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  • × author_ss:"Joint, N."
  1. Joint, N.: Digital library futures : collection development or collection preservation? (2006) 0.02
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    Abstract
    Purpose - To argue that theoretical models from non-LIS disciplines can be of practical benefit to practitioner LIS research. In the area of digitisation collection development policy, such models highlight the importance of digital library preservation issues. Design/methodology/approach - An application of formal models from cultural theories derived from structuralism and semiotics to LIS problems. Findings - Theoretical models from non-LIS disciplines help illustrate and understand problems such as developing information literacy in the digital library environment or creating a balance between the need to develop new digital collections and the preservation of the digital collections which have already been created. Research limitations/implications - This is a theoretical argument that could be tested by practical case study investigation. Practical implications - The paper suggests that resourcing should be applied to digital preservation activity rather than a fresh round of digitisation of print originals, the preservation implications of which are uncertain. Originality/value - This paper gives some original perspectives on practical LIS challenges by applying abstract ideas from the area of cultural theory and applied linguistics.
  2. Joint, N.: Web 2.0 and the library : a transformational technology? (2010) 0.02
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    Abstract
    Purpose - This paper is the final one in a series which has tried to give an overview of so-called transformational areas of digital library technology. The aim has been to assess how much real transformation these applications can bring about, in terms of creating genuine user benefit and also changing everyday library practice. Design/methodology/approach - The paper provides a summary of some of the legal and ethical issues associated with web 2.0 applications in libraries, associated with a brief retrospective view of some relevant literature. Findings - Although web 2.0 innovations have had a massive impact on the larger World Wide Web, the practical impact on library service delivery has been limited to date. What probably can be termed transformational in the effect of web 2.0 developments on library and information work is their effect on some underlying principles of professional practice. Research limitations/implications - The legal and ethical challenges of incorporating web 2.0 platforms into mainstream institutional service delivery need to be subject to further research, so that the risks associated with these innovations are better understood at the strategic and policy-making level. Practical implications - This paper makes some recommendations about new principles of library and information practice which will help practitioners make better sense of these innovations in their overall information environment. Social implications - The paper puts in context some of the more problematic social impacts of web 2.0 innovations, without denying the undeniable positive contribution of social networking to the sphere of human interactivity. Originality/value - This paper raises some cautionary points about web 2.0 applications without adopting a precautionary approach of total prohibition. However, none of the suggestions or analysis in this piece should be considered to constitute legal advice. If such advice is required, the reader should consult appropriate legal professionals.
    Date
    22. 1.2011 17:54:04
  3. Joint, N.: Is digitisation the new circulation? : borrowing trends, digitisation and the nature of reading in US and UK libraries (2008) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose - To explore the belief that digital technology has created a steep and irreversible decline in traditional library use, particularly in borrowing from public and higher education library print collections, with a concomitant effect on familiar patterns of reading and reflection. If digital technology has led to a fundamental change in the way young people in HE process information, should traditional assumptions about library use and educational reading habits be abandoned? Design/methodology/approach - This is a comparative analysis of statistics of library use available in the public domain in the USA and UK. Findings - That reading habits shown in the use of public libraries are arguably conservative in nature; and that recent statistics for the circulation of print stock in US and UK university libraries indisputably show year on year increases, not decreases, except where the digitisation of print originals has provided a generous supply of effective digital surrogates for print holdings. The nature of reading has not changed fundamentally in nature. But where copyright law permits large-scale provision of digital collections to be derived from print originals, these will readily displace borrowing from print collections, leading to lower circulation figures of hard copy items. Research limitations/implications - This paper asserts that the restrictive nature of UK copyright law, which is demonstrably backward by international standards, is a major factor inhibiting university teachers from helping their students migrate from print to digital media. This assertion should be researched in greater depth, with a view to using such research to influence the development of future intellectual property legislation in the UK. Practical implications - Because of the essentially conservative nature of reflective reading for educational purposes, digitisation programmes offer an important way forward for academic library service development. Library managers should not underestimate the persistent demand for traditional reading materials: where such materials are provided in digital or print formats, in most cases the digital formats will be preferred; but where high quality educational resources are only available in print, there is no evidence that the format of alternative digital media is in itself sufficient to lure students away from quality content. Originality/value - This paper questions some of the more casual assumptions about the "death" of traditional library services.
  4. Joint, N.: Virtual reference, Second Life and traditional library enquiry services : ANTAEUS (2008) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine recent thinking about reference services and library use of virtual reference (VR) software, in order to put into context the value of advanced social networking technologies such as Second Life to libraries and their users. Design/methodology/approach - A brief review of the main developments in the recent history of VR, combined with a comparison of the relevant features in common between generic VR packages and Second Life. Findings - That the key weaknesses of established VR services are also found in Second Life, but that these weaknesses should be readily overcome as technical advances are made and librarians clarify to software providers the type of functionality they require from their services. Research limitations/implications - The need for a higher level of complex authentication functionality, as necessitated when combining digital library subscription services with interactive virtual library environments, is outlined and defined. This is a fertile area for service provider research and development. Practical implications - The practical benefits of VR and Second Life services to libraries will be limited until the authentication issues summarised in this paper are addressed. Originality/value - The paper attempts to enlarge the literature on Second Life by discussing this recent innovation in terms of the broader historical context against which such digital library services have evolved. In particular, it points out the ironic similarity between digital reference environments and declining traditional reference services, which both are disadvantaged by their "distance" from core, authenticated digital library content.
