Definitions of Virtual Library (^)
- Summary
A Virtual Library is a selected organized collection of units (nodes) of documentary resources
- spread everywhere (space)
- accessible always (time)
where individuals and groups as
- Authors (producers of documents)
- Publishers (editors of documents)
- Readers (users of documents)
are linked across the global electronic network
and relate in different ways to documents that are
- fast and easily obtainable
- available in their full version
in view of satisfying multiple cultural exigencies (information, learning, entertainment, etc.).
- "What does that mean: Virtual Library? I see essentially 5 features ...:
- 1) Your PC is the Library.
2) The Library is a worldwide library.
3) In the Library you are able ... to get direct access to target documents, wherever they may be located on remote machines.
4) The Library is a multimedia store.
5) The multimedia objects in the Library are not closed [but are] ... built up from small information objects, which are related to one another by hyper-links." (pp.270-271)
"... a virtual library universally implies electronic integration of new services with traditional library services. A virtual library may be as limited as an on-line public access catalogue (OPAC) or as comprehensive as using computer networks and electronic resources for announcements of holdings and new developments along with delivery of reports, articles, and books." "The virtual library is also called a desktop library, an online library, an electronic library, or the information superhighway." (p. 253)
"... the virtual library can have many definitions, including:
A library with little or no physical plant of books, periodicals, reading space, or support staff, but one that disseminates selective information directly to distributed library customers, usually electronically.
A more traditional library that has transformed some significant portions of its information delivery channels into electronic format, so that many or most of its customers do not need to visit the library to obtain information.
A library that operates as a nexus of selected information management activities within the organization, some of them centralized, but most of which happen through the efforts of decentralized staff, resources, systems, and even outside suppliers, who are accessible and dispersed throughout the organization." (p. 260)
"An electronic library can be thought of as a new strategy for delivering information, where the full text of documents is available online and may be viewed on personal workstations. An electronic library may be created by two different approaches: the integration of existing electronic documents into an organised, searchable and public collection, or the conversion of an existing paper library into an electronic one." (p. 128)
"To many computer professionals, a digital library is simply a distributed text-based information system, a collection of distributed information services, a distributed space of interlinked information or a networked multimedia information system." (p. 25)
"Many things could be said to constitute the electronic library - a fully automated housekeeping system, electronic access to an organization's internal information over the intranet, external access to the Internet and online databases, a move away from hard copy sources to an increased reliance on instant dial-up and CD-ROM information." (p. 25)
"La bibliothèque virtuelle est une bibliothèque 'sans murs' dont la collection et les services sont mis en réseau et partagés avec les usagers et avec d'autres services." (p. 67)
"The key characteristics of a true virtual library are:
From Current Library to Virtual Library (^)
- Summary
The Library loses the quasi-monopoly as repository of information.
This fact cold mean that the libraries gain:
- new functions
- guiding towards information (general)
- producing databases of local interest (specific)
- new opportunities
- presenting all the documentary resources
without restrictions due to working time, loans, binding and repairing of books, disappearance of paper documents (universal open access);
without limitations due to the format of the document (multimedia library).
The mission of 21st century library is to collect and organize a vast and different complex of information, to put it at disposal of the widest number of users who then are able to solve problems autonomously. In order to reach those goals it will be necessary to overcome 5 obstacles: 1) accessibility from everywhere 2) fast availability of data 3) control on the cost of materials 4) conservation of documents through the new technologies 5) exposition of documents to the public. The author stresses the fact that the library of the future will emerge only if accompanied by the emergence of the reader of the future, an individual capable of using the resources at his disposal.
Brief analysis of the evolution in the access to information (OPAC : on-line public access catalogues) focusing on the supports to information (electronic documents). Following these changes the library risks losing the monopoly of being the mediator and the source of knowledge and has to undergo a transformation in the way it assist and advise the user.
Introduction to the concept of virtual reality and to the elements that characterize it, namely control, similarity and imitation of reality. Many sectors where virtual reality is applied are examined; in particular that of the virtual libraries. The advantages offered by a virtual library are: all the documents can be permanently on exhibit without any type of problem that might affect the physical documents (lost, damaged, on loan, etc.); the documents can be presented in different format; the same document can appear in different places, in different virtual shelves, under different cataloguing indexes, without any problem; the library could even change the physical appearance and structuring according to the demands of the users.
