ronald proposal kakati
DESCRIPTION
DIGITAL LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT IN SELECTED UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN UGANDABY RONALD MUSAASIZI REG NO: 09/U/1341A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A BACHELOR’S DEGREE OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE OFFERED AT THE EAST AFRICAN SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, COLLEGE OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SCIENCES, MAKERERE UNIVERSITY, KAMPALADECEMBER 2011ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DIGITAL LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT IN SELECTED UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESTRANSCRIPT
DIGITAL LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT IN SELECTED UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN
UGANDA
BY
RONALD MUSAASIZI
REG NO: 09/U/1341
A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A BACHELOR’S DEGREE OF LIBRARY
AND INFORMATION SCIENCE OFFERED AT THE EAST AFRICAN SCHOOL OF
LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, COLLEGE OF COMPUTING AND
INFORMATION SCIENCES, MAKERERE UNIVERSITY, KAMPALA
DECEMBER 2011
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ii
ACRONYMS iv
ABSTRACT v
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION1
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................11.2 Background of the Study.......................................................................................................11.3 Statement of the Problem.......................................................................................................51.4 Purpose of the Study..............................................................................................................61.5 Objectives of the Study..........................................................................................................61.6 Research Questions................................................................................................................61.7 Scope of the Study.................................................................................................................71.7.1 Geographical Scope............................................................................................................7Background of KYU Library Services........................................................................................7Background of MUBS Library Services......................................................................................8Background of NDEJJE Library Services...................................................................................81.7.2 Subject Scope......................................................................................................................81.8 Significance of the Study.......................................................................................................81.9 Dictionary Explanation of terms............................................................................................9
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW11
2.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................112.1 Strategies for the Development of Digital Libraries............................................................112.2 Forces Responsible for Digital Library Development.........................................................202.3 Mechanisms for selection of digital library collections.......................................................252.4 Digital Library Services and its Relevance.........................................................................282.41 Digital Library Services.....................................................................................................282.4.2 Relevance attached to digital library development...........................................................312.5 Challenges faced in digital library development.................................................................352.5.1 Challenges.........................................................................................................................352.5.2 Solutions to some of the challenges faced in the digital library development.................42
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 45
3.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................453.1 Research Design..................................................................................................................453.2 Population and Sampling.....................................................................................................453.2.1 Target Population..............................................................................................................453.2.2 Sample Size......................................................................................................................453.2.3 Sampling Technique.........................................................................................................46
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3.3 Data collection Methods......................................................................................................463.3.1 Research Instruments........................................................................................................473.3.2Research Procedure...........................................................................................................473.4 Quality Control....................................................................................................................473.4.1 Validity.............................................................................................................................473.4.2 Reliability.........................................................................................................................483.5 Data Analysis.......................................................................................................................483.6 Ethical Considerations.........................................................................................................483.7 Limitations of the study and solutions.................................................................................493.7.1 Limitations........................................................................................................................493.7.2 Solutions...........................................................................................................................49
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................50APPENDIX A: PROPOSED BUDGET................................................................................62APPENDIX B: WORKPLAN...............................................................................................63
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ACRONYMS
CDRS: Collaborative Digital Reference Service
DL: Digital Library
DLs: Digital Libraries
HILT: High-Level Thesaurus
ICTs: Information and Communication Technologies
KYU: Kyambogo University
LIS: Library and Information Science
MUBS: Makerere University Business School
UN: United Nations
VRD: Virtual Reference Desk
WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization
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ABSTRACT
Digital libraries are gradually gaining popularity across the globe. In some parts of the world,
especially in the developed countries, it is already pervasive. But in most less developed parts of
the world, for example in Uganda, digital library development is still quite a new phenomenon.
The purpose of this research proposal is to investigate and look into various aspects concerning
Digital library development in selected university libraries. Other objectives that will guide the
research will include finding out the strategies that can be employed by the selected University
Libraries in the development of digital libraries, to find out the basic forces responsible for
digital library development as per the selected University Libraries, to find out the mechanism
for the selection of digital library collection in the selected University Libraries, the kind of
services provided by the digital libraries and the relevance attached to digital library
development, not forgetting to look into some of the challenges that can be faced in the transition
and some of the solutions. Objectives of the study will be tried out during the data collection
phase using appropriate methods and techniques and all will be aimed at finding out the
underlying factors into the development of digital libraries in selected University libraries in
Uganda.
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
The study will be focused on the digital library development in selected university libraries in
Uganda. This chapter shall present the background of the study, statement of the problem,
purpose of the study, the intended research objectives and key questions, scope of the study,
significance of the study and the dictionary explanation of terms.
1.2 Background of the Study
The wide spread use of information communication technologies (ICTs) in the world today has
resulted in huge amounts of information being generated, stored and distributed in digital
formats. With the accelerated development and use of the Internet and Web-based technologies
in organizations and in homes by individuals, publishing and distribution of information
resources in digital format has also become more wide spread. It is now possible for individuals
in their homes to have access to full-text journal articles, conference papers, research reports,
technical documents, statistical information, data sets, and much more. More and more people
are now using the Internet as a major source of information. In fact, the Internet has been
referred to as "a vast library, containing every type of information known to humans" (Wallace
1999). Unfortunately, this vast library has developed without any proper organization of its
information resources. Unlike in a traditional library where information resources to be added to
the collection are carefully selected, organized -classified, catalogued, and indexed by human
beings and catalogues or indexes are generated to facilitate easy retrieval and location of
information resources, this has not been the case with most of the digital collections found on the
Internet. However, the importance of the Internet as a source of information for most people in
the world today cannot be ignored. In addition, the Internet infrastructure can also be used to
deliver quality information services to information end-users. Therefore, organization of digital
information resources on the Internet has become a pre-occupation of many individuals and
organizations. The result is the creation of organized digital collections of information resources
referred to as digital libraries or virtual libraries.
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Digital libraries are still developing and taking shape, and therefore, there are many definitions
of a digital library. In addition, due to a number of factors, among them the large number of
players involved in the development and implementation of digital libraries, it has become quite
difficult to have a generally accepted definition of a digital library. Most definitions are largely
influenced by the perceptions or points of views of the people or organizations involved in
digital library projects. It is a matter of different communities, different agendas. For example, an
Internet user, a librarian, a computer scientist, a publisher, or a Webmaster will each have a
different perception of what a digital library is from their point of view. The search for a general
acceptable definition for a digital library is also slightly complicated by the fact that three
different terms - "digital library," "electronic library" and "virtual library" - with almost different
meanings are used synonymously to refer to the same thing (Saunders (1999). As a result of this
situation, there are many different definitions of a digital library. The best way to conceptualize a
digital library is to examine its characteristics or features, and these can be interpreted from the
various definitions of a digital library.
According to Harter (1997), the relatively recent use of the term "digital library" can be traced to
the Digital Libraries Initiative funded by the National Science Foundation, the Advanced
Research Projects Agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United
States, in 1994. Since then, the term has been adopted by various authors and Organizations and
various definitions have been proposed. Among the definitions are those by Oppenheim and
Smithson (1999), the Digital Library Federation of the United States and IBM (1994), have
provided different definitions of a digital library. Oppenheim and Smithson (1999:97) define the
digital library as: -
"An information service in which all the information resources are available in computer-process
able form and the functions of acquisition, storage, retrieval, access and display are carried out
through the use of digital technologies"
The Digital Library Federation provides a more comprehensive definition. It defines digital
libraries as: -
"Organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure,
offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of and ensure the
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persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically
available for use by a defined community or set of communities" (Walters 1998).
IBM (1994) definition is more of a hybrid digital library, one that includes the features of
traditional libraries. IBM defines a digital library as: -
"A machine readable representation of materials which might be found in a university library
together with organizing information intended to help users find specific information. A digital
library service is an assemblage of digital computing, storage, and communications machinery
together with the software needed to reproduce, emulate, and extend the services provided by
conventional libraries based on paper and other material means of collecting, storing, cataloging,
finding, and disseminating information. A full service digital library must accomplish all
essential services of traditional libraries and also exploit digital storage, searching, and
communication ".
From the above three definitions, and the vast amount of literature available on digital libraries,
one can get an indication of the features of digital libraries. These include:
Digital libraries are organizations with specific objectives or goals. Most digital library
project's objective is to generate, collect, store, and organize information in digital forms,
and make it available to defined groups of users for searching, retrieval, and processing
via communication networks.
Digital libraries have functions and processes being undertaken in order to achieve the
objectives and goals of the organization. These include selecting resources to be included
in the collection; offering access to resources; distributing the resources, and a like. These
functions and processes are carried out by a combination of human resources and
technological resources.
Digital libraries are made up of digital collections. Digital libraries store materials in
electronic format. These include document surrogates like bibliographic records
(metadata) and indexes in addition to full-text documents, audio files, videos, and images
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some of which cannot be represented or distributed in printed formats. These digital
works include both internal and external resources.
Digital libraries serve a defined community or set of communities. Digital libraries are
set-up to serve users, and the information needs of the target community or set of
communities determine the information content and services of the digital library.
Digital libraries are accessed by users through a single user-friendly interface. The main
purpose of the user interface is to perform as an 'access and integration layer' to a
managed environment of quality assured information sources in local and distributed
environments which are available from many sources (Thomas 2000). In most digital
libraries, the interface is a portal accessed using a Web browser.
From the early days, digital libraries have attracted a lot of interest, and this is supported by
Harter when he wrote that: there is much interest today in digital libraries. We see many research
and development projects, a surplus of international conferences, high activity in the computer
science, human / computer interaction, library and information science and other research and
development communities, and a great deal of development activity on the Internet.
It is well recognized that libraries all over the world are undergoing transformation, especially
owing to the development in information and communication technologies. Traditional libraries
are changing to digital libraries and new libraries that are being set up are increasingly of the
digital kind. As a result, there is widespread interest and consequently, a lot of research and
development activities are being carried out in this area world over. In Uganda, a number of
institutions are also in the process of setting up digital libraries and many scholars and
practitioners are conducting research on digital libraries.
Today’s scholarly information is increasingly being produced in digital formats. Almost
everyone involved in the knowledge production process, prefers the electronic form. These
actors could be the creators of knowledge, the managers of the knowledge, the publishers of
knowledge and the people that are finally responsible for permanently storing the resulting
knowledge.
