A preliminary study on criteria weights for a library's digital resource selection:From the viewpoints of both users and librarians

Through investigating both users' and librarians' perceptions of the relative importance of the major criteria governing the selection of digital resources, we attempted to develop a criterion weight framework for a library's selection of digital resources, which can meet both the users' requirements and the library's goal of developing digital collections. The respective weight of each specific criterion is decided through the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) Method. The findings of this study indicate that, when assigning weights to the selection criteria, it is important to consult the opinions of a wide crosssection of people, especially the views of different users. As a result, the digital resource selection system characterized by the criteria weights can reflect more comprehensively the users' requirements, and meanwhile it enables librarians' more rational selection of digital resources.

“Personal Digital Library”与“MyLibrary”辨析

学术界一些研究者认为"Personal Digital Library"与"MyLibrary"均可指个人数字图书馆。然而,两者是不同概念、特征及功能的事物。论文对两者的概念、研究现状及趋势作了详细的论述,旨在揭示这两种事物,为后续研究者提供借鉴。

Digital Library辨析

学科背景、图书馆学流派以及中、英语言不同等因素均可造成“ｄｉｇｉｔａｌ ｌｉｂｒａｒｙ”与“数字图书馆”之间的涵义差别。本文围绕图书馆的基本定义，从传统图书馆在新的电子信息环境中其资源和功能得到延伸与补充的角度来界定数字图书馆，并在此基础上探讨了中、英相关术语的关系以及目前已遇到的一些概念易混淆的问题。

Structural Indexing for 3D Solid Digital Library

In a very large digital library that support computer aided collaborative design, an indexing process is crucial whenever the retrieval process has to select among many possible designs. In this paper, we address the problem of retrieving important design and engineering information by structural indexing. A design is represented by a model dependency graph, therefor, the indexing problem is to determine whether a graph is present or absent in a database of model dependency graphs. we present a novel graph indexing method using polynomial characterization of a model dependency graph and on hashing. Such an approach is able to create an high efficient 3D solid digital library for retrieving and extracting solid geometric model and engineering information.

Digitizing Dunhuang Cultural Heritage:A User Evaluation of Mogao Cave Panorama Digital Library

Purpose： This study is a user evaluation on the usability of the Mogao Cave Panorama Digital Library （DL）, aiming to measure its effectiveness from the users＇ perspective and to propose suggestions for improvement. Design/methodology/approach： Usability tests were conducted based on a framework of evaluation criteria and a set of information seeking tasks designed for the Dunhuang cultural heritage, and interviews were conducted for soliciting in-depth opinions from participants. Findings： The results of the usability tests indicate that the DL was more efficient in supporting simple information seeking tasks than those of higher-complexity levels. Statistical tests reveal that there were correlations among dimensions of usability criteria and user effectiveness measures. Moreover, interview discourses exposed specific usability issues of the DL. Research limitations： This research is based on a relatively small sample size, resulting in a limited representativeness of user diversity. A larger sample size is needed for a systematic cross group comparison. Practical implications： This study evaluated the usability of the Mogao Cave Panorama DL and proposed suggestions for its improvement for better experience. The results also provide a reference to other cultural heritage DLs with panorama functions. Originality/value： This study is one of the first evaluating cultural heritage DLs from the perspective of user experience. It provides methodological references for relevant studies： the evaluation framework, the designed information seeking tasks, and the interview questions can be adopted or adapted in evaluating other visually centric DLs of cultural heritage.

A Full Text Retrieval System in a Digital Library Environment

The volume of information being created, generated and stored is huge. Without adequate knowledge of Information Retrieval (IR) methods, the retrieval process for information would be cumbersome and frustrating. Studies have further revealed that IR methods are essential in information centres (for example, Digital Library environment) for storage and retrieval of information. Therefore, with more than one billion people accessing the Internet, and millions of queries being issued on a daily basis, modern Web search engines are facing a problem of daunting scale. The main problem associated with the existing search engines is how to avoid irrelevant information retrieval and to retrieve the relevant ones. In this study, the existing system of library retrieval was studied. Problems associated with them were analyzed in order to address this problem. The concept of existing information retrieval models was studied, and the knowledge gained was used to design a digital library information retrieval system. It was successfully implemented using a real life data. The need for a continuous evaluation of the IR methods for effective and efficient full text retrieval system was recommended.

