Guide to the professional literature

Citation

(2006), "Guide to the professional literature", Online Information Review, Vol. 30 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2006.26430fae.001

Guide to the professional literature

This column is designed to alert readers to pertinent wider journal literature on digital information and research.

Experiments to identify the causes of spam

Ahmed, T. and Oppenheim, C. in Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 58 No. 3, 2006, pp. 156-78

The purpose of this research is to show how spam is generated and what methods have been proposed to combat it. An experiment was conducted whereby a number of e-mail accounts using different ISPs were set up and then checked for spam over a period of nine weeks. The results were compared to two pre-existing e-mail accounts. The types of spam received were classified into broad headings. Financial spam was the biggest single type of spam received, with health-related spam second. The growth in spam over time was noted, as was the volumes of spam received by different ISPs. The effects of using “obvious” names versus unusual ones in the e-mail address were measured, as were those of using spam-filtering software. In the former case, no significant differences were found, but filtering software certainly helped to reduce the volume of spam received. Active involvement in a pornographic site did not, surprisingly, greatly influence the amount of spam received. The biggest single factors affecting the volume of spam received are the length of time the e-mail account has been active and the use, or non-use, of filtering software. It is by no means certain that responding to spam increases the volume of spam received.

Going on ten: community information grows up

Baaske, I. and Zschernitz, R. in Library Hi Tech, Vol. 24 No. 2, 2006, pp. 227-33

This paper provides an example of a successful, long-term online community information network for public libraries looking to enhance their community information resources. It describes the genesis and current development projects of NorthStarNet, an online community information network comprised of 40+ public library community sites in the Chicago suburbs. Needs of communities and libraries regarding web hosting and online community information have changed greatly since the launch of NorthStarNet launched in 1995. Original community sites were so individual that content and usability issues were taking prominence. Development of a unique application allows for the creation and maintenance of sites with graphic and technical sophistication by library staff and community members with limited technical expertise. The new application also supports the aggregation of the community information from the 40+ individual sites to make it globally searchable.

LibX – a Firefox extension for enhanced library access

Bailey, A. in Library Hi Tech, Vol. 24 No. 2, 2006, pp. 290-304

This paper presents LibX, a software module that enhances library access for users by integrating access to the online public access catalogue (OPAC) and to the OpenURL linking server into the Firefox browser. LibX was developed as a Firefox extension. It was implemented using XML user-interface language (XUL) and JavaScript. LibX offers library access through a toolbar user interface, through context menus, and via cues embedded into web pages. LibX can be branded for use in different libraries. LibX demonstrates the power of client-side technology in providing users with direct access to library resources while doing research on the web.

Drafted: I want you to deliver e-government

Bertot, J.C. et al. in Library Journal, 15 August, 2006www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6359866.html

Federal, state and even local governments are putting increasing amounts of their information and services online. Citizens without home computers and/or internet access have few places to turn. One of these places is the local public library which is “often the only place for public Internet access with trained staff”. The decision makers seem content to add yet more computers, but adding sufficient staff to maintain them and/or assist clients is not regarded so positively. Among other scenarios, this article describes how, early in 2006, senior citizens signing up for the Medicare prescription drug plan “were encouraged to seek information and register online”. As a result, public library staff not only had to assist these people in using the internet, but they also had to become familiar with this particular government programme. Those who control the purse strings need to realise that putting more computers in more public libraries is only part of the e-government initiative. There also must be enough trained library staff to support this initiative.