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Libraries have prided themselves with having the opportunity of being entrusted with the
permanent storage and management of the results of scholarship. However, development and
creation of the digital libraries is one of the greatest challenges facing librarians and information
professionals the world over today. In Uganda and Africa at large, the issue comes very much to
the forefront because of the prevailing conditions and the state of the country’s knowledge
resources. What should interested institutions in Uganda put into consideration on the verge of
digital library development? What are the strategies for the digital library development in
selected University Libraries? What are the underlying forces in the transition development of
digital Libraries? What are the mechanisms for selection of digital library collections? The kind
of services provided by such libraries? What relevance is attached to digital Libraries?
Associated problems and the thoughtful solutions? This research proposal will aim to analyze
the various aspects and give an insight on the notion of digital library development.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
The manual system of searching for information and materials in the traditional library does not
permit multiple use of the same material by different library users unlike the online library
services. It is inefficient and time consuming, hence the need to exploit the advantages of the
digital library which enables provision of online library services. However, there are a lot of
challenges facing the development of a digital library or conversion to digital status. Digitization
is time consuming and it is also a very expensive endeavor. Differences in institutional mission
affect not only support for and (therefore) use of the campus library, but the library's
commitment to data collection and analysis. Confronted with these difficulties and yet clamor for
some vision of what is happening, the tendency is to aggregate existing heterogeneous data to
reveal trends, and then interpret the normalized data cautiously because they may be misleading.
Even if these complicated problems were solved, traditional library measures would still provide
an incomplete picture of the information landscape because they focus strictly on information
services provided by libraries, ignoring information services provided by other entities on or off
campus. Given the modern society's need to control its ever-increasing body of information,
digital libraries will be among the most important and influential information institutions of this
century. With their versatility, accessibility, and economy, these focused collections of
everything digital are fast becoming the "banks" in which the world's wealth of information is
stored. Digital collections increasingly contain both born-digital objects, and digital objects that
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may be derived through the digitization of analogue source materials. However, despite various
advances provided by the digital library revolution in the aspects of information provision and
dissemination, it is quite alarming that certain institutional libraries most especially in Uganda
are keeping a deaf ear to finally get jig with the digital library development to be able to suit
favorably with the increasing demands of the 21st century. Therefore, it will be important to the
researcher to investigate and find out the pertinent issues on the notion of digital library
development for the revamp in service delivery in the selected University libraries.
1.4 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of the study will be to explore the notion of digital library development in the
sense of strategies, forces, services, relevance attached and come up with a manual or document
to which reference could be made on the creating and development of a digital library.
1.5 Objectives of the Study
(i) To find out the strategies that can be employed by the selected University Libraries in the
development of digital libraries.
(ii) To find out the basic forces responsible for digital library development as per the selected
University Libraries.
(iii) To find out the mechanism for the selection of digital library collection in the selected
University Libraries.
(iv) To find out the kind of services provided by the digital libraries and the relevance attached to
digital library development.
(v) To find out the challenges faced by the selected University Libraries in the development of
digital libraries and solutions?
1.6 Research Questions
(i) What strategies can be employed by the selected university libraries in the development of
digital libraries?
(ii) What are the basic forces responsible for digital library development as per the selected
University Libraries?
(iii) What mechanisms are used in the selection of digital library collection?
(iv) What kind of services is provided by the digital libraries and what is the relevance attached
to digital library development?
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(v) What are some of the challenges faced by the selected University Libraries in the
development of digital libraries and what should be done to solve such impending factors?
1.7 Scope of the Study
1.7.1 Geographical Scope
The geographical scope shall cover three selected University Libraries that is, Kyambogo
University Barclays Library, Makerere University Business School Library and Ndejje
University Library-Kampala Campus respectively;
Background of KYU Library Services
Relatively, Kyambogo University Library services are based on the three sister institutions that
initially merged to form a unit, that is; Institute of Teacher Education Kyambogo (ITEK),
Uganda Polytechnic Kyambogo (UPK) and Uganda Institute of special Needs Education
(UNISE). The institutions were respectively, responsible for all teachers training in the country;
training technicians in the mechanical, civil and electrical engineering as well as coordinating
technical training in the entire country; and training teachers to teach children with disabilities in
the country.
Each of the above named former institutions had its own institutional library. Those libraries
together with a newly created library unit at the faculty of Education were merged to form a
University Library Service to serve the University and the public. In line with the mandate of
Kyambogo, The University Library Service extends supervisory, advisory and professional
leadership roles to over sixty (60) affiliated institutions comprising Primary Teachers’ Colleges,
the National Teachers’ Colleges, and all the Polytechnics in Uganda. The University Library
clientele consist of over 15000 students on the KYU campus; with over 30000 students in
affiliated institutions; various categories of staff as well as members of the community. The
major aim of KYU Library service is to provide academic facility to assist and enhance teaching,
learning and research to the university community and beyond. It follows therefore, that the
mode in which the information is gathered, processed, stored, accessed, retrieved, and
disseminated is a critical factor in determining the quality of education at the university. It is for
this reason that the Library should be high among the priorities areas in the university
development plan.
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Background of MUBS Library Services
The MUBS Library service is permitted to provide users with academic and non academic
information materials that support the curricular and research needs of students at all levels of
business education. Makerere University Business School Library services are a combination of
different libraries located within and outside the MUBS Campus. These include, the Main
Library generally for under graduate courses, the GRC Library mainly for the Post Graduate
Students, the Bugolobi Annex that caters for the Diploma Students studying at Bugolobi. The
Library also caters for students who are registered at the Study Centers in Jinja, Arua and
Mbarara.
Background of NDEJJE Library Services
The background of Ndejje University Library Kampala Campus dates back to the year when the
University was established in 1992. It is located at Namirembe Hill Road. The Library’s main
objective is to acquire and organize information resources and services and make them readily
accessible so as to encourage successful teaching, learning and research and assist in preparing
students to become professionals who can enrich society with their knowledge, initiative and
personal responsibility.
1.7.2 Subject Scope
The study will cover information underlying the development of digital libraries in terms of
strategies, forces, mechanisms for selection of digital collection, services provided, the
relevance attached to digital library development, coupled with challenges and solutions.
1.8 Significance of the Study
The study is hoped to act as a pertinent reference tool to various library and information
institutions who would wish to embark on the path of digital library development.
Student-researchers on the other hand would also benefit in the sense of scholarly research and
undertakings in the provision of viable guidelines and information on about issues to deal with
various segments of proposal writing and basically a pertinent tool for the acquisition of the
basic knowledge and understanding of the notion of digital library development.
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1.9 Dictionary Explanation of terms
Access
Augmentation
Cornerstone
Something that is extremely important because everything else depends on it.
Development
Digital
Using a system in which information is represented in the form of changing electrical signals.
Digitize
To put information into a digital form.
Digital Library
It is a setup in which information materials are stored in a digital library. Such a library usually
has no limited boundary.
Extension
Force
Information
Facts or details that tell you something about a situation, person, event.
Integrate
To combine things that work well together in order to make an effective system.
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Interoperability Is the ability to perform a search over diverse sets of metadata records and obtain meaningful results
Management
The act of or skill of directing and organizing the work of a company or organization.
Metadata
Mechanism
Microfiche
A sheet of film on which written information is stored in a very small form, and which can only
be read using a special machine.
Microfilm
Very small film for photographing maps, documents that is, so that they can be easily stored.
Rejuvenate
Strategy
University Library
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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter will focus on the study of the related literature to the research problem. Literature to
be used in this chapter shall contain all the works consulted in order to understand and
investigate the notion of digital library development in selected University Libraries. In addition,
the compilation shall comprise an account of what has been published and the researchers’
thoughts about the same notion.
2.1 Strategies for the Development of Digital Libraries
Libraries have traditionally been part of the global information infrastructure and an ideological
and cultural force with far reaching implications in society. Over centuries they have collected
maintained, organized, and provided access to information and knowledge resources that enable
individuals, organizations and communities to achieve their goals. Today they continue to
mobilize and provide access to local and global knowledge for social, political and economic
development. In doing so they act as gateways for information and tools for bridging the
information divide within and between countries. Even so there is evidence that in Sub-Saharan
Africa, print-based library services have failed in providing relevant and timely information for
different purposes (Unesco, 1995). All categories of library services in the region are presently
inefficient and largely ill-managed to service the information needs of the people. As a result
they remain peripheral in the educational, scientific and social and political life of the people and
especially those in rural areas (Rosenberg, 1994, 2005). Libraries in Sub-Saharan countries
depend mainly on government funding but often without comprehensive strategy for
development (Unesco, 1995). In the past decades, the economic situation in many developing
countries has been such that many libraries have not had the financial resources to maintain
effective services. The increasing cost of books, journal Subscriptions and the falling currency
values, has only worsened the situation (Sharma and Vishwanathan, 2001). The fall of libraries
in the region was suitably expressed thus: All was well in the heady years immediately following
independence when healthy commodity prices and booming economies kept modernization
hopes alive . . . Then from the mid-1970s many African countries fell into twisting of recurrent
recessions, which wrecked havoc on development ambitions and the bookshelves grew empty.
The “book hunger” joined the tyranny of Africa’s other famines of development, democracy, and
self determination (Zeleza, 1997, p. 72).
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This has had very negative and damaging effect on training and research capacities and has
limited the possibilities for good policy analysis and planning. Ten years ago, Rosenberg (1997)
observed that since the mid-1980s, the relative value of university libraries in the Sub-Saharan
region had declined to a near total collapse. This trend continues to the present and has led to
their marginalization from the teaching, learning and research process in the university. This
information shortfall is evident in almost every sphere of national activity including resource
exploitation and environmental conservation, trade and industry, health, social and cultural
development and employment creation. Several authors such as Magara (2002), Mutula (2002),
McDonald and Kebbell (2004), Jain (2006) and Rosenberg (2006) have written on the
advantages of digital libraries. These advantages make the creation of digital libraries a strategic
method to enhance information access in the Sub-Saharan region and in Ugandan Universities
Libraries at large:
Digital libraries provide a faster method of accessing and exchanging information in all
sectors such as research, scholarship, medicine, government services and business.
Digital information can easily be shared and therefore is available to everybody, which is
a great improvement on print libraries, which require expensive duplication of material in
different locations.
Given their sinking cost of establishment, digital libraries can make it possible to provide
everybody even those in the remotest parts of the Sub-Sahara with information in its most
up-to-date form. With a link to the information superhighway, libraries in the region even
the smallest and the remotest can serve as a gateway to local as well as global
information.