A Semantic Metadata Enrichment Software Ecosystem (SMESE) Based on a Multi-Platform Metadata Model for Digital Libraries

Software industry has evolved to multi-product and multi-platform development based on a mix of proprietary and open source components. Such integration has occurred in software ecosystems through a software product line engineering (SPLE) process. However, metadata are underused in the SPLE and interoperability challenge. The proposed method is first, a semantic metadata enrichment software ecosystem (SMESE) to support multi-platform metadata driven applications, and second, based on mapping ontologies SMESE aggregates and enriches metadata to create a semantic master metadata catalogue (SMMC). The proposed SPLE process uses a component-based software development approach for integrating distributed content management enterprise applications, such as digital libraries. To perform interoperability between existing metadata models (such as Dublin Core, UNIMARC, MARC21, RDF/RDA and BIBFRAME), SMESE implements an ontology mapping model. SMESE consists of nine sub-systems: 1) Metadata initiatives & concordance rules;2) Harvesting of web metadata & data;3) Harvesting of authority metadata & data;4) Rule-based semantic metadata external enrichment;5) Rule-based semantic metadata internal enrichment;6) Semantic metadata external & internal enrichment synchronization;7) User interest-based gateway;8) Semantic master catalogue. To conclude, this paper proposes a decision support process, called SPLE decision support process (SPLE-DSP) which is then used by SMESE to support dynamic reconfiguration. SPLE-DSP consists of a dynamic and optimized metadata-based reconfiguration model. SPLE-DSP takes into account runtime metadata-based variability functionalities, context-awareness and self-adaptation. It also presents the design and implementation of a working prototype of SMESE applied to a semantic digital library.

Differentiated digital library evaluation in a hierarchical model stemming from its operational scope and complexity

Digital libraries are complex systems and this brings difficulties for their evaluation. This paper proposes a hierarchical model to solve this problem, and puts the entangled matters into a clear-layered structure. Firstly, digital libraries(DLs thereafter)are classified into 5 groups in ascending gradations, i.e. mini DLs, small DLs, medium DLs,large DLs, and huge DLs by their scope of operation. Then, according to the characteristics of DLs at different operational scope and level of sophistication, they are further grouped into unitary DLs, union DLs and hybrid DLs accordingly. Based on this simulated structure,a hierarchical model for digital library evaluation is introduced, which evaluates DLs differentiatingly within a hierarchical scheme by using varying criteria based on their specific level of operational complexity such as at the micro-level, medium-level, and/or at the macro-level. Based on our careful examination and analysis of the current literature about DL evaluation system, an experiment is conducted by using the DL evaluation model along with its criteria for unitary DLs at micro-level. The main contents resulting from this evaluation experimentation and also those evaluation indicators and relevant issues of major concerns for DLs at medium-level and macro-level are also to be presented at some length.

An experiment on digital library based on the method of TQM system

The principles and methods of TQM (total quality management) were applied to digital library management. TQM puts emphasis on process control and continual improvement. The TQM theories and measures explained clearly in this paper were the scientific tools used in the experiment in the Wenzhou University Digital Library. This paper deals with a very broad range of subjects related to a digital library: system model of TQM for digital library, organization structure, and tasks of Wenzhou University Digital Library, task flow chart of electronic reading room, cause and effect of electronic reading room quality man- agement, systematic model of enhancing electronic information acquisition rate, quality comparison of electronic reading room service, etc.

A text to speech interface for Universal Digital Library

The objective of Universal Digital Library (UDL) is to capture all books in digital format. A text to speech (TTS) interface for UDL portal would enable access to the digital content in voice mode, and also provide access to the digital content for illiterate and vision-impaired people. Our work focuses on design and implementation of text to speech interface for UDL portal primarily for Indian languages. This paper is aimed at identifying the issues involved in integrating text to speech system into UDL portal and describes the development process of Hindi, Telugu and Tamil voices under Festvox framework using unit selection techniques. We demonstrate the quality of the Tamil and Telugu voices and lay out the plan for integrating the TTS into the UDL portal.