E-journals in Korea: The Electronic Site Licence Initiative

Chae, K.S., Park, J.S. and Choi, H.N. in The Electronic Library, Vol. 24 No. 3, 2006, pp. 322-34

In contrast to paper journal acquisitions, libraries in Korea have obtained collective bargaining power in purchasing electronic journals by forming a strong consortium named the Korea Electronic Site License Initiative (KESLI). KESLI is an epoch-making programme developed in Korea as an attempt to greatly expand the availability of foreign scholarly information by consortia-based purchasing of site licences of electronic journals from publishers and information providers. KESLI operates under the National Digital Science Library (NDSL) project, the purpose of which is to build a national digital library providing a one-click total gateway to foreign scholarly information. This paper aims to describe KESLI and examine its significance for scholarly libraries in Korea. The paper finds that some 400 KESLI members as of the end of June 2005 have voluntarily formed as many sub-consortia by publishers as they wish to join, thus enhancing the use levels of scholarly information to six times higher on average than before. NDSL services, launched on 16 May 2001, enable patrons from KESLI member institutions to download, at a single interface from their desktops, all the licensed electronic journals provided by various publishers/vendors.

Learning from a free-access digital information kiosk in Africa: an objectivist-constructivist investigation

Cronje, J.C. and Burger, D. in Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 58 No. 3, 2006, pp. 218-36

The purpose of this paper is to consider the type of learning that takes place if members of an under-resourced community are exposed to a free-to-use computer that is connected to the internet. Video recordings of the interactions of people at the information kiosk were viewed and transcribed, and subjected to classical analysis to answer the questions posed by the instrument. It was found that this particular information resource contained both objectivist and constructivist elements. Furthermore, it was found that objectivism and constructivism are complementary to one another and the degree of integration varies according to certain pedagogical dimensions. An open-access information portal affords opportunities both for direct instruction and constructivist learning.

TERI Integrated Digital Library Initiative

Deb, S. in The Electronic Library, Vol. 24 No. 3, 2006, pp. 366-79

The paper describes the setting up of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Digital library, which provides better single-window access for researchers to access the structured information from their desktop. The paper describes a case study of TERI’s Integrated Digital Library resources and digitisation in detail and how the digital resources can be accessed through a single window. It also deals with basic problems and suggests practical solutions. The paper finds that TERI Integrated Digital Library has been created to provide access to all digital and digitised offline and online resources, online e-journals, electronic documents and virtual resources, and virtual libraries. The purpose of the integrated library is to provide a single window to researchers, through which they can access all the resources (both digitally born resources and digitised documents). A physical digital library has been created to address access to all the LAN connected systems that provide CD-ROM access and journals and books downloaded or purchased for all time free access to in-house users.

Scenario evaluation of municipal web sites: development and use of an expert-focused evaluation tool

de Jong, M., and Lentz, L. in Government Information Quarterly, Vol. 23 No. 2, 2006, pp. 191-206

Municipal web sites are a prominent product of e-government initiatives worldwide. The internet is becoming increasingly important in the communication between local governments and citizens, which makes the usability of municipal web sites a critical factor in government-citizen communication. A current approach to ensure the quality of municipal web sites is by means of expert evaluation. Various studies, however, have shown that communication professionals cannot adequately predict the problems web users will experience. In this article, the possibilities are explored of a new expert-focused approach for evaluating municipal web sites, which helps experts to focus on users’ needs. A scenario evaluation method was developed and used to evaluate 15 municipal web sites. The method involves presenting experts with realistic usage scenarios, combined with limited sets of user characteristics and evaluation criteria. The scenario evaluation method and its underlying principles are discussed, and preliminary findings about the method’s strengths and weaknesses are presented.

Consider the source: predictors of online citation permanence in communication journals

Dimitrova, D.V. and Bugeja, M. in portal: Libraries and the Academy, Vol. 6 No. 3, 2006, pp. 269-83

This study focuses on six leading communication journals and their use of online citations in articles published between 2000 and 2003. The study uses content analysis to explore if there is a relationship between citation characteristics and their stability. The findings show that online citations in the.gov and.org domains are more likely to remain accessible over time. Year of publication and URL level also emerged as significant predictors of online citation permanence. More than 37 per cent of the online citations have disappeared from the original source over a four-year period (2000-2003). The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of reliability and replicability of scholarship.