Digital libraries are available on 24-hour basis from anywhere in the world, offering
flexible arrangements for students, researchers, scholars and the community.
Digital libraries can be widespread and accessed as full text from any location or
workstation.
E-content is available on several subjects from a variety of sources such as libraries,
electronic publishers, and business organizations and in multimedia formats.
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Information is readily available from offices, telecenters, laboratories, and homes.
Kavulya, highlights the following as the adapt strategies for the development of digital
libraries;
Provision of Digital Library Infrastructure
Digital libraries depend on information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure to
facilitate distributed processing, high-speed networks, information processing, storage and
retrieval, user interfaces, geographical distribution, security, high quality presentation and
perpetual availability of digital information (Chowdhury, and Chowdhury 1999). To transform
into digital libraries, libraries in the Sub-Saharan region require commitment to the use of
modern information and communication technology as a strategy of choice in achieving
information service objectives.
The development and maintenance of digital libraries calls for investment of considerable
financial resources in digitization equipment, and computer servers, developing information
retrieval capabilities via network infrastructure, purchase of electronic information resources and
retraining of library staff on digital library management skills. With the ever-changing media
technology, there will always be costs of continued upgrading of the digital infrastructure. Given
the uncertain nature of ICT infrastructure in the Sub-Saharan region it may need to maintain
parallel conventional and digital system (Mutula, 2002; Jain, 2006).
Content Creation
Information is not an end in itself, but simply a means to an end and can therefore only be useful
if is of the right quality, timely and relevant to the specific needs of the user. There is need to
amass digital information content that is relevant to the communities in the Sub-Saharan Africa
and which is based on needs analysis to determine the requirements of different consumers and
reflect the aspirations of communities in the region. For example, decision and opinion leaders,
researchers and communities- need access to a wide scope of information resources covering
issues facing the region such as health (for example, HIV/ AIDS, malaria, and a like.),
improvement of trade and industry food security, gender, development and education. According
to a research by Mchombu (1984), rural communities in the Sub-Saharan Africa require a
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diversity of information applicable to their daily life covering health, careers and occupation,
sanitation, nutrition recreation, education, legal issues and culture. This kind of information will
sensitize communities to their situation and how it can be changed; instill development
consciousness through skills and abilities (Mchombu, 1984). Students, on the other hand, need
access to a wide variety of national, regional and international electronic information networks,
including electronic libraries that contribute to their learning process.
Findings of a research by Wang (2003) indicate that digital content for university students should
include journals, textbooks, newspapers, encyclopedias, magazines, maps and multimedia
resources that are relevant to the curriculum. Carnaby (2005) has noted that libraries can
contribute useful content significantly in form of teaching and research. This can be achieved
among others by putting local information into virtual databases, digitizing research reports,
thesis, papers and dissertations produced in the continent and government document.
Information literacy skills and lifelong learning
To ensure that digital libraries are fully utilized, there is, need to develop learning and education
as a lifelong process through information literacy programs. In a digital library environment,
end-users are expected to interact directly with computers to fulfill their information needs. They
should therefore acquire skills to create structure, locate, search and use materials in digital
formats (Wang, 2003). This is especially urgent in the Sub-Saharan region where experience and
tradition of use of library and information are limited among the vast majority. Information
literacy efforts need to develop view of information as a crucial resource and provide consumers
of information with skills on how to extract, evaluate and use available information resources for
their different needs. Because of their closeness to the people, libraries in the Sub-Saharan region
are well placed to training various categories of people at various levels so as to empower them
with skills to access and exploit electronic resources and integrate the various information
sources in the production of knowledge.
Digital librarian competencies and values
The digital environment requires a variety of new skills on the part of librarians to enable them
to establish digital libraries and provide user services effectively and efficiently. Particularly,
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library personnel are expected to meet the challenge of providing information literacy skills of
harnessing and applying information in concrete situations. According to Bawden (2005), apart
from the traditional skills of information organization the library and information science (LIS)
professional are expected be firmly grounded in ICT-related competencies such as core hardware
and software skills, web design, internet searching and evaluation of electronic information.
In the past the library field in Sub-Saharan Africa has been characterized by inadequate or
outdated skills among the staff, which render library personnel inadequately prepared to function
in the present dynamic electronic information environment (Were, 1990; Raseroka, 1999;
Rosenberg, 2005, 2006). There is hence a dire need for substantial investment in order to
improve and update the knowledge and skills of library and information personnel in the region
to face the fast changing information and communication technology. Chowdhury and
Chowdhury (1999) have argued that modern LIS training courses should address the
fundamental issues in digital library development such as of digital library collections,
information services and access to digital libraries, technical skills and infrastructure, social and
economic issues, skills for fundraising, consortium activities, negotiating with authors,
publishers and suppliers, and managing development projects to enhance the library services.
The need for collaborative efforts
Digital libraries project can only succeed through the collaboration between different
stakeholders such as those who create information and the people who use it and their needs.
There also need for expertise from various LIS domains, including information acquisition and
processing, reference services, classification and indexing. LIS professionals must also
collaborate with other players in the information field such as researchers, IT specialists,
information seekers and information providers, content creators and publishers. The economic
difficulties experienced in the Sub-Saharan region, the exploding information universe, the fast
changing information and communication technology, as well cost of modern information
technology make it necessary for libraries in to pool resources together nationally and regionally
so as to provide quality electronic services. Organizational self-sufficiency is an unachievable
dream but through cooperation in establishing and providing digital-based information services
can lead to success. Co-operation and networking could lead to wider access to collection, and
enhanced operations by sharing resources, reducing duplication and offering more cost-effective
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services through capacity building initiatives and innovative financing, and assisting to achieve
economies of scale and lower costs. This is already happening in countries such as Kenya and
Uganda in the form of consortia with great benefits (Rosenberg, 2005). Global collaboration with
donor agencies and foundations can enable Sub-Saharan libraries access information resources in
other parts of the world and gain the tremendous experience, knowledge and skills already
established elsewhere. At the local level, libraries and information centers must co-ordinate their
efforts with learning and research institutions, development agencies, community organizations
and government departments. This will ensure that locally generated information is gathered, and
digitally stored. This will in turn be delivered to all and especially remote and isolated
communities that are presently disadvantaged by lack of information infrastructure. In the same
vein LIS professionals must also develop strong collaboration with community leaders and
opinion leaders to champions for establishment and improvement of digital libraries.
Copyright and contractual agreements
With the transition from print to digital information there are fresh questions on the application
of copyright laws in a digital environment. This is an issue that may restrain libraries in the Sub-
Saharan Africa in their bid to create and use digital collections due to weak regulatory
framework in the region and the unclear global copyright law on digital information. Chowdhury
and Chowdhury (1999) have insisted there is need for changes in the current copyright law to
protect the interests of owners of intellectual property but facilitate efficient user access to digital
items. There have been calls for the revision procedures and policies under the copyright law to
allow libraries pursue their key objective of acquiring and facilitating digital information
unhindered (IFLA, 2001). One noticeable trend is the use of contractual agreements entities
within the information chain such as libraries and suppliers of electronic information. There is
need for LIS professionals in the Sub-Saharan region to address this issue if digital libraries are
to be established on firm foundation of practice.
Standards
Just like in traditional libraries, standards are essential in a digital library development
environment. Access to a variety of media requires a standardized method of organization of and
retrieval (McDonald and Kebbell, 2004). Standards are especially critical in the digital
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environment in that they facilitate: integrated interface to different kinds of resources; unified
searching across multiple systems; unified searching across different metadata schemes with
results merged and de-duplicated; unified searching across different formats of material such as
bibliographic records and full text; simplified authentication and authorization for the user;
dynamic reference and citation linking (Cox and Yeates, 2002). Today libraries in Sub-Sahara
region in the process of putting in place digital-based systems such as electronic library
management systems, creation of local area networks, purchase of digital information in diverse
media and quest for access to virtual databases and creating local content. In the stampede for the
promised digital paradise, there is little or no co-ordination between institutions even within the
same country. This may lead to lack of interoperability that will defeat the goal of seamless
access to information and resource sharing.
Preservation and archiving
There is general agreement among scholars of LIS on the need to ensure that digital libraries
continue into the future so that digital objects can be accessed in perpetuity. However debate still
ranges on the best archiving practices (Cordeiro, 2004). Yakel (2004) has proposed a number of
approaches:
Unit-based digital repository in which the archive is part of the library system and
undertakes archiving activities for specific unit within an institution.
Institutional digital repository whereby a single archives is set up for the entire institution
instead of one for each unit.
Trusted digital repository whereby a third institution is given the archiving role. Lor
(2005) believes that libraries in the Sub-Saharan Africa are incapable of archiving digital
collections due to the current funding and infrastructural problems in the region. He
therefore proposes that repositories in developed countries should spearhead archiving for
the region. This suggestion goes against the spirit espoused by several digital information
partnerships in the Sub-Saharan region of promoting self-sustainability of libraries in the
region. Besides, shifting of archiving responsibilities to the developed countries could
reverse the gains made through regional consortia as well as by individual local
institutional efforts. This will only serve to deepen the lamentable North-South digital
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divide. Several digital library initiatives have been reported in the Sub-Saharan region
(Lor, 2005; Rosenberg, 2005, 2006). Although these efforts are still at their infancy there
is need for a system of data capture preservation and archiving to be established. There is
for stronger partnerships with professionals and institutions in the South with those in the
North to ensure that preservation and archiving in African digital libraries is part of the
ongoing digital library initiatives in the region. Particularly, purchase agreements with
North based e-information aggregators should address perpetual access to electronic
information items by users and institutions in the South.
The need to address the digital divide
There is a growing concern that the digital library will lead to further consolidation of
information power in the hands of a few and widen rather than bridge the existing information
divide within and between countries (Gore, 2000; Huang and Russell, 2006; Sigh, 2002).
Presently libraries in the Sub-Sahara are concentrated in cities and major academic and research
institutions. The high costs of modern ICTs make it only accessible to a privileged category of
citizens (Mutula, 2002; Jain, 2006). Faced with lack of access to PCs, telephone lines and
internet connection the large majority of Sub-Saharan communities stand to lose out in the
information society. This means that if the issue of democratic and equitable access to
information especially in the region is not adequately addresses it can lead to further alienation
isolation and disempowerment of certain ethnic minorities, rural communities, women and
youth. The governments and professionals in the region have the duty to address the issue of
digital divide between groups of classes and communities and enable everybody harness the
power of knowledge to improve their lives.