  5. Joint, N.: Digital information and the "privatisation of knowledge" (2007) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to point out that past models of information ownership may not carry over to the age of digital information. The fact that public ownership of information (for example, by means of national and public library collections) created social benefits in the past does not mean that a greater degree of private sector involvement in information provision in the knowledge society of today is synonymous with an abandonment of past ideals of social information provision. Design/methodology/approach - A brief review of recent issues in digital preservation and national electronic heritage management, with an examination of the public-private sector characteristics of each issue. Findings - Private companies and philanthropic endeavours focussing on the business of digital information provision have done some things - which in the past we have associated with the public domain - remarkably well. It is probably fair to say that this has occurred against the pattern of expectation of the library profession. Research limitations/implications - The premise of this paper is that LIS research aimed at predicting future patterns of problem solving in information work should avoid the narrow use of patterns of public-private relationships inherited from a previous, print-based information order. Practical implications - This paper suggests practical ways in which the library and information profession can improve digital library services by looking to form creative partnerships with private sector problem solvers. Originality/value - This paper argues that the LIS profession should not take a doctrinaire approach to commercial company involvement in "our" information world. Librarians should facilitate collaboration between all parties, both public and private, to create original solutions to contemporary information provision problems. In this way we can help create pragmatic, non-doctrinaire solutions that really do work for the citizens of our contemporary information society.
  6. Joint, N.: Aspects of Google : bigger is better - or less is more? (2005) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose - To investigate recent enhancements to the internet search engine Google. Design/methodology/approach - An opinion piece based on practitioner experience and recent commentary on search engine innovations. Findings - That recent innovations in Google's functionality have yet to deliver what they promise, but that it is still early to say what can genuinely be achieved in these areas. Research limitations/implications - This is an expression of opinion about a service that will be radically improved and developed in the immediate future. Practical implications - Gives some useful insights and tips on how to use existing digital library tools to achieve information retrieval results along the lines of those aspired to by Google. Originality/value - An attempt to give clear, practice-based examples of how to apply recent digital information retrieval developments to contemporary library work.
  7. Joint, N.: Digital libraries and the future of the library profession (2007) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose - To argue that unique contemporary cultural shifts are leading to a new form of librarianship that can be characterised as "postmodern" in nature, and that this form of professional specialism will be increasingly influential in the decades to come. Design/methodology/approach - A theoretical piece based on ideas from cultural history. Findings - That postmodern library and information science (LIS) concepts will be a vital new strand to professional practice, but they will most likely subsist alongside more familiar concepts of practice which have proved readily applicable in the early years of "first wave" web technologies. Research limitations/implications - These are purely conceptual approaches to LIS and need to be investigated evidentially. Practical implications - The change from "first wave" web technologies to Web 2.0 information technologies may have a greater impact on future techniques in digital librarianship than the change from print to the first electronic libraries in the 1990s. Originality/value - This LIS paper is distinctive in that it borrows original ideas from the humanities to offer an understanding of LIS practice in the context of broad "cultural theory", rather than in the narrower context of change in mechanical and technological processes.
  8. Joint, N.: ¬The practitioner librarian and the semantic web : ANTAEUS (2008) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose -To describe and evoke the potential impact of semantic web systems at the level of library practice. Design/methodology/approach - A general outline of some of the broad issues associated with the semantic web, together with a brief, simple explanation of basic semantic web procedures with some examples of specific practical outcomes of semantic web development. Findings - That the semantic web is of central relevance to contemporary LIS practitioners, whose involvement in its development is necessary in order to determine what will be the true benefits of this form of information service innovation. Research limitations/implications - Since much of the initial discussion of this topic has been developmental and futuristic, applied practitioner-oriented research is required to ground these discussions in a firm bedrock of applications. Practical implications - semantic web technologies are of great practical relevance to areas of LIS practice such as digital repository development and open access services. Originality/value - The paper attempts to bridge the gap between the abstractions of theoretical writing in this area and the concerns of the working library professional.
    Footnote
    Beitrag eines Themenheftes "Digital libraries and the semantic web: context, applications and research".