Starting from the concept of 'virtual reality' the author focuses on the term 'virtual' applied to libraries. He arrives to the conclusion that virtual reality is not part of the world of libraries yet (1994). For this reason to him the use of other terms (electronic libraries, libraries without walls, networked libraries) seem more appropriate. When virtual reality becomes current practice, at that moment people will talk about libraries and the term 'virtual' will disappear.
The libraries of the future are characterized by new technological possibilities: networked communication, electronic publishing, hypermedia, groupware, virtual reality, expert systems, knowledge-rich robots. The author analyzes all these aspects and their consequences on how the library of the future will function, focusing the attention on three aspects: nature of documents, ways of reading and communicating, how to search and file information.
The libraries of the future will be based on a plurality of tools and supports for communication, paper included. They will set up 'local area databases' servicing a specific public of users and will be known for the quality of this service. In these new libraries, the dividing line between the librarians, the researcher and the publisher will become less strong and more flexible.
Presentation of a special issue of "Communications of the ACM" on the theme of Digital Libraries. The main topics of this issue are: electronic journals, the SGML and HTML languages, communication software such as Adobe Acrobat; the area of hypermedia with the new possibilities offered for publishing and for presentations using hypertexts and multimedia; the sector of education and digital libraries; and, at the end, a general view on the organization of information like cataloguing, recording and searching data.
Three hypotheses concerning digital libraries are here examined: 1) digital libraries store only documents whose contents and form does not change; 2) digital libraries are based only on digital technology; 3) digital libraries are used by people who operate individually. These hypotheses are considered inappropriate because restrictive. First of all, digital technology allows the production and management of documents in a flexible and dynamic way; secondly, digital libraries can offer documents on different supports; and finally, digital libraries will encourage and offer the possibility of an activity of research in collaboration through the network.
Virtual Library and Electronic Documents (^)
- Summary
- Virtual Libraries are oriented to the organized presentation and circulation through the network of digital or digitalized documents.
These hyper-documents are:
can be easily modified (i.e. corrected)
can be quickly modified (i.e. updated)
fast
in an unlimited number of copies
flexibility (e.g. research tools, aid tools, etc.)
connectivity (interaction between the author and the user of the document; interrelations between documents via hypertext links).
- The development of the electronic library is seen in direct connection with the production and circulation of electronic books. The authors present their 'Hyper-book project' where the hyper-books represent the entities of a hyper-library. Within this scenario, some limitations of traditional libraries (for instance, the reduced availability of exemplars of a book, the consignment time) are overcome. An advantage of the electronic books is represented by the use of intelligent tools that can assist the user simulating the role of a librarian.
- The author examines a series of aspects concerning electronic journals in digital libraries. Among the aspects examined are those of selection, validation, cataloguing, attribution of keywords and presentation. With references to all this, the publisher, the librarian and the user of electronic documents will be affected because of deep changes. A problem that has to be tackled is that of the copyright and of the payments for intellectual creations. From the point of view of reading, some documents that lack hypertext links to other documents will be accessed less and less. It is very likely that the circulation of on line documents will continue to grow.
One of the main aims of the digital libraries is that of offering to the users an access to documents in a very flexible way. Specific systems must be implemented for selecting and presenting information, keeping also into account the demands of users with special needs. Presently the documents should not be seen any longer as static entities, published once far all in a definitive form, but as collections of dynamic units operating through the network, with on-demand access and with the possibility of interactions by the users.
The digital library in support of research activities will make available to the users a collection of data existing in various locations by means of tools easily accessible. This necessitates a long-term effort specifically designed in order to implement the organization (classification) and the conservation (recording) of digital documents. Currently more than ever many are aware that a library consists in the structuring of information more than in the physical building.
The electronic library is seen as an environment made of digital or digitalized texts. The electronic document facilitates the localization, publication and research of information. Centres of e-texts have been set up by many universities. E-texts prefigure a time when information is decentralized by way of networks and is in total transformation. The e-texts centres will probably link with electronic libraries and this means that significant changes are in store for users, authors and librarians.
