraries in the Asia Pacific. Section II, composed of four chapters, focuses on the design architecture and systems of digital libraries. The next five chapters, in section III, examine challenges in implementing digital library systems. This section is particularly interesting because issues such as multicultural and multilingual barriers are discussed. Section IV is about the use of and impact of digital libraries in a society. All four chapters in this section emphasize improvements that need to be made to digital libraries regarding different types of users. Particularly important is chapter 14, which discusses digital libraries and their effects on youth. The conclusion of this case study revealed that digital libraries need to support peer learning, as there are many social benefits for youth from interacting with peers. Section V, which focuses on users and usability, consists of five chapters. This section relates directly to the implementation challenges that are mentioned in section III, providing specific examples of cross-cultural issues among users that need to be taken into consideration. In addition, section V discusses the differences in media types and the difficulties with transforming these resources into digital formats. For example, chapter 18, which is about designing a music digital library, demonstrates the difficulties in selecting from the numerous types of technologies that can be used to digitize library collections. Finally, the chapter in section VI discusses the future trends of digital libraries. The editors successfully present diverse perspectives about digital libraries, by including case studies performed in numerous different countries throughout the Asia Pacific region. Countries represented in the case studies include Indonesia, Taiwan, India, China, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, and Malaysia. The diversity of the users in these countries helps to illustrate the numerous differences and similarities that digital library designers need to take into consideration in the future when developing a universal digital library system. In order to create a successful digital library system that can benefit all users, there must be a sense of balance in the technology used, and the authors of the case studies in this book have definitely proved that there are distinct barriers that need to be overcome in order to achieve this harmony.
Ultimately, the book emphasizes that universal access to a worldwide digital library is the common goal among all digital library designers. Being able to view the same information, no matter what format the material is in, is one of the next steps toward reaching this goal. This book also addresses various additional problems with designing and using digital libraries, such as pricing and costs, and the range of media types that currently exist. The writing styles differ from chapter to chapter because each is written by a different set of authors. In addition, the material in the chapters is presented quite diversely. For example, in chapter 5, the methodology section of the case study is explained in the form of mathematical equations, algorithms, and charts, and chapter 13 contains complex figures and diagrams, whereas on the other hand, chapter 16 is completely written in text. Although the different ways that the case studies are presented could be considered confusing to some, the entire book remains consistent and truly comes together as a whole because the chapters are organized so sensibly. Many figures, graphs, and tables are also provided throughout the chapters to guide readers visually. Particularly helpful are the sample screen shots of digital libraries in chapter 11. Here, readers can see exactly what would be seen when viewing a digital library catalog. In general, the language and style of the book are easy to understand, and any uncommon words and phrases are always clearly defined and explained. The authors mention that the book is primarily written for academics, college students, and practitioners who may want to learn more about the design and development of digital libraries. The authors do seem to target this audience because the language and writing style seem to be geared toward members of academia, although they may represent a wide variety of disciplines. As well, computer scientists and software developers who are interested in and have been researching digital libraries will find this book useful and applicable to their current research. In conclusion, this book provides a wide variation of case studies that prove to be informative to researchers interested in the development and future progress of digital libraries. In the information world that we live in today, digital libraries are becoming more and more prominent, and the case studies presented demonstrate that the vision for the future of digital libraries is to be able to include all types of materials, cultures, and languages within a single system. All in all, this book instills value to society and all members of the academic world can learn from it."
