A rural virtual health sciences library project: research findings with implications for next generation library services

PURPOSE: The Shared Hospital Electronic Library of Southern Indiana (SHELSI) research project was designed to determine whether access to a virtual health sciences library and training in its use would support medical decision making in rural southern Indiana and achieve the same level of impact seen by targeted information services provided by health sciences librarians in urban hospitals. METHODS: Based on the results of a needs assessment, a virtual medical library was created; various levels of training were provided. Virtual library users were asked to complete a Likert-type survey, which included questions on intent of use and impact of use. At the conclusion of the project period, structured interviews were conducted. RESULTS: Impact of the virtual health sciences library showed a strong correlation with the impact of information provided by health sciences librarians. Both interventions resulted in avoidance of adverse health events. Data collected from the structured interviews confirmed the perceived value of the virtual library. CONCLUSION: While librarians continue to hold a strong position in supporting information access for health care providers, their roles in the information age must begin to move away from providing information toward selecting and organizing knowledge resources and instruction in their use.     

Research practices and scholarly communication in the digital environment

This paper examines changing research practices in the digital environment. A review of the literature and our own field research in Australia suggest that there is a new mode of knowledge production emerging, changing research practices and bringing new information access and dissemination needs. Adjustments will be required to accommodate these changes, but new opportunities are emerging for more cost‐effective and sustainable information access and dissemination. It will be necessary, however, to take an holistic approach and treat the creation, production and distribution of scholarly information, the management of information rights and access, systems of review and evaluation and the underlying infrastructure as parts of a single research information and scholarly communication system.     

Libraries and museums in the flat world: Are they becoming virtual destinations?

In his recent book, “The World is Flat”, Thomas L. Friedman reviews the impact of networks on globalization. The emergence of the Internet, web browsers, computer applications talking to each other through the Internet, and the open source software, among others, made the world flatter and created an opportunity for individuals to collaborate and compete globally. Friedman predicts that “connecting all the knowledge centers on the planet together into a single global network… could usher in an amazing era of prosperity and innovation”. Networking also is changing the ways by which libraries and museums provide access to information sources and services. In the flat world, libraries and museums are no longer a physical “place” only: they are becoming “virtual destinations”. This paper discusses the implications of this transformation for the digitization and preservation of, and access to, cultural heritage resources.     

试论电子政务信息资源的内涵与特点

介绍电子政务信息资源的内涵,认为电子政务信息资源是一种区别于传统政务信息资源的新型信息形式,具有多维性、交互性、集成性、虚拟性、开放性和不安全性等特点;指出建设电子政务信息资源,对政府转变职能、传递政令、反腐倡廉、节约开支、沟通上下、信息集散等都具有重要的意义。     

BioSYNTHESIS: bridging the information gap

BioSYNTHESIS is a prototype intelligent retrieval system under development as part of the IAIMS project at Georgetown University. The aim is to create an integrated system that can retrieve information located on disparate computer systems. The project work has been divided in two phases: BioSYNTHESIS I, development of a single menu to access various databases which reside on different computers; and BioSYNTHESIS II, development of a search component that facilitates complex searching for the user. BioSYNTHESIS II will accept a user's query and conduct a search for appropriate information in the IAIMS databases at Georgetown. For information not available at Georgetown, such as full text, it will access selected remote systems and translate the search query as appropriate for the target system. The search through various computer systems and different databases with unique storage and retrieval structures will be transparent to the user. BioSYNTHESIS I is complete and available to users. The design work for BioSYNTHESIS II is under development and will continue as a multiyear technical research effort of the proposed Georgetown IAIMS implementation project.     

Planning the Virtual Library

The merger of libraries, computer technology, and telecommunications is transforming the access and distribution of information. Librarians should be in the process of visualizing their future and planning the evolution of their libraries into virtual libraries. Virtual libraries should retain all the great characteristics of a good library while maximizing the use of the new technology. This article will outline key steps in planning a virtual library.     