The author analyzes three types of electronic documents: static documents (they do not change neither in contents nor form); dynamic documents (they can change the form of presentation but not the contents); living documents (they can change continuously as to the form and contents). Electronic books belong to the last category and they represent the bricks for building an electronic library. The author presents a short taxonomy of electronic books and of the electronic libraries that are based on these new communication instruments.
The role of the digital libraries in relation to digital documents is that of facilitating the access, of helping the reader in his digital explorations, of preserving documents and of structuring knowledge.
The author thinks that the digital libraries are "le lieu d'articulation entre les outils automatiques (moteurs de recherche, thesaurus, réseaux sémantiques, réseaux de documents, outils linguistiques ...) et la réflexion humaine sur l'organisation des connaissances." (p. 7) ["the place of connection between the automatic tools (search engines, thesauri, semantic networks, documents networks, linguistic means ...) and the human reflection on how to organize knowledge." (p.7)]
Nowadays (1998) the number of electronic journals keeps increasing. This growth via Internet has dramatically transformed the traditional way of how journals are edited and published. Electronic journals constitute a means for a fast exchange of information within the scientific community. It follows that the libraries have to adapt themselves to the use of these new forms of communication that are having a remarkable impact on documentation. The problem is then how the libraries will manage the resource represented by the electronic journals. (From the presentation by the author)
Information and Learning in the Virtual Library (^)
Summary
Distance learning requires the presence of:
an electronic network + a collection of digital documents =
- a virtual library.
- This would also facilitate informal learning.
- Learning through the use of a virtual library is based on:
- research trails (various explorations towards a goal)
- links between units of information (hypertexts)
- searches of data through the network.
The article analyzes the basic functions of a library and how the introduction of new technologies will transform its role. The author identifies four possible scenarios of development: multimedia libraries (using a variety of means of communication), electronic libraries (providing a wide range of services via computer, for instance on-line research), digital libraries (information is available only on digital support), virtual libraries (virtual reality is used for all sorts of experiences of access to information and exploration).
The author deals with the new challenges linked to the digital revolution concerning the storing, organization and circulation of knowledge. The stress is placed on a new scenario characterized by trails of research, links between units of information and computer assisted research (in French PLAO = poste de lecture assisté par ordinateur). The virtual library is the result of multiple flows of communication.
The authors highlight three different types of learning: formal, informal, professional. All of them can profit from the support offered by a digital library but, especially, the informal learning. Digital libraries are presented as digital schools offering specific courses addressed to the development of certain skills, and also opportunities for a free and creative exploration of various topics (informal learning). To this aim, the digital libraries must provide a set of services by way of individuals or electronic devices; for instance, on demand teachers capable of fulfilling information and orientation needs by the users.
The library of the future will become the link between producers and users of information, in a situation where the different roles of author, publisher and distributor are going to get mixed up. However, faced with the increasing amount of information there is still need for assistance in organizing knowledge.
The essay describes an experience in distance learning that has taken place in three American universities through the Web. The electronic instruments employed were the electronic mail and a Web site storing all the materials related to the course. The site presented also a series of links to other Web sites in the United States and Spain referring to the subject (language and literature of Catalunia). The authors state that distance learning needs electronic libraries. For this reason, the libraries should not only acquire but also develop coursewares.
The Virtual Library and the Role of the Librarians (^)
Summary
With reference to a growing universe of data available to the user, the role of the librarian changes from that of keeper of information to that of
- organizer
- navigator
- validator
- of knowledge.
In other words, the librarian must know how to navigate the sea of hyper-information and must be capable of teaching how to navigate, selecting and suggesting possible routes.
The role of the librarian is moving from being an information keeper to that of information expert. The virtual library demands to the librarians a continuous development in the skills of communication and in the mastery of information technology. The quality of a library is more the result of its librarians that of its stock of books. And this is something that applies even more to the virtual libraries.
The librarians will become knowledge managers through the development of specific training strategies finalized to a productive use of the virtual library by the individuals. The author presents the experience that has taken place at the Bank of Montréal that has made available to its managers 'desktop libraries', that is, computers linked to a network that can access so much selected information that they can be defined as electronic libraries.
The virtual library cannot avoid the aspect of organizing information for the user, even if the user is not physically present. What could change is the need for new parameters capable of assessing the effectiveness of the organization in a virtual library.