Internet users’ privacy concerns and beliefs about government surveillance: an exploratory study of differences between Italy and the United States

Dinev, T. et al. in Journal of Global Information Management, Vol. 14 No. 4, 2006, pp. 57-93

The study examines differences in individual privacy concerns and beliefs about government surveillance in Italy and the USA. By incorporating aspects of multiple cultural theories, we argue that for both countries, the user decision to conduct e-commerce transactions on the internet is influenced by privacy concerns, perceived need for government surveillance that would secure the internet environment from fraud, crime and terrorism, and balancing concerns about government intrusion. An empirical model was tested using LISREL structural equation modelling and multi-group analysis. The results support the hypotheses with regard to direction and relative magnitude of the relationships. Italians exhibit lower Internet privacy concerns than individuals in the USA, lower perceived need for government surveillance, and higher concerns about government intrusion. The relationships among the model constructs are also different across the two countries.

E-government: evolving relationship of citizens and government, domestic and international development

Evans, D. and Yen, D.C. in Government Information Quarterly, Vol. 23 No. 2, 2006, pp. 207-35

The purpose of this study is to explore the emerging applications of e-government in the USA and the international community. IT allows governments to service citizens in a more timely, effective and cost-efficient method. E-government implementation may meet initial citizen resistance, require cultural sensitivity and change the way citizens and governments relate to each other. There is a focus on the domestic and international state of e-government and the importance of citizen acceptance of e-government.

Dipping their big toe into the blogosphere – the use of weblogs by the political parties in the 2005 General Election

Jackson, N. in Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 58 No. 4, 2006, pp. 292-303

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of weblogs by political parties in the 2005 general election campaign. It seeks to identify why, why not, and how parties used their weblogs during the election campaign. The weblogs of the five political parties which had a weblog were assessed, and eight party e-campaigners were interviewed. The findings contrast with those of studies of the 2004 US presidential campaign where blogs appeared to play a significant campaigning role. Rather, in the UK party blogs were essentially used as one-way communication channels which added colour to party web sites. As a result, such weblogs may have encouraged visitors to return because of some form of voyeurism, but they were not either effective conversational, campaigning, or promotional tools.

Assessing Section 508 compliance on federal e-government web sites: a multi-method, user-centered evaluation of accessibility for persons with disabilities

Jaeger, P.T. in Government Information Quarterly, Vol. 23 No. 2, 2006, pp. 169-90

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires US federal e-government web sites to be accessible to persons with disabilities. This article details a multi-method, user-centred study of the accessibility of federal e-government sites that addresses the complexities of accessibility and the reasons for continued inaccessibility on federal e-government sites. By employing policy analysis, user testing, expert testing, automated testing and a survey of federal web developers, this study provides a multi-dimensional, user-centred portrait of the levels of accessibility of federal e-government web sites, reasons for the current levels of accessibility, and perceptions about accessibility.

University of Waterloo Electronic Theses: issues and partnerships

Jewell, C., Oldfield, W., and Reeves, S. in Library Hi Tech, Vol. 24 No. 2, 2006, pp. 183-96

The purpose of this paper is to discuss issues associated with open access (OA) to electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) and to describe the University of Waterloo (UW) E-thesis Project and its partnerships with Theses Canada and the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. UW E-thesis Project decisions on issues associated with electronic submission are presented. Partnerships with Theses Canada and the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations are described and the goals and activities of these organisations are outlined. Author-created metadata form the UW E-theses searchable database of records that link to theses in full text. The metadata are OAI compliant and are harvested by Theses Canada and the ETD Union Catalog. The E-theses Project supports authors’ rights while minimising access restrictions and encourages innovations while respecting the value of gradually evolving thesis standards and traditions. The success of the UW E-thesis Project illustrates that progress can be made toward the OA paradigm for theses and dissertations while upholding perennial values. Collaborations with like-minded organisations support and advance these goals.