  9. Joint, N.: If Google makes you stupid, what should librarians do about it? (2011) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the question of whether modern digital information technologies damage their users' cognitive capacities in some way, and to speculate on how librarians should adapt their services as a consequence of the controversy surrounding this question. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reviews some recent literature on this subject, combined with an examination of the role played by technology, librarians and government in determining the nature of our society's response to problematic aspects of the use of digital, internet-based applications in education. Findings - The paper finds that highly differentiated and highly polemical attitudes to this subject mean that librarians have to acknowledge the existence of important challenges to the apparent consensus about the way information technologies should be used in education in Western societies. This has important consequences for the approach to collection building (the balance between digital versus print provision), for library building design, and for the value which should be placed on systematic information literacy teaching. The existence of such an important debate should also embolden information professionals to make their own insights into these issues more widely known. Research limitations/implications - Some of the findings in this paper are amenable to further development through practitioner-oriented research; however, the bulk of the content used for this paper is derived from the literature on this topic, so there is no original research data presented to back up the assertions made by the author. It is simply an account of a debate which has to be acknowledged by librarians. Practical implications - The implications of the issues under discussion in the paper are presented in clear practical terms, and the consequences for library management made explicit. Social implications - The clash between two different theories of learning and information provision is debated and the links with issues of government policy are explored. The social connections between education and wealth generation are brought into this debate. Originality/value - The paper provides a useful, up-to-date briefing on recent controversial issues in education, information management and socio-economic policy making.
  10. Joint, N.: Democracy, eLiteracy and the Internet (2005) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose - Argues that the internet has an important contribution to make to the improvement of the democratic process, but that this contribution can only be effective with advocacy and support from information professionals and educators; the cultivation of eLiteracy by such information professionals and educators is vital in delivering the democratic potential of the internet. Design/methodology/approach - An opinion piece based on current and recent trends in thinking about digital citizenship, the internet and democracy. Findings - Hopeful initial visions of the impact of internet technologies on democracy have been shown to be in some ways too optimistic. Many of the most notable social impacts of the internet on our collective well-being have been harmful. The cultivation of eLiteracy as a democratic attribute of citizenship should enable us to make the most of the social beneficent potential of the networks. Research limitations/implications - Purely an expression of belief about what may prove to be the likely social and political benefits of promoting eLiteracy as an aspect of enhanced citizenship. Offers potential for exploration via more in-depth research. Practical implications - Opens up an optimistic social and political purpose to the cultivation of eLiteracy in a broad mass of citizens. Originality/value - Affirms an optimistic view of the democratic potential of the internet, but makes it clear that this potential will not emerge of its own accord. Citizens must engage intelligently with the social and political issues raised by the internet, in particular with the issue of how the new media enable the electorate to conduct dialogue with government. Information professionals have a particular civic duty to be aware of the democratic significance of their promotion of information literacy and, more specifically, of eLiteracy.
  11. Joint, N.: Bemused by bibliometrics : using citation analysis to evaluate research quality (2008) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which library and information science (LIS) issues have been handled in the formulation of recent UK Higher Education policy concerned with research quality evaluation. Design/methodology/approach - A chronological review of decision making about digital rights arrangements for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), and of recent announcements about the new shape of metrics-based assessment in the Research Excellence Framework, which supersedes the RAE. Against this chronological framework, the likely nature of LIS practitioner reactions to the flow of decision making is suggested. Findings - It was found that a weak grasp of LIS issues by decision makers undermines the process whereby effective research evaluation models are created. LIS professional opinion should be sampled before key decisions are made. Research limitations/implications - This paper makes no sophisticated comments on the complex research issues underlying advanced bibliometric research evaluation models. It does point out that sophisticated and expensive bibliometric consultancies arrive at many conclusions about metrics-based research assessment that are common knowledge amongst LIS practitioners. Practical implications - Practical difficulties arise when one announces a decision to move to a new and specific type of research evaluation indicator before one has worked out anything very specific about that indicator. Originality/value - In this paper, the importance of information management issues to the mainstream issues of government and public administration is underlined. The most valuable conclusion of this paper is that, because LIS issues are now at the heart of democratic decision making, LIS practitioners and professionals should be given some sort of role in advising on such matters.
  12. Joint, N.: ¬The one-stop shop search engine : a transformational library technology? ANTAEUS (2010) 0.01
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    Abstract
    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to form one of a series which will give an overview of so-called "transformational" areas of digital library technology. The aim will be to assess how much real transformation these applications are bringing about, in terms of creating genuine user benefit and also changing everyday library practice. Design/methodology/approach - An overview of the present state of development of the one-stop shop library search engine, with particular reference to its relationship with the underlying bibliographic databases to which it provides a simplified single interface. Findings - The paper finds that the success of federated searching has proved valuable but limited to date in creating a one-stop shop search engine to rival Google Scholar; but the persistent value of the bibliographic databases sitting underneath a federated search system means that a harvesting search engine could well answer the need for a true one-stop search engine for academic and scholarly information. Research limitations/implications - This paper is based on the hypothesis that Google's success in providing such an apparently high degree of access to electronic journal services is not what it seems, and that it does not render library discovery tools obsolete. It argues that Google has not diminished the pre-eminent role of library bibliographic databases in mediating access to e-journal text, although this hypothesis needs further research to validate or disprove it. Practical implications - The paper affirms the value of bibliographic databases to practitioner librarians and the potential of single interface discovery tools in library practice. Originality/value - The paper uses statistics from US LIS sources to shed light on UK discovery tool issues.