National digital library strategy and framework
The establishment of digital libraries is a gigantic undertaking and many writers have advised
that to succeed, there is need for a government-backed national digital library strategy (Carnaby,
2005). Chen (2004) has observed that the spectacular success of digital libraries in the USA can
partly be attributed to Federal Government policy commitment to implementing the concept.
This led to projects such as the Digital Library Initiative (1994-1998), which focused on
advancing the means to collect, store and organize information in digital forms and make it
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available for searching and retrieval and research into various issues, relating digital libraries
such infrastructure. Governments of the Sub-Saharan countries can facilitate the establishment of
digital libraries by fostering the necessary political, legal and institutional conditions under
which the information sector and particularly information services institutions like digital
libraries can thrive. This includes developing library and information service policies,
developing viable library and information and communication infrastructure, and legislating on
issues such as intellectual property rights, privacy and free flow of the necessary content and
knowledge. Library and information policy is especially useful in facilitating equitable access to
digital libraries for all sectors, groups and communities of the society. This can be achieved by
setting out the role of the information in promoting socio-economic growth, establishment of
digital libraries and creating strategic goals, structures as well as funding, advisory and co-
coordinating mechanism for the sector. To enhance funding it is particularly important to create
an environment in which the internet business will grow into a self-sustaining enterprise through
liberalizing the communications sector to allow for more investment and competition which will
in turn lead to lower cost of digital library infrastructure.
The researchers concern about the development of digital library strategies is that, truth be told,
digital libraries are becoming more and more prevalent worldwide and there is no doubt that the
future of knowledge creation and information sharing lies in electronic networks. To reap the
most out of the twenty-first century the selected University libraries need to position themselves
in the information revolution by putting in place the infrastructure to facilitate better knowledge
gathering, processing, distribution, access and application. Digital libraries will enable libraries
in the region to reform their knowledge management approaches to services and therefore boost
their capacity to enhance modernization of the communities they serve.
One of the constraints experienced by libraries in Uganda and others in the Sub-Saharan region
in bid to transit to digital mode is lack of adequate budgetary support necessary for collection
building, remuneration of qualified staff, setting up buildings and installation of modern
information technology. With the worsening economic situation in the region, the funding
situation of libraries is bleak. Critical is the failure by governments and communities to
recognize the centrality of information as a key factor in social and economic progress and
library services as useful means to provide equitable access to information. Consequently there
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has been growing marginalization of the libraries, which has precipitated loss of vital confidence
from all classes of stakeholders further jeopardizing their ability to contribute to the development
process. This can be reversed through deliberate government action to improve infrastructure as
well as collaboration between the various players and development partners.
Independent information search, usage, analysis and integration of different sources are the
enduring hallmarks of the digital age. With the proliferation of digital libraries, well-trained
library and information personnel are in great demand to train information users in the use and
evaluation of electronic information. Digital libraries present a new paradigm that challenges LIS
professionals in the region to rethink their roles in the electronic environment. There is therefore
urgent need for the traditional library education to be re-thought to enable the professionals meet
the challenge of investing in digital libraries. There is need to train information professionals in
the management of electronic information by giving them skills such as designing and
administration of electronic networks, electronic reference services, skills for electronic
information literacy teaching, and evaluation of internet information. Even more important
would be training in digital library management activities such as supply models, searching,
downloading, document delivery, archiving, software, copyright, licensing and managing and
access.
2.2 Forces Responsible for Digital Library Development
According to Gary Marchionini, digital libraries are the "logical extensions and augmentations of
physical libraries in the electronic information society". By extensions, digital libraries do not
break away, rather amplify, existing resources and services of traditional libraries; and by
augmentations, they offer new services and new opportunities for human information seeking
and problem solving. The research and development of digital libraries are no easy task. They
involve a large number of topics in library, information and computer sciences such as
information indexing and retrieval, collection development, database management, reference
services, human-computer interaction, interface design, digitalization and preservation,
intellectual property, networking and interoperability. A digital library is a collection of digital
documents or objects. This definition is the dominant perception of many people of today.
Nevertheless, Smith (2001) defined a digital library as an organized and focused collection of
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digital objects, including text, images, video and audio, with the methods of access and retrieval
and for the selection, creation, organization, maintenance and sharing of collection. Though the
focus of this definition is on the document collection, it stresses the fact that the digital libraries
are much more than a random assembly of digital objects. They retain the several qualities of
traditional libraries such as a defined community of users, focused collections, long-term
availability, and the possibility of selecting, organizing, preserving and sharing resources. Gary
Marchionini reports that it is not clear when the first digital library came into being, but the
concept did not appear until late 1980s. The emergence and development of digital libraries at
this stage were driven by two main forces. First, digital technological development, especially in
multimedia and networking, offered more efficient and sometimes new ways in information
processing and management. Second, people wanted to better share important information like
library materials, scientific databases in education and research. So, digital library systems came
into being. According to Koehler (1999), some of the forces responsible for digital library
development are the changing nature of the book, the patron, the library, standards, information
retrieval, and metadata.
The changing nature of the book
The book has undergone a series of changes that have made its storage and use more efficient
(Koehler, 2004). The changes include transitions in form -from stone slab to papyrus scroll to
acid free paper codex to electronic bits. Tables of contents and indexing standards have been
developed. More recently, cataloguing and classifying standards to describe books in a larger
context – the library and later the union catalog – were developed. These forms of description
and meta-description have allowed librarians to develop organized systems for our information
container collections. Koehler (2004) posits that one factor that will affect user-centric models in
the libraries of the future is the very nature of information containers. In this case, digital
collections provide new additional opportunities for organization. The changing nature of the
patron Koehler emphasizes that the future vision of the digital library must include some
speculation on potential changes in the kinds of services demands that the library patrons will
make on the digital library of the future. The author thinks that it is Resources for new modes of
information use possible to speculate on how those demands will shape those libraries. The
library users do and will want a full array of library services delivered to some point of delivery
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now at least through some electronic means of delivery-internet, telephone, and others. Physical
objects may be transferred by courier, faxed/scanned and transmitted or accessed online; the
popularity of e-books and e-journals will grow. The patrons also expect their libraries to provide
different services or rather additional services than once they did before.
The changing nature of the library
The library world has undergone much re-thinking in the last quarter century by embracing the
idea of the library without walls. The 1990s witnessed the explosion of the internet and
particularly the popularity of the World Wide Web. The web proved to be both a conduit for and
a significant source of an immense amount of information, leading some people to predict the
displacement of traditional information institutions like libraries. The patrons’ expectations for a
distance service delivery across library services have increased. Patrons have come to expect a
wide variety of automated push and or pull services form libraries and from a distance. The
internet has led to a redefinition of some but certainly not all library functions. Koehler (1999)
however recognized that the web itself lacks library characteristics. There has been much
discussion of variant forms of libraries between “pure traditional” and “pure digital” or the
“hybrid library”. To understand any aspect of library futures, one must give some consideration
to probable changes to the information containers themselves and the institutions in which those
information containers may be housed Koehler (2004).
The standards wars
The establishments of standards of the digital library futures will be dictated by the
standardization decisions made now. Koehler (2004) observed that standards have never been
more important. Technology, society and systems, are all intertwined and lead to unanticipated
consequences. Similarly, changing library standardization and increased universalization of that
standardization will lead to unanticipated consequences in the digital library community and in
society in general. Consider for example, cataloging and classification and differences among
different classification schemes. Many academic libraries in the USA have undergone
retrospective conversion from Dewey Decimal Classification to Library of Congress
Classification. Does this suggest that we are treading toward a single standard? The Machine
Readable Cataloguing (MARC) environment has seen the development of a number of different
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national systems to support local linguistic and stylistic requirements. The MARC standards
have evolved. For example, United States Machine Readable Cataloguing and Canadian
Machine Readable Cataloguing merged as MARC21. Significant limits have already been placed
on the content licenses, particularly libraries and their users on their ability to transfer access to
or to make copies of the content. If libraries continue to acquire more contemporary and
retrospective content in digital under license from second parties, the ability of libraries to
continue to serve their users as they have traditionally done may be significantly circumscribed
in the future.
Information retrieval and metadata
One of the primary functions of a library is to develop its collection in keeping with the
underlying philosophical purpose of the library. What may be appropriate or useful for one
patron may not be appropriate or useful for another. Koehler (2004) suggests that expert
intermediaries, ultimately human beings, but aided by expert systems provide and will continue
to provide those services in the digital libraries of the future. Metadata systems have increased
both in number and complexity. The purpose of metadata and metametadata, as with any
cataloguing, classification, or indexing system is to provide description in addition to the original
or native document. Typically, we want improved description to allow for better storage and
retrieval of the object and the information contained therein. These systems will span all classes
of objects-text, images, audio, and video and multimedia. These will be coupled with expert level
search and retrieval systems as well as the end-user. Both expert and end-user systems will
probably have complex human-computer interfaces to facilitate the search and retrieval process.
Higher education needs
The internet is not a replacement for books, but it is imperative that libraries reposition
themselves within their institutions in order to continue to ensure access to information,
education, people, services, and ICT. Libraries find themselves in a transitional phase, as they
adapt to the needs of an innovative higher education sector. The implementation of the strategic
vision is not solely the responsibility of libraries and computer centers. Institutions as a whole
can and must implement it. Every opposition must be overcome – for example, the library versus
the computer center, electric versus printed information, or centralized versus decentralized
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systems. A sound budget is needed to find some way out of the present fiscal crisis. Schumann
emphasized that information provision is an essential factor in research and teaching – for both
the natural and the social sciences. He advised that existing institutions and newly created virtual
or project-related organizational units must work together in a joined-up way. In the face of
reduced budgets, the new challenges must be met with technical innovations, staff training and
development, changes to the working environment and by suitable labor and business models.
Bundy explained what he thinks it means for libraries to go beyond their traditional role of
merely providing information. In his opinion, the academic library is the driving force for change
in the area of education. Unfortunately, library budgets continue to be reduced. Bundy calls for a
change in the entire system of higher education in order to meet the demands of users. Libraries
cannot manage this alone, but they must nevertheless participate in this transition even to the
extent of contributing to the curriculum.