A study on service quality evaluation of digital libraries in China based on tetra-class model

Purpose: This study intends to evaluate the service quality of academic digital libraries(DLs)in China. By utilizing tetra-class model which concentrates on categorizing services according to their contributions to user satisfaction, this paper attempts to visually categorize the specific DL service elements to reveal their present performances, and then further explain the categorizing variations among different groups of users to discover the user preference.Design/methodology/approach: This paper carries out a survey to evaluate user experience on 27 typical DL services summarized from our investigations of representative Chinese university DLs. Based on the five-point Likert-type scale evaluation, the users’ attitudes toward specific service element are divided into negative and positive dimensions. Afterwards,a correspondence analysis is applied to calculate the contributions to satisfaction and dissatisfaction of each service element based on tetra-class model. As a result, the DL service elements of Chinese academic libraries are classified into four categories(i.e. Basic, Secondary,Plus, and Key). Finally, we compared the categorizing variations.Findings: The results show that the DL service elements of Chinese academic libraries are all distributed in Basic and Key services regarding information retrieval and informationorganizing; 80% of the interaction services elements are Plus services, while 50% of the Secondary services are information-providing services. The results also reveal that service categorization is obviously influenced by the users’ education background, especially their disciplines. Furthermore, the users who are older, more highly-educated, or studying in higher reputation universities are more likely to evaluate DL services as either critical or useless.Research limitations: Tetra-class model cannot reveal the interplay among the DL service elements. In addition, the user segmentation in our studies is limited to the sample structure.Practical implications: This empirical study focuses on the evaluation of DL services of academic libraries in China, the analyses of their current performances could provide useful reference for the assessment of other types of Chinese DLs. Moreover, the consideration of user characteristics(gender, age, and education background, etc.) in the DL evaluation would help librarians improve DL services to meet the users’ various needs in teaching and doing scientific research.Originality/value: Different from the frequently-used factor analysis which focuses on the relationship among factors and user satisfaction, this paper tries to use and compare element distributions of different user segments while focusing on various service objectives. Factor analysis shows some flaws as used to measure the element with selected indicators, for it ignores the fact that the indicators which measure the same factor would have different degrees of impacts on user satisfaction. However, the tetra-class model can better visually analyze the performance of each DL service element from its contributions to satisfaction and dissatisfaction, which would help librarians to better understand users’ need and offer DL services more efficiently.

General review of National Digital Library development in the National Library of China

As an important part of National Digital Library(NDL),the National Digital Library Project(NDLP),which was launched in 2005,has attracted wide attention of the society in general.This paper introduces the general situation of the project from the following aspects,namely,the characteristics,objectives and contents.It also expounds on the basic ideas and the overall structure of the project and gives an introduction to the design of its basic platform,its application platform,its business management system and its standardization control system.In this paper,the digital resources construction and service delivery of the National Library of China(NLC)are introduced to cover both its present operation as well as those in conjunction with the opening of its new library building during its second-phase of library development.Finally,the most important and difficult point in the construction of the National Digital Library Project is analyzed from the following four perspectives:1)The long-term preservation of digital resources;2)the construction of knowledge organization system;3)the organic integration of the digital library and the traditional library;and 4)the risk of project management and system integration.

A framework for basic administrative metadata in digital libraries

Administrative metadata means the expansion of the metadata research to the administrative level of resource development. Based on the basic administrative sections in the information resource lifecycle(IRL), the framework for basic administrative metadata(FBAM) is helpful in constructing open interoperable platforms for acquisition, processing and services of information resources in digital libraries. It facilitates the seamless communication, the cooperative construction and management, and the sharing of digital resources.The formulation of FBAM follows the principles of modularity and openness that promote interoperability in resource management. It also adopts the structured methodology of information system design, with which the FBAM data model is developed in conformity with <indecs> and PREMIS. The capabilities of FBAM are driven by a metadata repository with administrative information that is contained in FBAM records.