虚拟信息资源体系的用户使用管理

介绍了虚拟信息资源体系的用户使用管理的基本概念、基本功能、基本技术机制和典型范例。     

数字图书馆的用户管理与服务

文章提出了数字图书馆的虚拟用户概念 ,分析了虚拟用户利用信息资源的特点。认为数字图书馆有必要通过用户认证和访问授权的机制对虚拟用户进行管理 ,并研究他们访问和利用数字资源的规律。将数字图书馆复杂的用户界面进行集成和简化、开展网上咨询、提供个性化服务和培训是虚拟用户服务工作的重要内容     

IAIMS at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center: accomplishments and challenges.

The concept of "one-stop information shopping" is becoming a reality at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. Our goal is to provide access from a single workstation to clinical, research, and library resources; university and hospital administrative systems; and utility functions such as word processing and mail. We have created new organizational units and installed a network of workstations that can access a variety of resources and systems on any of seventy-two different host computers/servers. In November 1991, 2,600 different individuals used the clinical information system, 700 different individuals used the library resources, and 900 different individuals used hospital administrative systems via the network. Over the past four years, our efforts have cost the equivalent of $23 million or approximately 0.5% of the total medical center budget. Even small improvements in productivity and in the quality of work of individuals who use the system could justify these expenditures. The challenges we still face include the provision of additional easy-to-use applications and development of equitable methods for financial support.     

RSS技术在数字图书馆中的应用

论文阐述了RSS技术规范及其优点，提出该技术在数字图书馆的门户创建、信息服务和虚拟参考咨询等方面的应用可以为用户提供新的信息获取方式，进一步提高数字图书馆的服务水平，为图书馆的发展带来新的机遇。     

Freedom of information spreads to Europe

Europe is gradually embracing freedom of information principles while at the same time restricting dissemination of information generated by public agencies through electronic databases. Both Britain and Germany are moving to adopt freedom of information laws, and the European Commission has published a regulation allowing access to European institution materials. These developments are important for the rest of the world, including the United States, because the Internet is already becoming a vast virtual library facilitating global access to statutes, court decisions, and administrative agency decisions that make up the raw ingredients of a rule of law. Meanwhile, however, the European Commission issued a directive limiting certain uses of electronic databases, broadly enough drafted to include electronic repositories of primary legal information. This kind of state-sponsored monopoly over public information is inimical to a rule of law and democratic values. Europeans and Americans should work to realize the increased transparency promised by the freedom of information developments, and work to minimize the extent to which the database directive and similar proposals on this side of the Atlantic restrict redissemination of primary legal information.     

Access to learning resources for students on placement in the UK: what are the issues and how can we resolve them?

AIM: To compile a list of the issues regarding access to learning resources which affect students on placement in the UK and suggest some ways in which these can be resolved. RESULTS: Issues relating to PC access, network access, software, firewalls, disciplinary procedures, electronic information resources, virtual learning environments, service level agreements, physical access to libraries, book loans, reading lists and course committees are identified and discussed in relation to NHS libraries. CONCLUSIONS: Successful resolution of the IT and library issues, which are increasingly inter-linked, can help to ensure that students have a positive placement experience. Resolution will depend on close, regular liaison and can be assisted by negotiation of a clear Service Level Agreement.     

Building a Virtual Reference Shelf

While many libraries have access to an extensive amount of quality virtual reference titles through platforms such as Gale Virtual Reference, individual titles are often invisible to users. At the University of Montevallo, building a Virtual Reference Shelf (VRS) allowed us to make e-reference titles more accessible for patrons. We constructed our VRS using LibGuides and our existing collections of virtual reference books. This article will discuss various aspects of creating and using the VRS, including designing, marketing, information literacy instruction, assessment, and future directions. The information is based on a presentation at the Mississippi State University eResources & Emerging Technologies Summit on August 2, 2013.     