The CARL metadata harvester and search service

Jordan, M. in Library Hi Tech, Vol. 24 No. 2, 2006, pp. 197-210

This paper explains the background, functionality and content of the CARL metadata harvester and search service, http://carl-abrc-oai.lib.sfu.ca/, and outlines plans for improving the service. The paper documents the use of unqualified Dublin Core (uDC) elements in the metadata harvested from the repositories participating in the CARL harvester, and identifies patterns in the use of that metadata. It also compares these findings with a similar study, and identifies areas for further research.

Full text psychology journals available from popular library databases

Joswick, K.E. in Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 32 No. 4, 2006, pp. 349-54

The author identified 433 core journals in psychology and investigated their full text availability in popular databases. While 62 per cent of the studied journals were available in at least one database, access from individual databases ranged from 1.4 per cent to 38.1 per cent of the titles. The full text of influential psychology journals is not as accessible as the database producers would like librarians to believe.

Accessing digital libraries: a study of ARL members’ digital projects

Kahl, C.M. and Williams, S.C. in Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 32 No. 4, 2006, pp. 364-9

To ensure efficient access to and integrated searching capabilities for their institution’s new digital library projects, the authors studied web sites of the Association of Research Libraries’ (ARL) 111 academic, English-language libraries. Data were gathered on 1117 digital projects, noting library web site and project access, metadata, and project types.

Electronic Book Usage: A Survey at the University of Denver

Levine-Clark, M. in portal: Libraries and the Academy, Vol. 6 No. 3, 2006, pp. 285-99

In spring 2005 the University of Denver’s Penrose Library surveyed its users to determine their degree of awareness of electronic books, how and why they use them, and their level of satisfaction with the format. It is clear from vendor-supplied usage statistics that electronic books are used, but it is not clear how or why they are used. The survey addressed electronic books in general and netLibrary specifically. Survey results show that e-books are used by about half of the campus community. Of these users, most utilise them only occasionally. These e-book users like the convenience of being able to access materials from home and the ability to search within the text. Most respondents read only small portions of e-books, suggesting perhaps that print volumes are a better alternative for immersion in the text. Most respondents indicate a preference for print books over electronic, but an even larger number indicate a degree of flexibility between the two formats.

Virtual reference in the age of pop-up blockers, firewalls and service pack 2

Lupien, P. in ONLINE Magazine, Vol. 30 No. 4, 2006www.infotoday.com/online/jul06/Lupien.shtml

Lupien identifies a “minefield of obstacles” to providing virtual reference services with full-featured commercial virtual reference software. Such applications can provide a sophisticated interaction with the library user, including screen sharing and co-browsing, but this high level of interaction comes at a price. The full cost of this type of interaction is identified here, with such problems as pop-up blockers, users sequestered behind firewalls, and operating system upgrades getting in the way. All of this Lupien uses as an introduction to Instant Messaging (IM) as a possible substitute or replacement, while acknowledging that it provides many fewer features for both the user and the library.

Defining the digital divide: the role of e-readiness indicators

Luyt, B. in Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 58 No. 4, 2006, pp. 276-91

The purpose of this paper is show how e-readiness indicators, specifically the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), participate in the work of defining policy problems. The article critically examines the NRI in terms of its presentation and its underlying model. It relies on an approach to policy analysis that views policy problems as socially constructed. E-readiness assessment tools purport to show how ready the nations of the world are to exploit the potential of new information and communication technologies. Yet they do more than that; being actively engaged in constructing policy problems. In the case of the NRI, the problem of the international digital divide is defined in a particular way that privileges certain interests while at the same time legitimising its inclusion on the agenda of international organisations as a problem worthy of sustained attention.

Digitizing the non-digital: creating a global context for events, artifacts, ideas and information

MacPherson, D.L. in Information Technology and Libraries, Vol. 25 No. 2, 2006, pp. 95-102

This paper discusses some of the problems associated with search and digital-rights management in the emerging age of interconnectivity. An open-source system called Context Driven Topologies (CDT) is proposed to create one global context of geography, knowledge domains, and internet addresses, using centralised spatial databases, geometry, and maps. The same concept can be described by different words, the same image can be interpreted a thousand ways by every viewer, but mathematics is a set of rules to ensure that certain relationships or sequences will be precisely regenerated. Therefore, unlike most of today’s digital records, CDTs are based on mathematics first, images second, words last. The aim is to permanently link the highest quality events, artefacts, ideas, and information into one record documenting the quickest paths to the most relevant information for specific data, users, and tasks. A model demonstration project using CDT to organise, search, and place information in new contexts while protecting the authors’ intent is also introduced.

