Md. Nazmul Islam, Md. Nurul Islam, Egbert de Smet and Md. Shahajada Masud Anowarul Haque
Reference service of any type of library can be offered over the Internet in real-time that we meant here Virtual Reference Service or VRS, in short. Virtual reference service is…
Abstract
Reference service of any type of library can be offered over the Internet in real-time that we meant here Virtual Reference Service or VRS, in short. Virtual reference service is an online and interactive text-based communication service through which it is possible to provide the reference service of a library or a group of libraries to their distant users using a set of modern communication-based technologies. This paper is based on the results of experimental research. It mainly focuses on the customization process of Zoho chat in the ABCD site module to provide a virtual reference service from the library website. There is very little research across the globe that addresses the implementation and customization process of chat-based widget embedded into web pages, which is a key-focusing area of the current study.
Details
Keywords
The CDS/ISIS software for textual data management, distributed by Unesco and now gaining popularity in the Third World and non‐profit organisations, proves to combine enough power…
Abstract
The CDS/ISIS software for textual data management, distributed by Unesco and now gaining popularity in the Third World and non‐profit organisations, proves to combine enough power and flexibility to serve as a development environment for a public access database of community information full‐text records. This article describes how CDS/ ISIS has been used and adapted to this end and discusses some features of the GIDS‐system, in which a public access interface and an electronic logbook for research on the system's use are most central.
Although the new J-ISIS software from UNESCO, based on Berkeley DB and Lucene technology, complies with some of the technical requirements as seen necessary for digital library…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the new J-ISIS software from UNESCO, based on Berkeley DB and Lucene technology, complies with some of the technical requirements as seen necessary for digital library applications, an easy way of building collections so far was not available. The purpose of this paper is to give a report on some necessary DL technological requirements, such as the capability to deal with any metadata structure and alphabets and full-text indexing of documents of any length, and how J-ISIS can deal with these, as well as on the production of the DL interface for digital library applications based on Tika technology.
Design/methodology/approach
A brief comparison is made with a well-established DL software, i.e. Greenstone Digital Library, regarding the concepts and performance.
Findings
While using a quite different architecture and approach, the test shows that J-ISIS can process the documents faster and with more economical storage efficiency, inviting UNESCO to invest more into it in order to allow incorporation of some more advanced features like Greenstone's capability to process intra-document segments and images, but also to allow for new exciting features for digital libraries such as interactivity.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on the J-ISIS prototype implementation of digital library technology and could only be tested on a limited set of documents.
Practical implications
Librarians interested in building digital library collections, esp. when doing this integrated with their library systems and catalogs, have a viable new option now within the FOSS-market.
Originality/value
This is the first description on J-ISIS for digital libraries.
Details
Keywords
Sangeeta Namdev Dhamdhere, Egbert De Smet and Ramdas Lihitkar
The purpose of this paper is to give technical information about the application of ABCD open source software for managing institutional repository of electronic theses and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to give technical information about the application of ABCD open source software for managing institutional repository of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) at various levels with illustrations.
Design/methodology/approach
Practical method and programming in the ABCD software for building ETD repository and its management
Findings
ABCD software is an excellent tool for creating institutional repository (IR) and manages it at various levels and to create ETD portal.
Practical implications
The paper describes using ABCD software how one can create database of ETDs, how to submit ETDs in full text or abstract, how to search, how to implement it in open archive environment and simplicity of making union catalogue of ETD repositories on one platform of ABCD portal.
Social implications
The process of ETD management and IR building using ABCD open source software will be useful to all the new institutions, colleges, universities, national libraries, international organizations who want to initiate the process of building ETD repository.
Originality/value
The development team of ABCD software is still in process of releasing 2.0 versions and to develop tool for IR and ETD management. In this paper attempt has been made to describe with illustrations that how the software is making progress towards ETD management or building IR. One of the author is main project leader of ABCD open source software.
Details
Keywords
The “advanced loans” module of the relatively new library software, ABCD, is an addition to the normal loans module and it offers a “generic transaction decision‐making engine”…
Abstract
Purpose
The “advanced loans” module of the relatively new library software, ABCD, is an addition to the normal loans module and it offers a “generic transaction decision‐making engine” funtionality. The module requires extra installation effort and parameterisation, so this article aims to explain to the many potentially interested libraries, especially from the target‐group of ABCD users, why and how to use the module in comparison with the basic loans module.
Design/methodology/approach
After a brief history the technical concepts of the software and the required technical skills to use them are described.
Findings
The article concludes that for libraries with specific conditions (external user registration, high transactional volumes, multi‐policy) the extra burden of installing the software might be worth the effort.
Practical implications
The installation and configuration of the software are briefly described and the possible gains offered by the software are highlighted.
Originality/value
Potential users of the ABCD software will get useful information for helping to decide whether to use the additional advanced loans module.
Details
Keywords
H.H. Berhe and E. de Smet
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility to use J‐ISIS software for digital libraries (DL), and to identify/implement the necessary software elements.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility to use J‐ISIS software for digital libraries (DL), and to identify/implement the necessary software elements.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach was three‐fold: first, testing the required features for DL, e.g. large‐file handling capabilities, full‐text indexing, UNICODE; second, implementing into the existing code an easy interface to build collections, respecting the ISIS‐philosophy of freedom of structure (e.g. integration into and creation of any meta‐data set); and third, performing preliminary performance tests comparing to the Greenstone software.
Findings
The claims of large‐file handling, UNICODE and full‐text searching were confirmed, however some JAVA code had to be adjusted for reaching the goals re document sizes and speed. The interface is based on existing data‐entry worksheets: when a DL field is recognized, a special icon allowing uploading of the document is shown, the text is extracted (using Apache Tika) and normal storage and indexing is applied while the ISIS‐PFT creates the URL to the original document. All this was found to work very fast in a 200 documents test, in fact faster than GSDL, with especially more efficiency in storage space.
Originality/value
The paper shows that UNESCO's ISIS‐software users have now the possibility to use known technology for DL purposes, without needing to learn a new software. When no end‐user submission or large batch‐processing of documents is needed, this solution is quite practical, esp. for smaller libraries. This project is the first to experiment with J‐ISIS for DL purposes and hopes to raise interest in the acceptance of this new ISIS‐generation.
Details
Keywords
Although there are many articles on CDS/ISIS which describe projects in which conversion techniques are used, there is very little literature about the conversion programs…
Abstract
Although there are many articles on CDS/ISIS which describe projects in which conversion techniques are used, there is very little literature about the conversion programs themselves.This paper provides an overview of the conversion process and gives brief descriptions of some of the available programs.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to NewGenLib 3.0, as well as a case study which seeks to document the experiences of using NewGenlib3.0.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to NewGenLib 3.0, as well as a case study which seeks to document the experiences of using NewGenlib3.0.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides description on technology used and the architecture of NewGenlib3.0. It also documented the experience of using NewGenlib 3.0 in the Learning Resource Center of Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology as well as views about NewGenLib3.0 from participants of OSS workshops.
Findings
Use of well designed system analysis along with well tested and widely supported OSS components and opens standards makes it a very user friendly and reliable Integrated Library Management software which can be easily implemented in a library without much technical hand or a rigorous training program. The open source development process facilitated the sharing and collaboration that made this rapid improvement possible.
Research limitations/implications
In this paper, NewGenLib version 3.0.3 U5 has been tested and used, but 3.0.4 R1 released recently has not been tested.
Practical implications
The paper will help other libraries that are considering the possibility of using Open Source Integrated Library Management software in determining the most suitable one.
Originality/value
The paper provides a unique account of a library's experience as well as software architectures and some evaluation by workshop participants.