Technology push
The focus of most development at present is tools to integrate content that is already being
managed by the library. Yeates (2002) reviewed library-oriented portals solutions and products
available in the UK: this can mean one or all of integrating multiple resources for the user into a
comprehensible landscape; allowing cross-searching or searching of many databases with one
interface; personalization; behind the scenes authentication; and the enhancement of simple
bibliographic records with tables of contents, and dust cover images. Also implied are
management tools to Resources for new modes of information use customizing the gateway for
user groups and to consolidate usage statistics. Many of the systems also have a capability to
manage the digitization process and local digital collections. Other solutions exist to solve some
of these problems and none offer as much control to the library, or such a complete professional
solution.
The researcher is a view on the strategies for the development of digital libraries is that Libraries
are an essential component of a nation’s information infrastructure. Historically, libraries have
played various key roles in information-oriented societies as the major storehouses of human
kind’s recorded knowledge. However, the physical media that store the recorded knowledge are
constantly undergoing metamorphosis due to continuous technological advancements and
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innovations. Currently, we live in the so-called “Digital era” where by information is recorded,
stored, retrieved, and disseminated in the digital form unlike the past when information was
accessed in analog formats. Nowadays, information is capable of being stored on specially
constructed electronic media and is retrieved whenever required in the most fundamental form,
as arrays of zeros and ones (that is the binary format). Thus, digitization of the library resource
materials opens up new modes of use, enables a much wider potential audience and gives
renewed means of viewing our cultural heritage with a higher degree of clarity and in a much
more compact structure. Therefore, a combined effort targeted towards digital library
development is much appealing to rejuvenate the sector of information industry in terms of
creation, processing, storage, provision and dissemination.
2.3 Mechanisms for selection of digital library collections
Considering the bourgeoning volume and heterogeneity of information on the web, selection and
appraisal of resources for digitization is one of the most difficult tasks in the digital resources
management life cycle (Hartman et al., 2005). Selecting materials for a digital project entails
different factors than selecting print materials, such as legal issues and the high costs of
digitization projects. In addition, the project team needs to determine if the materials to be
digitized warrant the time and expense of transferring the digital files to new formats every few
years as technologies change. Several authors provide guidelines for selecting materials for
digitization. Vogt-O’Connor (2000) recommends that the selection process take three phases:
nomination, evaluation, and prioritization. She discusses legal issues and stakeholder concerns
(involving culturally or ethically sensitive materials), and she presents a checklist for the
evaluation of materials, which includes such factors as donor restrictions, condition of materials,
and the authenticity of the item. De Stefano (2000) lists issues to consider for selection of
materials for a digital project, with copyright the first issue. “Obtaining copyright permission is
not always possible and can derail a project that appears otherwise straightforward.” She
discusses selection as it applies to different goals of a digitization project: selection to increase
access to materials; selection based on content; and selection for preservation.
Several authors recommend that libraries have collection development policies for digital
projects: On the basis of cost alone, it is essential that academic institutions choose digital
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projects carefully based on an established set of criteria within a well-planned procedure
(Brancolini, 2000).
Smith (2001) and Brancolini (2000) suggest using Harvard’s guidelines, Selecting Research
Collections for Digitization, (Hazen et al., 1998), as a foundation for selection criteria and then
adapting them to the needs of the local institution. Harvard’s guidelines include “a graphical
matrix for decision making” (Brancolini, 2000, p. 784).
Smith (2001) presents recommendations for selection, including that libraries be clear about the
purpose of a digital collection – whether it be for preservation, outreach, or curricular
development; that libraries develop protocols for selection; and that libraries clarify the target
audience for a digital collection. McDonald (2003) also recommends defining a library’s user
community and selecting materials that are relevant to that community. He concludes: . . . if we
build high demand, high quality collections at a reasonable cost that can be maintained for the
long term, we will take the first steps to becoming a major part of the scholarly research
dissemination chain.
De Stefano (2001) advocates that selection be driven by use. However, she found that this is
often not the case. She conducted an informal survey of 25 current digital library projects, and
found that most of the projects had enhanced access as their goal, and: . . . the most popular
approach to selecting collections for digital conversion is a subject-and-date parameter approach
applied, by and large, to special collections, with little regard for use, faculty recommendations,
scholarly input, editorial boards, or curriculum.
Unlike De Stefano’s findings, several case studies read for this literature survey found that the
use of the collection was a primary criterion for selection. For example, Jerrido et al. (2001)
discuss three digital pilot projects at Temple University. The projects were chosen in
collaboration with faculty to meet the needs of students, faculty and researchers. One of the
projects was the digitization of World War I and II posters, and this collection was selected
because of the wide use to be made of the digitized posters by a large number of schools and
academic departments of the university. The authors state that use was also a major selection
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criterion for digitizing the Urban Archives Photo Collection at Temple University. Fifarek
(2002), Wilson (2003) and Helling (2003) all cited use as a primary selection criteria for
materials in digitization projects at their institutions.
Cedar Face and Hollens (2004) outline the active collection development activities at Southern
Oregon University to build digital collections on the ecology and indigenous peoples of
Southwestern Oregon and Northwestern California. Bibliographies and databases were searched
for relevant resources, and research documents were solicited from federal, state, and local
agencies. The authors also discuss the importance of collaboration in collection development.
The project team collaborated with governmental agencies and with tribes to obtain materials for
the projects.
Adaryukov and Miller (2005) discuss selection issues in a project to digitize part of the 80,000-
volume Molly S. Fraiberg Judaica Collection at Florida Atlantic University. An ad hoc selection
committee was created to delineate the scope of the digital collection, and to establish selection
procedures. With high importance placed on preservation concerns, priority was given to
materials in the most brittle condition. Hygiene
The researcher’s review on the mechanisms used in the selection of digital collections is that
interested Libraries should be reminded that selecting materials for digitization is more complex
than selecting materials for the purchase or licensing of born-digital materials, because it
involves expending resources for items that are already in the library’s collection rather than
acquiring new ones. In theory, a library would choose to digitize existing collection items only if
it could identify the value that is added by digitization and determine that the benefits outweigh
the costs. But in practice, the research library community has, over the past decade, gone boldly
forth with digitization projects not knowing how to measure their costs or benefits. Digitization
technology and its costs are constantly changing; as a result, budgeting models that make
comparisons between libraries can be meaningless or downright misleading. Unlike selecting
officials who decide the purchase or license of electronic resources, those responsible for digital
conversion do not have a set of fixed prices for services and collections on offer. The only way
for many libraries to get at the issue of cost is to undertake projects for their own sake, in the
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expectation that documentation of expenditures will yield some meaningful data. Libraries that
have been able to secure funding for projects, document their activities and expenditures, and
share that information with their colleagues have emerged as the leaders of the community, if
only because of their policies to share their knowledge something vital to look at towards digital
library development in the selected University Libraries.
2.4 Digital Library Services and its Relevance
2.41 Digital Library Services
The development of the digital library (DL) changes even this, however: while many DLs are
projects of physical libraries, many more are not. While this has raised questions about what role
libraries should play in the development of DLs, it does not change the fact that both libraries
and DLs are environments in which services are provided to users, beyond the simple existence
of a library collection. The development of DLs has enabled the realization of services both like
and unlike those traditionally provided in physical libraries, and has enabled organizations other
than libraries to provide library-like services. While the search engine is a tool, for example, the
ability to search a large collection of materials is certainly a service, and one that extends
traditional library services. The implementation of technology in libraries changes the types of
services that libraries may provide. The implementation of DLs changes the types of services
that may be considered to be services of libraries, as well as the very definition of what a library
is.
Some of the services provided in DLs are similar to those provided in physical libraries, but
many are quite different. In part this is because the development of DLs has historically been
strongly influenced by the field of computer science (Levy, 2000), and as Pomerantz et al. (2003)
point out, the approaches to services taken by the fields of computer science (CS) and library and
information science (LIS) differ considerably. Specifically, as addressed in courses on DLs in CS
programs, services are generally system-focused (for example, search engines and linking), while
in LIS programs services are generally user-focused (like reference and personalization).
To date, a primary emphasis on digital library development and implementation was given to
technology (Chowdhury, 2002; Chowdhury and Chowdhury, 2003; Marchionini and Fox, 1999;
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Sloan, 1998; Van House et al., 2003). Major issues discussed in earlier studies focused on
technical architecture, digitization, and techniques of how to build a digital library with respect
to a system architecture, digital object creation and management, and so on (Arms et al., 1997;
Chen, 2000; Cleveland, 1998; McCray and Gallagher, 2001). However, a digital library is not
merely a means of access to information over the network. As long as “library” is attached to the
concept, a digital library does and should care about users and communities that are in need of
information and services just like conventional libraries. Services, therefore, should be one of the
crucial aspects of digital libraries. Marchionini and Fox (1999) pointed out four dimensions in
designing a digital library: community, technology, services, and content.
According to them, services reflect the functionality afforded by systems serving the community
of users. Such services include access, reference and question answering, on-demand help,
fostering of citizenship and literacy, and mechanisms to simplify participatory involvement of
user communities. Borgman (1999) also viewed digital library as combination of a service,
architecture, a set of information resources, and a set of tools to retrieve information resources.
However, most digital library projects so far mainly focused on offering search mechanism and
tools for information retrieval. As Smith (2000) and Chowdhury and Chowdhury (2000)
reported, various mechanisms and search features have been implemented for information
retrieval in digital library projects.
In addition to a search tool and various features, a digital library should include some types of
information services to support an interaction between materials and users’ needs, and to
promote learning using its collections. Librarians played a major role in providing services in the
context of users’ information seeking process. They assist and interact with users by answering
questions about materials, instructing them on how to use information, help them for research
purposes. Such conventional services are essential in a digital library environment as well.
Many experts (for example Fox and Urs, 2002; Harter, 1996; Marchionini, 1998; Noerr, 2003)
suggested several types of services necessary for digital libraries. Those suggested services can
be divided into two broad categories of services: traditional services and services unique to the
digital environment. Harter (1996) advocated that traditional library services such as ready
reference, help with search tools, access to and assistance with commercial search services, and
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so forth should be included in a digital library. Marchionini (1998) provided a list of service
types to be offered in a digital library, that is, search services, reference and question answering
services, filtering and SDI, and instruction. Fox and Urs (2002) offered some examples of
unconventional services including personalization, plagiarism detection, and analysis and
processing of digital information.
However, as Meyyappan et al. (2000) exposed in their review of prominent digital libraries in the
world, there was almost no provision for quality reference and information services in digital
libraries. Traditional reference services have evolved into a new application area, digital
reference services or virtual reference services with the use of software and the internet
(Chowdhury, 2002; Lankes, 2004; Sloan, 2001; Stemper and Butler, 2001). Many terms are used
to describe digital reference (Lankes, 2004). Wasik (1999) defined digital reference services as
“Internet-based question-and-answer services that connect users with experts in a variety of
subject areas.” A digital library can put such digital reference services in place since it is built on
the networking system.