The materiality of digital collections: theoretical and historical perspectives

Manoff, M. in portal: Libraries and the Academy, Vol. 6 No. 3, 2006, pp. 311-25

Digital and textual objects are coming under a new kind of scrutiny as scholars are becoming more interested in physical artefacts and their relation to their social and cultural environment. This study of material culture suggests a need to explore the nature of digital materiality, as well as the broader historical context in which electronic objects and collections are created. The essay analyses the implications of this work and related research into the ways in which knowledge is shaped by the technologies used to produce and distribute it. Understanding the materiality of digital and textual objects will be crucial for charting the future of libraries.

Evaluation of web sites for B2C e-commerce

Oppenheim, C., and Ward, L. in Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 58 No. 3, 2006, pp. 237-60

The purpose of this research is to report the results of research that was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of a number of web sites selling chocolate. The research was founded on a series of criteria for evaluating such web sites, based on a review of the literature. A series of criteria were developed and a scoring system associated with them was generated. Following a pilot test, a panel of eight volunteers evaluated ten chocolate-related web sites which were carefully chosen for their range of characteristics. Aspects evaluated included presentation, content, accessibility, language. navigation and structure, transaction page, security, privacy and authority. and marketing factors. The resulting scores were then analysed. Using two different methods of analysis. it was found that the best web site was www.danschocolates.com, but that there was significant inter-scorer discrepancy in some of the scores assigned.

Multi-document summarization of news articles using an event-based framework

Ou, S.Y., Khoo, C.S.G. and Goh, D.H. in Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 58 No. 3, 2006, pp. 197-217

The purpose of this research is to develop a method for automatic construction of multi-document summaries of sets of news articles that might be retrieved by a web search engine in response to a user query. Based on the cross-document discourse analysis, an event-based framework is proposed for integrating and organising information extracted from different news articles. It has a hierarchical structure in which the summarised information is presented at the top level and more detailed information given at the lower levels. A tree-view interface was implemented for displaying a multi-document summary based on the framework. A preliminary user evaluation was performed by comparing the framework- against the sentence-based summaries. In a small evaluation all the human subjects preferred the framework- to the sentence-based summaries. It indicates that the event-based framework is an effective way to summarise a set of news articles reporting an event or a series of relevant events.

Google Scholar and 100 per cent availability of information

Pomerantz, J. in Information Technology and Libraries, Vol. 25 No. 2, 2006, pp. 52-6

This paper discusses Google Scholar as an extension of Kilgour’s goal to improve the availability of information. Kilgour was instrumental in the early development of the online library catalogue, and he proposed passage retrieval to aid in information seeking. Google Scholar is a direct descendent of these technologies foreseen by Kilgour. Google Scholar holds promise as a means for libraries to expand their reach to new user communities, and to enable libraries to provide quality resources to users during their online search process.

Information resource managers and e-government effectiveness: a survey of Texas state agencies

Reddick, C.G. in Government Information Quarterly, Vol. 23 No. 2, 2006, pp. 249-66

This study examines the views of information resource managers (IRMs) in Texas state agencies on e-government. The existing empirical research has focused on what local governments provide in terms of e-government information and services and less on the perspectives of key e-government decision makers. This study fills this void by examining how e-govemment had an impact on management of state agencies. Theories and expectations are provided on what the literature argues are the most important impacts of e-government on management. Specifically, these are the reinventing government movement, external environmental pressures, resource capacity, and demographic factors. A survey of Texas state agency IRMs was administered in the late spring of 2005 and the results are reported in this study. The findings revealed that the reinventing government movement, external environmental pressures, and resource capacity were the most important factors that had an impact on e-govemment management capacity. In this study the size of state agency was not found to be as important. Future research should focus more on state e-government management, an often-neglected area of research.

