World Digital Libraries - An international journal - Volume 5, issue 1

Authors: Seadle, Michael

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120001

Citation: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. v-v, 2012

Authors: Mandal, Achintya K | Roy, Utpal

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In a digital library environment, the delivery and management of e-content is still a challenging task. The present study addresses an easy-to-implement technique applicable for the management of e-content and its delivery in digital library. The experiment has been performed upon some paper-based derived digital documents of many variants. The idea behind it is that the non-text region of a book-page, mainly the white margin around four sides and the space between two paragraphs have been discarded during scanning and then the conventional algorithm has been applied for removing the obvious noise incurred during scanning process. In essence, a reasonable …amount of storage space is saved when such a document is placed in the secondary memory of the digital library server. Obviously, the web request for such pages is served in a better speed than usual. Moreover, a margin resetting algorithm in client side is applied to return these pages in its original form. Considering, mainly the storage space and the access speed while serving web request, the obtained results have some positive implications towards the problem of e-content management and its delivery in digital library system. Show more

Keywords: Digital Library, Content Management, Content Delivery, Derived Digital Document and Document Images

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120002

Citation: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1-10, 2012

Authors: Das, Suprabhat | Banerjee, Shibabroto | Mitra, Pabitra

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Most of India's literature was written in Bengali since the beginning of the 19th century. Hundreds of authors have contributed to the enrichment of Bengali literature for years. Besides that, nearly 300 million people around the world speak in Bengali. The language, having a rich traditional background and popularity throughout the world, must be taken care for the web users in the present era of World Wide Web (WWW). The digitization of Bengali literary works and the development of the search engine is very important for the benefit of the Bengali language users all over the world. The paper describes …Anwesan, a search engine for Bengali literature. Currently the entire work of Rabindranath Tagore and a part of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's work is searchable through Anwesan. Several advanced search features necessary for simple and expert users are supported. It also serves as a digital library with various metadata information. The engine is implemented by customizing DSpace in Bengali language and is perhaps the most exhaustive exercise in this direction. This search system was primarily open for the public in Kolkata Book Fair 2010 only with Rabindra Rachanabali collection. Since then, its been in high use. Show more

Keywords: Digitization, Anwesan, Rabindranath Tagore, Information retrieval, Metadata search

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120003

Citation: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 11-18, 2012

Authors: Zainab, A N

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: There are problems in (a) identifying the entire scholarly journals published in Malaysia, (b) locating and accessing the journals, (c) knowing who has published what and in which journals; (d) assessing the indexation status of the journals; and the citation received and general impact count of the journals. The Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is used to frame the study, especially in determining the problem situations, extracting the problems and proposing a solution in rich pictures, initiating the prototype, comparing existing process with those of the proposed system and making improvements from feedback. The prototype MyAIS or Malaysian Abstracting and Indexing …System is described, especially the features that adds value to the system and motivate journal publishers and authors to contribute to the system in order to increase availability and accessibility. Show more

Keywords: Indexing, Abstracting, Malaysia, Citations, General impact, Scholarly journals

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120004

Citation: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 19-35, 2012

Authors: Waheed, Abdul

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper attempts to discuss key issues surrounding the collection management of electronic books (e-books) with a developing country perspective. The libraries have witnessed the emergence of e-books in recent years by major publishers and content providers. With the expansion of electronic publishing, research and academic libraries have started to complement their print holdings with electronic publications. The market for electronic publication seems to be in constant change and collection developers and acquisition managers, especially in libraries, find themselves disillusioned as new methods of electronic publishing and accessing are emerging. Libraries are in a transition period from conventional to digital …formats and have not yet developed common practices and traditions on policy for digital material. The paper discussed the evolution, chronology, collection development, evaluation, delivery, and archiving of e-books. It focuses on contemporary management from the perspective of a librarian concerned with Collection Management. Status of e-books collection of Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan's Digital Library Program (HEC-DLP), a milestone project in the scholastic history of the country, has also been discussed. Moreover, some practical steps for local creation of e-books have been proposed. The paper concludes by highlighting major challenges faced by libraries in collection management and management of e-books. The paper is an outcome of the review of published literature in the reputed LIS journals on the topic, and writer's 20 years' first hand experience of administrating the prestigious academic libraries including the oldest Punjab University and modern GC University Lahore. Show more

Keywords: Electronics Books, Collection Management, Academic Libraries, Developing Countries, Pakistan

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120005

Citation: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 37-49, 2012

Authors: Elaiess, Ramadan

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The world is witnessing a considerable transformation from print to electronic-based formats thanks to advanced computing technology. This has had a profound impact on the dissemination of nearly all previous formats of publication into digital formats on computer networks. Text, still and moving images, sound tracks, music, and almost all known formats can be stored and retrieved on computer magnetic disks. Over the last two decades, a number of special libraries and information centres in the Arab world have introduced electronic resources into their library services. Very few have implemented automated and integrated systems. Despite the importance of designing digital …libraries, not merely for accessing or retrieving information but for the provision of electronic services, hardly any special library has started the design of digital library services. The aim of this paper is to provide a general guideline for the design of a low-cost digital library that provides services that are most frequently required by various categories of special library users in developing countries. This paper also aims at illustrating strategies and method approaches that can be adopted for building such projects. Seeing the importance of designing an inexpensive digital library as a basic principle for the design, the utilisation of today's ICTs and freely available open source software is the right path for accomplishing such a goal. The paper intends to describe the phases and stages required for building such projects from scratch. It also aims at highlighting the barriers and obstacles facing Arabic content and such problems could be overcome. Show more

Keywords: Digital libraries, Electronic library services, Special libraries, Greenstone system, Open source software

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120006

Citation: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 51-73, 2012

Authors: Pandher, Balbir Kaur

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Archives contain millions of documents like manuscripts, rare books, paintings, photographs, and historical records. All these constitute human heritage. Paper manuscripts, with the passage of time, are getting fragile and brittle because of various reasons. Lamination does not seem to be a permanent solution of preserving this cultural heritage for posterity. Digitization technology brings with it untold benefits for heritage preservation and access. Once a document has been properly digitized, it becomes immortal and can remain accessible long after the original has ceased to exist. The option of digital access further aids in preservation of originals through reduced need for …physical handling. The Punjab Digital Library is a new approach to preserving Punjab's heritage for future generations. The central digital archive, developed over the last six years, grants electronic access using powerful searching and browsing capabilities for the researcher to sift through vast amounts of data. PDL has been instrumental in digitally preserving over 2.5 million folios from 3,400 manuscripts, 2,200 book, 1,990 issues of periodicals, 5,578 issues of newspapers, 3,152 photographs, 248,000 legal documents, and some 168 hours of video recordings. The current collection of data amounts to about 15,000 GB. Show more

Keywords: Archives, Punjab Digital Library, Digitization, Manuscripts, Heritage, Artefacts

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120007

Citation: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 75-84, 2012

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120008

Citation: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 85-86, 2012

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/WDL-120009

Citation: World Digital Libraries - An international journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 89-92, 2012