Sloan (1998) and Janes (2003) described a number of experiments with extending reference
services into the networked world. Examples of this are e-mail reference, live chat reference,
instant messaging, desktop videoconferencing, and so on.
There are projects and collaborations among many libraries that provide digital reference
services (Chowdhury and Chowdhury, 2003; Janes, 2003). One of the CDRS projects is Question
Point, launched by the Library of Congress (www.loc.gov/rr/digiref/). Another professional
collaboration project is the VRD at Syracuse University, sponsored by the US Department of
Education (www.vrd.org). Sloan (2001) described the Ready for Reference project, a
collaborative 24/7 live reference service by eight academic libraries in the Alliance Library
System in Illinois. One of the ways for information dissemination used in traditional libraries is
current awareness such as distribution of the table of contents for all journals in their collection
to users. The main objective of current awareness is to provide users with up-to-date information.
With many technological features like mailing list software, such services can be offered to users
(Chu and Krichel, 2003). Chu and Krichel (2003) and Cruz et al. (2003) reported a model for
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current awareness service, NEP (New Economics Papers) for the RePEC (Research Papers in
Economics) digital library. They also introduced other projects on current awareness
development. An emerging trend in digital libraries to support users’ specific information needs
and preferred search and retrieval strategies is the personalization service. Based on users’
interest and characteristics, information on a digital library is automatically filtered and delivered
to users via a personalized interface. Some research projects on personalization service have
been implemented. Cohen (2000) reported a personalized electronic service project. With the
service, students, faculty, and staff can collect and organize resources for private use, and stay
informed of new resources provided by the library. Jayawardana et al. (2001a, b) introduced a
framework for personalized information environment (PIE) in which users can build
personalized views on library materials based on their interests and are able to organize the
collected information, annotate, modify, and integrate library sources as part of their knowledge
construction.
The researchers review on the aspect of digital library services is that libraries have made efforts
to better serve users with information and value-added services. They provide services both in a
traditional way and in an innovative way by applying technologies. Digital reference services
and some advanced services for personalization and interactivity have been implemented in
libraries and other organizations. While access services have been central in digital library
development and projects for personalization and interactivity have been implemented in digital
environments, it can be reported that little attention has been paid to other reference and
information services. With the evolution of new environments, a digital library should redefine
digital library services. Such services need to include both conventional and innovative types of
services. With well-designed services, digital libraries will be able to better serve their users and
community and streamline favorably with the increasing demands of the 21st century in relation
to information provision and effective dissemination.
2.4.2 Relevance attached to digital library development
The rise of an information economy has brought about an information age that is highly reliant
on information and communication technologies (ICTs) (Ngulube, 2004, p. 21). It is an age
where the survival and development of human kind are ultimately defined by the use, production,
and consumption of information. The African Information Initiative adopted the digital agenda in
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1996 in order to transform stagnating African economies (ECA, 1996, p. 9). In 2001, the 34th
session of the Commission for Africa reaffirmed that ICTs were key to the economic and social
development of the African continent (Ngulube, 2004). Digital libraries are organizations that
provide the resources, including specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to,
interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time collections of
digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community
or set of communities (Waters, 1998; Digital Libraries Federation, 2002). The component
characteristics of digital libraries are the storage of information in digital form, direct usage of
communication networks for accessing, obtaining information, and copying by either
downloading or online/offline printing from a master file. According to Husler, traditional
libraries, which were known as repositories of knowledge, have hence become accessible in
database form; the internet and the web are making knowledge universal and linked
internationally. In summary, then, a digital library maintains all, or a substantial part, of its
collection in computer-possible form as an alternative, supplement, or complement to the
conventional printed and microfilm materials that currently dominate library collections. Digital
librarians, including those in Uganda, enable managing very large amounts of data, preserve
unique collections, provide faster access to information, facilitate dealing with data from more
than one location, and enhance distributed learning environments. Digital librarians also help to
perform searches that are manually not feasible and offer to protect the content of the owner’s
Several authors such as Magara (2002), Mutula (2002), McDonald and Kebbell (2004), Jain
(2006) and Rosenberg (2006) have written on the advantages of digital libraries. These
advantages make the creation of digital libraries a strategic method to enhance information
access in the Sub-Saharan region:
Digital libraries provide a faster method of accessing and exchanging information in all
sectors such as research, scholarship, medicine, government services and business.
Digital information can easily be shared and therefore is available to everybody, which is
a great improvement on print libraries, which require expensive duplication of material in
different locations.
Given their sinking cost of establishment, digital libraries can make it possible to provide
everybody even those in the remotest parts of the Sub-Sahara with information in its most
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up-to-date form. With a link to the information superhighway, libraries in the region even
the smallest and the remotest can serve as a gateway to local as well as global
information.
Digital libraries are available on 24-hour basis from anywhere in the world, offering
flexible arrangements for students, researchers, scholars and the community.
Digital libraries can be widespread and accessed as full text from any location or
workstation.
E-content is available on several subjects from a variety of sources such as libraries,
electronic publishers, and business organizations and in multimedia formats.
Information is readily available from offices, telecenters, laboratory homes without
creating a need to travel long distances to physical libraries, and homes without creating a
need to travel long distances to physical libraries.
Human development
Just as industrialization and globalization have increased the gulf between the haves and have-
nots, information and communications technology is creating a chasm between the “knows” and
“know-nots”. Witten et al. further observed that in the developing world, digital libraries provide
perhaps the first really compelling raison for computing technology. Five important areas where
digital libraries can promote human development include dissemination of human information,
disaster relief, preservation and propagation of indigenous culture, locally produced collections
of information and then, new opportunities to enter the global marketplace.
Dissemination of humanitarian information
Traditional publishing and distribution mechanisms have tragically failed the developing world.
A wealth of essential humanitarian material is produced by various international organizations.
Being produced by internationally oriented, non-profit organizations, funded by all people on the
planet, this information is, at least in principle, in the public domain: it could be made freely
available in the form of networked digital libraries.
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Disaster relief
Natural disasters, such as earthquakes or hurricanes, and man-made ones such as terrorist attacks
or nuclear accidents, demand immediate and informed response in an environment where the
local infrastructure may be unpredictable or severely damaged. The response to a crisis is
characterized by the generation of large amounts of unstructured, multimedia data that must be
acquired, processed, organized and disseminated sufficiently rapidly to be of use to crisis
responders. Digital library technology allows organized collections of such information, graced
with comprehensive searching and browsing capabilities, to be created very rapidly. Intelligence
specific to the nature of a disaster, the geographical region and the logistic resources available
for the relief effort can be gathered into a built-to-order digital library collection that combines
targeted knowledge with general medical and sanitary information. A recent example is the
Tsunami wave that killed thousands of people in Asia and left millions homeless.
Preservation and propagation of indigenous culture
Information about indigenous culture takes many guises: oral history in the form of narration
and interviews; artifacts in the form of images and descriptions; songs in the form of audio
recordings, music transcriptions, and lyrics; dances and ceremonies in the form of video, audio,
written synopses, and interpretations. Multimedia digital libraries allow such information to be
integrated, recorded, browsed, and searched, within a uniform user interface. Because language
is the vehicle of thought, communication and cultural identity, a crucial feature of digital
libraries for culture preservation is the ability to work in local languages. This strengthens
individual cultures, promotes diversity and reduces the dominance of only a few languages.
Digital library applications in culture preservation have the advantage that the relevant
information is readily available locally. But there are countless other scenarios that involve
creating and distributing locally produced information collections. Teachers prepare educational
material that addresses specific community problems, and adapt published material to employ
local examples. Indigenous people have invaluable medicinal knowledge based on local plants or
long-acquired knowledge of the cultivation and protection of local species. Such knowledge is
vital: more than half of the world’s most frequently prescribed drugs are derived from plants or
synthetic copies of plant chemicals, and this trend is growing. Local groups assemble
information collections that describe and reflect neighborhood conditions, providing new
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material for socio-cultural studies, fostering cultural exchange while retaining diversity, and
increasing international understanding.
New opportunities to enter the global marketplace.
The varied demands of digital library development, such as manual metadata extraction,
collection organization, cataloging, and information presentation, expand the range of tasks that
the developing world can undertake, creating valuable new export markets. One of the most
important developments of recent years is the establishment of open archives and institutional
repositories. Preprints can be found there, as can electronic versions of dissertations, research
data, teaching materials, and increasingly also articles that have gone through peer review
processes. Rosenberg (2004) also sees the future market for scientific information and education
in electronic information repositories. She noted that the repositories are connected with one
another over global networks, and since they are based on public standards with digital libraries,
the users will be offered more convenient and quicker access to the required information.
The researchers review on the relevance of digital libraries is that Digital libraries are a key
technology especially for developing countries. They can assist human development by
providing a non-commercial mechanism for distributing humanitarian information on topics such
as health, agriculture, nutrition, hygiene, sanitation and water supply, and other areas, ranging
from disaster relief to medical education. The electronic revolution coupled with improvements
in communication make it imperative to look beyond today and prepare for tomorrow. In order to
promote continuous upgrading of digital libraries in Uganda, there is need for a national
information policy to pave the way for the digital library era.
2.5 Challenges faced in digital library development
2.5.1 Challenges
The development of digital libraries is a very complex task confronting various challenges, many
of which are still subject to profound research. Largely dependent on the primary purpose and
the orientation of the project, is the selection of the material the repository shall be composed of.
Hereby, the source of the data is determined at first. On the basis of this, a policy has to be
declared, whether the material will be handled very selectively, forming a well-sorted collection,
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or rather gathered in an automatic fashion, resulting in a comprehensive archive. Installing
proper storage facilities is a prerequisite for a well working repository. Thereby, a robust and
capacious solution is required, but at the same time it needs to be flexible enough to adapt to
advances in technology. Digital data are prone to decay. This is not only due to physical
deterioration of the storage media used, but to a much greater extent caused by quick succession
of ever superior systems replacing hardware as well as software. Because of this evolution,
access to digital documents in the long run is at great danger. Strategies have to be developed to
counteract this loss of information.