Using the library intranet to manage web content

Robbins, S., Engel, D. and Bierman, J. in Library Hi Tech, Vol. 24 No. 2, 2006, pp. 261-72

The University of Oklahoma Libraries (UL) has created content management tools located on the staff intranet. These tools allow library personnel to control the content on the web site while the library systems office maintains site navigation and consistent site design. These tools have been in place for approximately three years, but this study is the first formal evaluation of these systems. To evaluate usage of the content management tools in place at UL, the authors surveyed all levels of library personnel to see how they utilize the library intranet to manage web site content. The authors examined both self-reported usage of the staff intranet and data collected from the systems office about actual usage. This study provides insight on the intended use of content management systems versus the actual usage of these systems. Future research should focus on how CMS is being used by regular users of the systems rather than usage of the system as a whole. Survey results were skewed by including student workers who seldom have reason to use the intranet or CMS tools within the scope of their positions.

Buyers’ choice of online search strategy and its managerial implications

Sen, R., King, R.C. and Shaw, M.J. in Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 23 No. 1, 2006, pp. 211-38

The internet offers several tools such as shopping bots and search engines that help potential buyers search for lower prices. This paper defines buyers’ online search strategy as using one or more of these tools to search for lower prices, and empirically investigates the validity of economics of information search theory in explaining buyers’ choice of a particular online search strategy. We find that buyers’ attitudes toward the price offered by their preferred online seller, their perception of online price dispersion, and their awareness of shopping agents have a significant effect on their choice of online search strategy. An understanding of buyers’ choice of online search strategies can help an online seller to estimate its expected probability of making an online sale, optimise its online pricing, and improve its online promotional and advertising activities.

How digital libraries can support e-learning

Sharifabadi, S.R. in The Electronic Library, Vol. 24 No. 3, 2006, pp. 389-401

Digital libraries have the potential to offer unprecedented resources for supporting e-leaming. This paper addresses and discusses such aspects as what is meant by “e-learning”, and how can it be supported by the library environment, the functionality of the digital library; and how e-learning resources are included and organised in the digital library. The paper explores the advantages of digital libraries for e-learning and the types of learning that can be supported by digital libraries. There is undoubtedly a keenness to use online information resources for research and teaching, but this seems to be matched by a lack of awareness of how best to integrate these resources into the e-leaming environment.

How hypertext links influence consumer perceptions to build and degrade trust online

Stewart, K.J. in Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 23 No. 1, 2006, pp. 183-210

This paper suggests and empirically supports the propositions that a link between two organisations’ web sites will have simultaneous effects on trust in both the link sender and the link recipient, and that these effects result from interactions among the reputation of the link recipient, trust in the link sender, and the perceived relationship of the linked organisations. The study finds that the perceived relationship caused by a link leads to positive effects for the less reputable of the linked organisations, but negative effects for the more reputable organisation. These effects are exaggerated or attenuated depending on the reputation of the organisation that sends the link. The effect of presenting the link as an advertisement or a link to a partner was also examined, but no effect was uncovered, raising the question of how organisations may effectively differentiate links on their web sites.

Visualizations for digital libraries

Wan, G. in Information Technology and Libraries, Vol. 25 No. 2, 2006, pp. 88-94

The concept of digital libraries is familiar to both librarians and library patrons today. These new libraries have broken the limits of space and distance by delivering information in various formats via the internet. Since most digital libraries contain a colossal amount of information, it is critical to design more user-friendly interfaces to explore, understand, and manage their content. One important technique for designing such interfaces is information visualisation. Although computer-aided information visualisation is a relatively new research area, numerous visualisation applications already exist in various fields today. Furthermore, many library professionals are also starting to realise that combining information visualisation techniques and current library technologies, such as digital libraries, can help library users find information more effectively and efficiently. This article first discusses three major tasks that most visualisation for digital libraries emphasise, and then introduces several current applications of information visualisation for digital libraries.