In the essay "Technologies Change Organizational and Occupational Structures. Librarian, Cybrarian, or?", Barbara Best-Nichols makes a long list of new possibilities that become available to the librarians (i.e. 'alternatives careers for librarians'). Among them there are the "Abstractors" (summarizing electronic data), the "Evaluators" (assessing information), the "Interpreters" (translating information in a way more accessible to the users), the "Learning Facilitators" (teaching how to navigate the electronic hyperspace), the "Navigators" (localizing electronic data), the "Virtual Librarians" (those who operate on-line receiving and transmitting information to customers-users), the Webmaster (those who design and manage electronic pages).
According to the author, a possible role of the librarian of the future will be that of acting as a gateway for all the resources (traditional and virtual) of a library. This demands the development of skills in computers, information technology and the Internet; the ability to design databases; the need to deal with the rights of accessing electronic documents. An important aspect that will involve the librarian is that of the "metadata" (data about data) and of the "metatagging" (the use of a descriptive field or tag in order to situate a document in a standard way) (see pp. 52-53).
For the new skill required to a librarian, the author refers to the document of the "Special Library Association" : "Competences for Special Librarians of the 21st Century"
Considerations on some Projects of Virtual Library (^)
Summary
- The projects of Virtual Libraries offer some food for thought concerning, for instance:
- the link between Internet as space for exploration and the CD-Rom as support for the information that has been explored
- the need for guides to access, navigation, validation
- the end of the importance attributed to the places where the physical documents are kept
- the continuous dynamic, operating in the various projects of virtual library, that transform the point of arrival in points for a new departure.
Olsen, Jan "Introduction to Cornell University's Albert R. Mann Library" (Library High Tech, issue 47, 1994, pp.32-37) Presentation of the project of the Albert R. Mann research library at the Cornell University. The new library relies on a local area of networked computers, linked to regional and then to an international network. The electronic library of Cornell University offers an access to documentary resources located in various sites and provides assistance for the needs of demanding users. The professional training of the librarians is considered very important for the success of the project.Clayes, Kay "The Journey from Vision to Reality of a Virtual Library" (Special Libraries, Fall 1994, pp.253-257) Short analysis of the aspects related to the implementation of a virtual library. Costs and benefits are deemed to be the main features to be taken into account for the success of the project. What is required is the ability to imagine and plan in view of transforming a point of arrival into a new point of departure. When the individuals realize that they have at their disposal a universe of information, only then the gates will open for new opportunities for everybody, producers and users.Sylge, Caroline "Back to the future. The case of the electronic library" (Managing Information, July-August 1996, pp.25-30) Interviews with professionals of information technology about future scenarios. The main points that are stressed are a productive relationship between professionals and users and the fusion between on-line services and the Internet. In this scenario the role of CD-ROM is to offer a powerful support for storing information. The aim is to access information wherever available (locally or far away), on whatever support (CD-ROM or Internet), starting from the same access point.Teller, Sylvie "Modèle de développement d'une bibliothèque virtuelle sur le Web" (Documentation et Bibliothèques, avril-juin 1997, pp.67-72) Description of the phases for the implementation of a virtual library: design, development, validation, use. Some graphic aids detail the various steps; particular attention is given to the components of the development plan (current situation, targets, promoters, services and products offered, work plan, market analysis, resources available, budget).Duncan, Moira "The Electronic Library at Work" (Managing Information, June 1997, pp.31-34) Interviews with chief librarians and directors of documentation centres about some projects in progress, focusing especially on their related problems. What emerges is that a large amount of available information is not the only aspect to consider for satisfying users needs. What is also important is to offer a guide to the documents and the skills in organizing information. A requirement for the librarian and for the professional is to be able to be not only custodian of information but also navigator and critical evaluator of information.Sherwell, John "Building the Virtual Library: the case of Smithkline Beecham", (Managing Information, June 1997, pp.35-36) Description of the project of virtual library at SmithKline Beecham, one of the most important pharmaceutical companies in the world. During the last years a growing amount of information has been offered, through a network, first to the personnel and then to customers and external users. The main features of this project are (a) the narrowing of the gap between the organization of information and the actual availability of the documents, (b) the loss of importance as to the place where the physical documents are stored (inside or outside the company).
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