Those involve converting data in regular cycles to a subsequent data format that is in use at that
time. Another approach sets out to emulate on a future computer then obsolete system
environments. However, great effort has still to be put into the research and implementation of
such solutions. Ultimately, access has to be provided to the depository. Allowing a convenient
and efficient usability of the collections constitute an ongoing task. Furthermore, economics and
legal issues demand consideration. Much remains to be done to achieve the realization of such a
venture. Yet, steps have to be taken immediately at a high priority taking into account what is at
stake. One of the key problems found in the digital library of the present and one that will persist
into the future is maintaining the match between the fluid content and its description in the
library, digital, or otherwise. There is already an emerging literature to point to the complexity
and difficulty in maintaining that match, and many conclude, for example, that web documents,
among the most ephemeral of digital material, may be too elusive for serious long-term
collecting (Koehler, 2002; Markwell and Brooks, 2002; Nelson and Allen, 2002; Rumsey, 2002).
Shiri (2003) identified some of the challenges related to the implementation, development, and
evaluation of digital libraries to be.
Digital content and collections
This category refers to individual digital objects and collections of objects in repositories
encompassing a variety of materials in different digital formats. Shiri (2003) observed that one
major challenge with regard to metadata is the diversity of digital information formats. The
author noted that there are challenges associated with digital content: for instance conversion of
printed materials into digital format and creation of digital-only materials for the purpose of a
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particular digital library. Digital collections require well-structured metadata schemes to describe
digital objects and content at various levels of granularity. Structural and descriptive metadata
are two general classes of metadata of particular relevance. Shiri (2003) propounded that one
major challenge with regard to metadata is the diversity of digital formats and the ways in which
they should be described in different collections with different target audience and uses. In the
electronic environment, institutions and individuals license access to content; they do not own
the containers that surround that content. Libraries have already found that they are limited in the
scope and range of patrons who may have access to their licensed collections. For example, some
academic libraries cannot allow people who are not part of their university access to certain
licensed electronic content. However, had that information been contained in purchased “paper”
journals, under the doctrine of first sale, there would be no issue. Indeed, given copyright and
contract provisions, most electronic material cannot be copied and transferred through
interlibrary loan (Koehler, 2004).
Interoperability and standards
Interoperability is one of the most heavily discussed issues in digital library research. Shiri
(2003) mentioned that the requirement for interoperability is derived from the fact that various
digital libraries with different architectures, metadata formats, and underlying technologies wish
to intellectually interact. The challenge, however, is that this can only be done through applying
a range of common protocols and standards. Standards within the context of digital libraries
encompass all protocols and conventional that has been set for the digital library architecture,
collections, metadata formats, interoperability, and so forth. For all digital libraries in the world
to have common standards is a big challenge particularly for the information scientist.
Knowledge organization systems, users and user ability. This category refers to a range of tools
used for knowledge organization, classification, and retrieval of knowledge in a general sense.
Shiri (2003) acknowledged that one of the challenges is the way in which these interact with
each other. Hilt (2002) mentioned that research is under way to investigate issues surrounding
mappings and interoperability among various knowledge organization systems. In order to
develop usable digital libraries, Shiri noted that researchers have addressed user behavior and
user requirements in different contexts including academic environments, schools, government
departments, and business. One of the challenges is associated with the methodologies and data
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gathering techniques. He observed that researchers have tried to use a combination of tools and
techniques to collect data for user evaluation. Legal, organizational, and social issues Rights
management, intellectual property, and copy right issues are all legal aspects of digital libraries.
Shiri (2003) intimated that social issues in relation to digital libraries center on the ways in which
people view digital libraries and their usefulness; and the extent to which they are integrated into
people’s lives and social activities. Every government must adopt common laws and procedures
so as to eliminate misuse and theft of information. Filtering systems should be used so that
genuine users are not inconvenienced. An information product is intellectual property (Thurow,
1997). The protection of intellectual property rights and privacy are the two areas the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) seriously is concerned with. Its December 1996
Diplomatic Conference produced two treaties: the WIPO copyright treaty and WIPO treaty on
performances and phonograms. The first copyright treaty supplements the century-old Berne.
Staff education
Education and training are fundamental to the improvement of the preservation of digital
resources (Rosenberg, 2004, p. vi). Competency and expertise in managing digital resources
were identified in a study for the Research Libraries Group as major requirements. Kemoni and
Wamukoya identified lack of information skills due to inadequate training as one of the
impediments to the management of electronic records at Moi University in Kenya. Ngulube also
discovered that expertise in the field of digitization in Southern Africa was very limited. Ngulube
(2004) again noted that information studies programs in Africa did not reveal many modules that
specifically address preservation of information containers and digital preservation. A survey by
Liu on the subject of digital libraries in the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia revealed that some
course contents were not up to date in the field of library and information technology. Ngulube
(2004) emphasized that educators should bear in mind that rapid changes in information
management technologies and the preservation challenges presented by diverse media require
constant upgrading of knowledge and skills so that educators produce graduates who would be
comfortable with the demands of the digital age. The answer to this is in giving due emphasis to
in-house training.
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Infrastructure
Digital libraries depend on internet and intranet connections, yet there is no foolproof system to
prevent virus damage. A more serious obstacle is that network access varies widely across the
globe. Differences in technology between developed and developing countries persist. Whereas
in 1998 more than a quarter of the US population were surfing the internet, the figure for Latin
America and the Caribbean was 0.8 per cent, for Sub-Saharan Africa 0.1 per cent, and for South
Asia 0.04 per cent (UN, 1997). Schools and hospitals in developing countries are poorly
connected. Even in relatively well-off South Africa, many hospitals and 75 per cent of schools
have no telephone line. Universities are better equipped, but even there up to 1,000 people can
depend on just one terminal. The internet, as Arunachalam puts it, “is failing the developing
world”. While global satellite communication networks will eventually bring relief, this takes
time and money. The core issue of IT development is the objective of providing universal access,
in which libraries play a crucial role. Bringing internet access to all is a daunting task. Physical
distribution of information on recordable devices such as compact disk read-only memory is a
very practical format for areas with little internet access.
Language barrier and technology
Language is the embodiment of a culture and preservation of identity is important. There are
about 6,000 languages spoken in the world, and of these nearly 90 per cent are dying out. It is
estimated that just over half of the world’s population speak one of just five languages: Chinese,
English, Hindi, Russian, and Spanish. Uganda alone has over 50 languages. In the past, libraries
came into being at the behest of kings and nobles, and enjoyed aristocratic patronage. With the
change to a democratic political system, the responsibility fell on the government. The private
sector and the corporate sector especially, were not involved. Any contact was related to their
own concerns, not the development of libraries. Now the private sector, particularly in advanced
countries manufacturing internet related equipment, is in a position to extend both material and
financial support. Being the major producers of computer technology they are able to set up such
industries in developing countries. Developing countries could offer incentives such as tax
breaks, investment subsidies, and so on. This alone would help in reducing the cost of goods
needed for constructing a digital library. Unless this is achieved digital libraries and universal
knowledge will be restricted to the elite familiar with one of the major languages of the world.
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The challenge is to evolve a strategy so as to provide information in the language required by the
reader. While installed network software is easily detected, it is difficult to determine whether it
is operational. Incorrectly installed or configured software is endemic in developing countries,
because computers there are often cast-offs whose software is inappropriate to their present
environment, yet system support to rectify the problems is unavailable.
Sustainability for digital libraries
Sustainability has become a buzzword in the field of new library projects and developments
(Hamilton, 2004). As McArthur et al. (2003) say, in the digital library context, sustainability is a
broad term that refers to everything from technical issues about the digital preservation of
materials, to the social questions surrounding the long-term accessibility of resources to the
public at large. Traditional libraries may not regularly have to justify their existence but most,
these days, need to fight to maintain their budgets. The sustainability question arises so
frequently in the digital library world because digital initiatives tend to be introduced as special
projects. In many cases, insufficient thought has been given at the outset as to how they will turn
into long-term developments. And at times of economic pressure, when even the core is
questioned, anything else is vulnerable. The key to sustainability, therefore, is to reach a position
where the digital library is no longer regarded as an add-on, but as part of this integral core. The
answer may include being essential, or an integral, part of the organization. This is the status to
which digital libraries must aspire (Hamilton, 2004). Strategies for achieving sustainability of
digital libraries include economic sustainability, finding champions, funding sources, and self-
sustained growth.
Economic sustainability
Economic sustainability is a softer, more political area than preservation, and consequently
solutions are less tangible and concrete. Smith (2003) sums the position up as “the hardest part of
sustainability – how to pay for it all.” Hamilton (2004) states that there are no easy answers,
which is one reason why in the past so many digital library projects have blossomed briefly and
then withered. Hamilton (2004) recommended that one view is that more money should be spent
on sustaining services and less on initiating projects, but in most cases it is best to start from the
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premise that external funding obtained to establish a project will rarely be an appropriate source
to provide ongoing, unlimited funding for its continuation.
Finding champions
It is rare that a digital library project is so intrinsically valuable that the host institution is forced
to find funds for continuation. Hamilton (2004) suggests that one route towards backing the
“withering” trend is to ensure strong branding, linking a successful product with the institution.
The author advised that most projects require rallying support through conscious efforts to gain
champions beyond the immediate circles and this is where strong, ideally charismatic, project
leadership is important.
Funding sources
Sustainability options are categorized into subscription fees, charges for online courses,
sponsorship/endowments, and integration (Hamilton, 2004). He advised that combinations of any
of the four might be appropriate. Charging for access will be an option if charges would apply
for similar physical information. Charges may also be acceptable for added-value services where
basic services are free. Hamilton again stressed that if charges are deemed appropriate there are
two approaches: charge from the start or allow free access initially, then charge once the users
have been “hooked.” The author warned that the availability of so much free information on the
web does create a barrier to payment by individuals who have to be convinced of the value of the
particular information you are providing. If the payment will come from institutions rather than
individuals, it is important to consider the position of budget holders. For many, payment for a
new service will mean something else will have to be stopped. When dealing with academic
libraries, the situation is further complicated by the existence of a wide variety of budget control
systems ranging from fully devolved to fully centralized, so it can be difficult to target your
marketing. Sponsorship and in-kind support can take many forms and creativity may be required
to overcome institutional antipathy to and restrictions on advertising. Campbell gives examples
of varied sources of sponsorship for Australian subject gateways ranging from endorsement
through free publicity to solid financial support. In-kind contributions are often overlooked. As
Zorich points out, this can lead to problems if the contribution is withdrawn, and it also means
that organizations “cannot effectively use this support as evidence when funders seek tangible
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proof of outside financial commitments to a project.” Hamilton (2004) believes that integration is
the ultimate goal for many digital library project leaders. But it is hard to integrate a project once
its funding has run out. It is also hard to plan for such integration from the outset but this must be
the main approach. The formal business plan required by many funders should not be regarded as
one more bureaucratic hurdle but the passport to a successful, sustainable digital library.