Using Ajax to empower dynamic searching

Wusteman, J., and O’hlceadha, P. in Information Technology and Libraries, Vol. 25 No. 2, 2006, pp. 57-64

The use of Ajax, or Asynchronous JavaScript + XML, can result in web applications that demonstrate the flexibility, responsiveness, and usability traditionally found only in desktop software. To illustrate this, a repository meta-search user interface, OJAX, has been developed. OJAX is simple, unintimidating but powerful. It attempts to minimise upfront user investment and provide immediate dynamic feedback, thus encouraging experimentation and enabling interactive learning. This article introduces the Ajax approach to the development of interactive web applications and discusses its implications. It then describes the OJAX user interface and illustrates how it can transform the user experience.

Electronic publishing in archaeology

Xia, J.F. in Journal of Scholarly Publishing, Vol. 37 No. 4, 2006, pp. 270-87

Electronic publishing has currently achieved varying degrees of success in different academic disciplines. This article briefly reviews the exercise of electronic publishing in archaeology and introduces some major efforts in its development. By looking at the challenges and opportunities of these digital projects, the article attempts to pinpoint potential directions of development. An involvement of e-print repositories in supporting archaeological scholarly communication is proposed.

Collection development and diversity on CIC academic library web sites

Young, C.L. in Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 32 No. 4, 2006, pp. 370-6

CIC library web sites were examined to determine how diversity related to collections was represented. As diversity in collection development is frequently highlighted by broader diversity initiatives, other diversity pages on these sites were explored as well. In the majority of cases, neither diversity collection development nor diversity was represented under a particular heading or site. Recommendations are made for incorporating diversity collections and diversity information on the web.

Web documents’ cultural masculinity and femininity

Zahedi, F., Pelt, W.V. and Srite, M. in Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 23 No. 1, 2006, pp. 87-128

As online information dissemination and e-commerce transactions become globally popular, understanding the cultural aspects of web site documents will gain critical importance. Hidden cultural dimensions could facilitate or inhibit the usability and communication effectiveness of web sites. However, few studies have investigated the existence of cultural dimensions in web sites. This study identifies cultural signifiers of web documents as they relate to the masculinity-femininity dimension. Comparing and contrasting web sites aimed predominantly at either men or women, the study uses grounded theory for constant comparison and categorisation of data. Drawing from the literature of semiology, the researchers identify the signifiers and myths for the masculinity and femininity of web documents, and report on the possible presence of masculine and feminine androgyny. The researchers report on the contributions of their research in three ways: the knowledge of cultural signifiers raises managers’ and researchers’ awareness of cultural contents of web documents, and may lead to improvement in clarity and communication effectiveness; the study highlights contrasts and contradictions inherent in masculine and feminine modes of web document development, raising questions about cultural messages within web documents that could distort communication and promote cultural values not shared by members of the targeted community; and the concept of androgyny is introduced as playing a possible role in reducing such distortions.

Effectively incorporating instructional media into web-based information literacy

Zhang, L. in The Electronic Library, Vol. 24 No. 3, 2006, pp. 294-306

The paper seeks to explore and discuss in detail the application of instructional media features in developing web-based library instruction in order to strengthen students’ online learning experience. The paper surveys research findings on instructional media features that can be incorporated into library instruction in the web environment. The effective use of media elements such as text, colour, graphics, navigation systems, audio, video, as well as the implementation of interaction and feedback, are analysed. Exemplary illustrations supplement the discussions of guidelines for the design of successful online library tutorials. Academic libraries are taking advantage of technological innovations to extend instructional opportunities and enrich traditional classroom-based bibliographic instruction. Web-based library instruction requires more than duplicating print instructional materials on the web. Good online information tutorials should effectively incorporate multiple instructional media into the web presence to convey the instruction in multi-stimulating ways.