数字图书馆的社会模拟技术研究

数字图书馆的非文献资源包括用户、用户产生的信息和用户行动,它们是社会网络、社会媒体与虚拟世界的元数据对象。在虚拟世界系统的基础上(含登记系统、地图系统、动态消息系统、快照系统和库存系统等),讨论数字图书馆能够以用户建模和信息系统模块来发展虚拟科研环境、虚拟校园和虚拟知识型社会等。     

信息技术革命推动信息产业发展

目前多数信息系统仍为人—机系统。信息技术革命将使新一代分布式信息技术被广泛使用 ,开发出包括数字图书馆、远程教育、电子商务、虚拟企业等各种更先进的系统。分布式信息系统包括以人为中心的计算、分布式协同环境、快速合成和仿真工具 4部分。新一代信息技术对信息产业发展具有重要意义。参考文献 5。     

Providing access to local government information: The nature of public library activity

This article focuses on the problems associated with providing access to local government information. The research on which it is based is from a 1986 survey conducted by the author of 265 public libraries in six library systems in northern Illinois, the largest comparative study of public library providers of local government information conducted to date. Fifty-five active providers of local government information (those that received requests for this information at least every two weeks) were identified: the findings are based on telephone and group interviews with key staff of those libraries. The article examines a variety of methods that might be used to increase access to local government information. It analyzes the nature of requests received and the types of responses given by these libraries. It examines the major problems associated with providing access to local government information and discusses the reasons given by librarians for providing access to local government information sources. The article concludes that a serious local government information gap exists and that librarians who seek to over-come it must articulate a role that addresses the serious barriers that must be overcome before a library can provide meaningful access to local government information.     

Democracy through access to legal information for newly democratizing nations: The Kenyan perspective and lessons from the American experience

The rule of law is essential for a country's development process, providing one of the ingredients for stability in newly democratizing countries that eventually promotes strong judicial systems. Likely factors contributing to weaknesses in the judicial systems include the absence of functional legal information systems, especially the availability of judicial decisions, as well as the inability of the populace generally to access legal material and legal information. Taking Kenya as an example and using the US judicial process as a foil, this paper examines the proposition that the availability of judicial decisions in case reporters enhances democracy by increasing judicial transparency and contributing to some predictability in the law, thus enhancing the rule of law. The paper also emphasizes the crucial role that information technology and the Internet could have in advancing access to legal information.     

基于网络的社科信息资源分布及检索策略研究

网络社科信息资源包括 :电子期刊资源、图书信息、报纸资源、学位论文资源、电子论坛和电子会议、网络数据库等。可直接进入网站或数据库、利用搜索引擎、利用专业信息资源导航系统获取信息资源。参考文献 6。     

Accessing Legal and Regulatory Information in Internet Resources and Documents

SUMMARY

The quantity of legal and government information accessible through online delivery has increased tremendously. Information technology has revolutionized the way much of this information is disseminated by government and the way that researchers access it. The increase in publication can be attributed to two factors: the government's efforts to create a virtual depository of publications and the capability of Internet technology to provide personalized “feeds” of topic-specific information through Web logs and RSS news aggregators. In this article, finding tools, primary and secondary sources of legal and regulatory government information will be identified and described including search engines and guides.     

Personal factors and personal information activities behaviors of faculty in selected universities in Ghana

This study examined how demographic characteristics of faculty influence their personal information activities behaviors, namely information creation, information organization, and information storage. Data was collected from a sample of 235 faculty in six universities in Ghana using a questionnaire. Age, gender, rank and university of affiliation predicted personal information activities behaviors in different directions and with different magnitudes. Gender made a difference in information organization and information storage while age made a difference in respect of information creation and information organization only. Faculty ages 4049 years created information the most, followed by those above 50 years. Males stored information more than females. Rank made a difference in information creation, organization and storage, but university of affiliation made a difference in information creation and information storage, and not information organization. It is common among information system designers and managers to implement information management systems without considering the differential influence of personal variables on human information behaviors. This omission denies information users adequate access and maximum use of the information in their information space. Institutional leaders and PIM systems designers should consider demographic and other personal factors of faculty in information literacy programs. Profiling of users' personal characteristics when designing personal information management systems will enhance maximum access and utilisation of personal information.