Establishing an academic digital library& information system in China: The case of CADLIS

China Academic Digital Library & Information System(CADLIS) was established as a public service system in 1996. Its mission is to improve the resource sharing for China's higher education. The framework of CADLIS is constructed to allow easy interconnection and interoperability. This paper presents an introduction to the portal,academic resources, bibliographic system, service network, digital library technical platform,standards and criteria of CADLIS as well.

Universal Digital Library—Future research directions

This paper starts with a description of the present status of the Digital Library of India Initiative. As part of this initiative large corpus of scanned text is available in many Indian languages and has stimulated a vast amount of research in Indian language technology briefly described in this paper. Other than the Digital Library of India Initiative which is part of the Million Books to the Web Project initiated by Prof Raj Reddy of Carnegie Mellon University, there are a few more initiatives in India towards taking the heritage of the country to the Web. This paper presents the future directions for the Digital Library of India Initiative both in terms of growing collection and the technical challenges in managing such large collection poses.

Digital Library Service Initiative of the Hong Kong Institute of Education Library

This paper presented the philosophy and the design concepts of the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) Library Digital Library Service Initiative, focusing on two in house developed digital library components, EdIS and EdVideo, around its core digital library components of the INNOPAC Integrated Library System, Library Website, electronic resources from vendors. Description on the development of these systems was made.

APPLICATION OF NONLINEAR WATERMARK TECHNIQUES IN DIGITAL LIBRARIES

A digital watermark is an invisible mark embedded in a digital image that may be used for a number of different purposes including copyright protection. Due to the urgent need for protecting the copyright of digital products in digital library, digital watermarking has been proposed as a solution to this problem. This letter describes potential situations that nonlinear theory can be used to enhance robustness and security of the watermark in digital library. Some nonlinear watermark techniques have been enumerated. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme is superior to the general watermark scheme both in security and robustness in digital library.

Management Communication in University’s Digital Library

Digital library is a process of exploiting more scientific methods to construct a social knowledge network. It represents an “extension” from a traditional library. The core and essence is to build a favorable surroundings for knowledge accumulation, knowledge transfer and knowledge communication. Management communication covers information transfer and organization cooperation. Compared with traditional library, the management communication in digital library shoulders the commitment to support knowledge innovation. On the basis of analysis of the connotation of digital library, this paper analysed the aspects of management communication, including communicators, communication styles, contents, channels and outer communication, all of which tries to construct an integrated model of management communication in a digital library and turns a library into an actual “knowledge fountain”.

Mobile Agent Based Framework for Integrating Digital Library System

Few of the current approaches to achieve the integration of digital library system have considered the influence of network factors on quality of service for the integration system of digital libraries. For this reason, a mobile agent based framework for integrating digital library system is proposed. Based on this framework, a prototype system is implemented and the key technique for it are described. Compared with the current approaches, using mobile agent technique to achieve the integration of digital library system can not only avoid transmitting a lot of data on the network, lower the dependence on network bandwidth for the system, but also improve the quality of service for the integration system of digital libraries in intermitted or unreliable network connection settings.

A synchronization scheme for multimedia retrieval in digital libraries over cellular radio networks

Recent advances in wireless mobile computing, digital library, and distributed multimedia technologies are stimulating the development of mobile multimedia digital library systems （ M2DLS） that allow mobile clients to access multimedia material anywhere and anytime over a cellular radio network. This paper addresses the problem of providing synchronized multimedia retrieval in these sys- tems. An efficient inter-media synchronization scheme called wireless prioritized feedback （WPF） for mobile multimedia on-demand retrieval in digital library systems over CDMA cellular radio networks in the absence of synchronized clocks is presented. In the WPF scheme, base stations use preferential lightweight message called feedback units transmitted by mobile mediaphones to detect and correct asynchronies. The algorithm is described with pseudo code, and experiments are described to demonstrate the efficiency of WPF.