Archives - Page 2

• August/September

  Vol. 57 No. 6 (2021)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 57, no. 6 (August/September 2021), "Metadata Application Profiles," by Theodore Gerontakos and Benjamin Riesenberg 

  In Library Technology Reports (vol. 57, no. 6), “Metadata Application Profiles,” metadata application profiles (MAPs) are discussed in two broad categories depending on whether or not they adhere to linked-data practices. There exist a broad range of purposes for MAPs, including metadata implementation and interoperability. MAPs have four components: the application, entities, properties, and values. MAP creators gather MAP components from already existing sources, including ontologies, schemas, vocabulary encoding schemes, and syntax encoding schemes. Implementers may present MAPs in human-readable, machine-readable, and hybrid formats. Several examples in the text demonstrate specific MAP features.

• July

  Vol. 57 No. 5 (2021)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 57, no. 5 (July 2021), "Cloud Services for Digital Repositories," by Jarrod Bogucki

  A digital repository can provide a library or similar institution the capability to offer patrons a variety of media and rich cultural collections. Repositories can be robust, valuable resources, but for a library they can be large and potentially difficult to create and manage. Cloud resources offer a wide range of tools and services that can be used to build a repository of any kind and manage it in a sustainable, successful way. Subscription services, development tools, and virtual infrastructure can be used to leverage existing repository software or build a custom repository to exact specifications. Consider the capabilities and shortcomings of cloud resources when creating a digital repository.

• May/June

  Vol. 57 No. 4 (2021)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 57, no. 4 (May/June 2021), "Creating Adaptable Digital Preservation Workflows," by Erin Baucom
  

  Libraries are scaling up their digitization, digital scholarship, digital archiving, and data management programs. All of this effort could be lost to a major failure of technology, a shift in administrative priorities, or a loss of institutional memory. The loss would not just be the materials themselves, but also the resources used to build and promote these collections to users. This issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 57, no. 4), “Creating Adaptable Digital Preservation Workflows,” will help libraries create transparent and enduring digital preservation workflows that will help them maintain consistent and transparent practices when acquiring, accessioning, stabilizing, processing, providing access to, and preserving their digital materials.

• April

  Vol. 57 No. 3 (2021)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 57, no. 3 (April 2021), "Video Accessibility," by Carli Spina 

  Video content is an increasingly important part of library marketing, outreach, instruction, and more. In order for this content to be inclusive for all patrons, it is vital that it be made accessible. However, large quantities of video content are still shared without adequate accessibility features, such as captions, transcriptions, audio descriptions, sign language interpretation, and accessible media players. This issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 57, no. 3), “Video Accessibility,” will help librarians to understand these various accessibility features and how they are used. It will also give them the knowledge and tools necessary to ensure that the videos they share, create, and purchase for their collections are accessible to all patrons.

• February/March

  Vol. 57 No. 2 (2021)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 57, no. 2 (February/March 2021), "Mobile Technology in Libraries," by David Lee King

  Most of your library customers own a smartphone, using it for a variety of tasks. They want to use their smartphones in and around the library. This issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 57, no. 2), “Mobile Technology in Libraries,” presents tools and practices for giving your customers a great experience while connecting with your library. It addresses provisions supporting customers’ mobile use inside the library, such as Wi-Fi and charging stations, or outside the building, offering mobile access for basic library tasks. The report will show ways in which libraries are using mobile technology to address the digital divide, such as circulating hot spots or training, and how staff can use mobile technology to expand services in the community.

• January

  Vol. 57 No. 1 (2021)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 57, no. 1 (January 2021), "Data Visualization with R for Digital Collections," by Monika Glowacka-Musial

  Since the 1990s, libraries have invested in developing digital collections and online services to provide access to historical sources. One way to inspire users to actively engage with these materials is by creating visual contexts for the materials. These visuals provide an overview of a collection’s content and inspire users to experiment with the collection’s data for various purposes, including research.

  This issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 57, no. 1) presents an approach that views digital collections as data that can be mined, analyzed, and visualized by means of the R programming language. R is open source, relatively easy to learn, and supported by an established community of coders. The selection of plots presented in the report includes R scripts, fragments of data tables, and some explanation of the R code used to create the plots.

• November/December

  Vol. 56 No. 8 (2020)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 56, no. 8 (November/December 2020), "Consolidation of the Library Technology Industry," by Marshall Breeding 

  This issue of Library Technology Reports offers an in-depth analysis of the vendor and product environment in libraries over the past thirty years. Mergers and acquisitions have accelerated in the past decade, yet the pattern of maintaining products has nevertheless presented libraries with options and a competitive environment. The report draws extensively from data on vendors and product implementations.

• October

  Vol. 56 No. 7 (2020)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 56, no. 7 (October 2020), "One Country One Library," by Mirela Roncevic 

  
  One Country One Library (OCOL) is an idea to turn countries into open digital libraries via geographic coordinates and to measure the impact of reading materials in each country. The platform, available as a web and mobile application, houses all types of materials, including books, academic journals, general articles, short stories, and guides. It serves as a digital reading room, a self-publishing platform, a learning tool, an information kiosk for tourists, and a powerful new evaluator of the materials’ performance and reader activities. Publishers are paid a participation fee per country and supplied with detailed analytics showing each publication’s score and impact. This issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 56, no. 7), “One Country One Library,” sheds light on the idea as well as on the technology and the business model designed to make the idea sustainable for participating countries, libraries, publishers, authors, and organizations. The goal of the report is to present the OCOL idea in its simplicity as well as its complexity and to encourage librarians and other book professionals to consider building open national digital libraries that serve the needs of the widest possible range of users.

• August/September

  Vol. 56 No. 6 (2020)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 56, no. 6 (August/September 2020), "Library Privacy Policies," by Jason Vaughan 

  Protecting patron privacy in an increasingly distributed online environment is a complex challenge facing libraries. Still, publicly posted privacy policies can empower patrons, allow librarians to share their professional values, and help support sound library operations in the event of information disclosure requests. This issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 56, no. 6), “Library Privacy Policies,” shares results from an analysis of publicly posted privacy policies from one hundred academic and public libraries across the United States. Details on data types, why data is collected, how data is used and protected, and how data may be released are shared. Just as importantly, nuances in how policy text is phrased reveals a richness and emphasizes the adage that “It’s not always what you say, but how you say it.”

• July

  Vol. 56 No. 5 (2020)

  Library Technology Reports vol. 56, no. 5 (July 2020), "Digital Legacy," edited by Heather Moorefield-Lang 

  This issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 56, no. 5), “Digital Legacy,” addresses some of the following questions. How do library community members build their digital lives? Are libraries involved in the building and education of those digital lives? How do we as librarians aid our patrons in understanding the legacies they leave behind in a digital world? Death is a topic often avoided, but the legacy we leave behind in both our physical and digital worlds is important. These legacies deserve recognition. In this report we investigate digital footprints, digital legacy, and digital lives.