Self-sustained growth
Libraries in developing countries in particular rely primarily on governmental funding. The
resource crisis has affected every field of activity. The problem is further confounded by the
increasing cost of books and periodicals in developed countries and the falling value of the
currencies of developing countries in the international market. Further periodic increases in
freight charges add to the strain on the already low budget allocations. Also, many public and
departmental libraries are understaffed. It is clear that relying on the government is not
conducive to self-sustained growth. Under these circumstances it is better to explore ways to
earn income so as to reduce dependence. This becomes all the more important in the context of
globalization. It is therefore essential that adequate thought is given to finding financial resources
for digital libraries and their upkeep.
2.5.2 Solutions to some of the challenges faced in the digital library development
The technological infrastructure
Computers are not so hard to come by in developing countries as one might think. Their
extraordinarily rapid rate of obsolescence, coupled with the developed world’s voracious appetite
for the latest and greatest, makes low-end machines essentially free: instead of clogging landfill
sites many (although certainly not enough) find their way to developing countries. A 1998 World
Bank survey of developing countries found three to 30 PCs per 1,000 people, depending on the
poverty level (World Bank, 2000). With growth predicted at 20 per cent per year, it was
estimated that by the year 2000 there were 50 million PCs in developing countries, serving a
population of four billion!
xlviii
Distributed collections
Electronic collectibles have become more commonplace (Koehler, 2004). Vendors,
consolidators, and publishers are providing more and more content either directly to end-users or
to end-users through libraries in electronic format. More monograph and serial titles are being
offered to institutional and individual subscribers in either electronic format only or in print and
electronic format. If the catalog is in digital format, the target object may or may not also be in
similar format. Digitized content can be and very frequently is transmitted directly to the end-
user on demand from the catalog (Koehler, 2004). When libraries and individuals purchase
information objects they own the container but not the content. Content ownership resides with
the copyright holder. Nevertheless, as owners of the container, we may transfer the title to the
container or lend it to others. We also have limited rights to copy the content. In the digital
environment, where the concept of container is very different and content is licensed, the rules
have changed.
User behavior
Studies have shown that students would like smaller digital portable systems rather than carry
too many printed books, although this may be in addition to the printed books. Lynch (2001)
predicted that users would carry their digital library in their pocket. In that case, their pocket may
actually become a digital wearable system for that purpose. Nokia’s research center, for example,
had the idea of “virtual pockets” for some time (Lehikoinen, 2000), but the notion has not yet
affected libraries. Koehler (2004) observed that the youngest generation of end-users has already
learned to search for information independently. They learn and research in groups, move in
parallel in diverse virtual worlds and wait impatiently 24 hours a day, all over the world, for
immediate unlimited access to relevant information (in full text). Koehler (2004) advised that in
order to satisfy these demands, issue-oriented, extremely fast and highly effective, flexible
search and retrieval systems are necessary. Librarians can make a contribution here by increasing
the information skills of the library users, supporting the process of electronic learning, and by
getting involved in creating electronic archives and improving their profile and access.
The researchers’ review of the challenges and solutions faced in the development of digital
libraries is that concerned authorities should be cautioned that embarking on the process, it is a
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multitask activity but above all preliminary planning is ideal. Digital Library development entails
policy initiation, setting priorities and planning. These are challenging tasks for the management.
The library management needs to consult libraries that had digitized their materials so as to learn
from their experiences. This will guide a lot while formulating policies on the digital project. A
planning committee has to be set up. It is the responsibility of this committee to draw plans and
budget for the project. The library management will also need to prioritize the different activities
involved and assign each task to a committee. Time limits should be assigned for completion of
each task. Also pertinent to note is that, the task of carrying along all the staff and guiding library
users can be challenging. Some of the staff will like to resist change, particularly those that are
not computer literate. It is essential for the library management to explain the essence of the
project to them and arrange to retrain the employees so that they can participate in the project
and remain functional in a digital library. Some of the library users will definitely find it difficult
to search for materials in the digital terrain. It is good for library assistants to be available to
render assistance. Orientation programs can be organized for these library users from time to
time. This is very essential in the selected University Libraries where the users can be many and
are also regular.
It can be said that digital libraries can assist human development by providing a non-commercial
mechanism for distributing humanitarian information on topics such as health, agriculture,
nutrition, hygiene, sanitation and water supply, and other areas, ranging from disaster relief to
medical education. The proliferation of computers, the robust architecture and the geographical
distribution of the internet revolution coupled with improvements in communication make it
essential to look beyond today and prepare for tomorrow. In order to promote continuous
upgrading of traditional libraries in selected University in Uganda, there is need for a national
information policy to lay concrete on the way for the digital library development.
l
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter shall present the methods and procedures that will be used to get results out of what
shall contain as research findings of the study. It will present or give information on research
design, population of the study, target population of the study, sample size, sampling technique,
data collection methods, research instruments, research procedure, quality control, validity of the
study, reliability, data analysis, ethical considerations, limitations of the study and solutions.
3.1 Research Design
A qualitative research approach will be the research design used to identify detailed information
on and about the study of development of digital libraries. This approach shall be preferred
because data that will be collected will be textual and thorough descriptions shall be used to
explain the outcomes on a particular objective.
3.2 Population and Sampling
The researcher will use qualified libraries most especially those at the top management level and
if need be possessing great knowledge about digital library operations and development as
population of the study and probability sampling will be used in the process of selecting units for
example, people or respondents from the population of the study in that by studying the sample,
the researcher will be able to fairly generalize the results back to the population from which they
will be chosen.
3.2.1 Target PopulationThis study will use Library and Information Science professionals and individuals who are
knowledgeable in the development aspects of digital libraries as target population of the study.
3.2.2 Sample Size
The research is expecting to a population of 30 people, 10 selected to represent others on each of
the three of the University libraries to be used as the research case studies. They will include;
KYU Barclays Library, MUBS Library and NDEJJE University Library, Kampala campus.
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3.2.3 Sampling Technique
The research will be base on the simple random sampling method. The research will randomly
have to select the respondents who will have the task of filling the questionnaires and others
requested to attend the interview depending on the time aspect and how busy the respondents
shall be and their consent.
3.3 Data collection Methods
The data collection methods shall comprise of: the interview method (direct interviews,
questionnaire method), observation method and literature search;
Interview Method
The research shall use the direct interview and questionnaire method as techniques under the
interview method. Direct interviews will be carried out to supplement on the information that is
expected to be got from the use questionnaires. However, that will be done by use an interview
guide.
Questionnaire Method
Simple and brief questions from the research objectives will be formulated to guide in the
process of data collection. The questions to be formulated will be dedicated to the knowledge
librarians and other staff with the advent of the enough knowledge about digital library
development.
Observation Method
The researcher is expectant to use his eyes to observe pertinent aspects about the research
problem. This will however serve as supplementary avenue to confirm the data responses by the
research population.
Literature Search
Viable sources of the literature and related information about digital library development is
expected to be derived from various information resources including but not limited to:
textbooks, encyclopedias, periodicals, Internet, conference proceedings, research papers lecture
notice, newspapers and a like.
3.3.1 Research Instruments
The data collection instruments are expected to comprise of the interview guide and the
questionnaire guide.
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Interview Guide
The interview guide is expected to contain simple and short questions relating to the research
objectives and research questions.
Questionnaire Guide
The researcher is expectant to use the questionnaire tool for gathering data; this will comprise of
both open and closed ended format questions. This tool is expected to serve as the main or chief
source of information because the respondents will be given chance to express whole heartedly
their feelings and contributions towards the research problem without the researchers
interference.
3.3.2Research Procedure
Data that will be gathered from the field / study will undergo the a routine testing and processing
using the textual format, frequencies and percentages will be drawn to represent findings of the
study. Data will then be put in tables and textual form. This will eventually be used to present
and explain data in tables.
3.4 Quality Control
Internet
The internet is expected to provide relevant information about the research problem. This will
give the researcher enough strength of conducting the survey about digital library development.
Authentic Sources
The researcher will consult viable textbooks, encyclopedias, research proceedings, periodicals,
and online databases, lecture notice in order to get and compile the related literature to the topic
of study.
3.4.1 Validity
Validity will determine whether the research truly measures to what it was intended to measure
or how truthful the research results will be. The validity of the research will be determined by
asking a series of questions to respondents, in comparison with the information given or
presented in answers of the previous research of others related to digital library development.
3.4.2 Reliability
Reliability of the study will be maintained by applying similar methodology and data collection
techniques at different places of the study geographical scope / case study places. This will
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however help to measure the extent to which results to be presented is consistent over time and
an accurate representation of the total population under study.
3.5 Data Analysis
After data processing and presentation, data will be analyzed and proof read for errors. However,
the analysis will be based on the research objectives and research questions. Data will be
analyzed manually but following the ethics of research operations.
3.6 Ethical Considerations
Introductory Letter / Letter of permission
An introductory letter from the research coordinator of the EASLIS, CoSIS Makerere University
will legally permit the researcher to carry out the pre- test of the study. This will enable the
researcher ponder primary visits to all places which will comprise as pertinent case sources for
the research without fear of being ruled out by the concerned authorities.
Honesty
Honesty will be maintained in the reporting of data, results, methods, procedures and publication
status. This research study shall not to fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data to the colleagues,
granting agencies and the public at large.
Integrity
All promises and agreements of this research undertaking will be done with sincerity keeping on
track with consistency of thought and action.
Openness
Outcomes of this research will be shared in terms of data, ideas, tools resources and widely open
to criticisms and new ideas.
Respect of intellectual property
This research proposal will honor patents, copyright and other forms of intellectual property. UN
published data, methods, or results without permission will not be considered at all. Credit shall
be given by acknowledging and citing the responsible authors behind the knowledge and
information to be reported about digital library development.
3.7 Limitations of the study and solutions
3.7.1 Limitations
The researcher will face some of the following as limitations of the study;
liv
Data inaccessibility as a result of some respondents being hesitant to reveal out relevant
information towards the research findings. This will however limit the scope of the study.
UN anticipated occurrences that may come up and prevent the researcher from doing the
proposal and hand in according to the academic schedule.
Prevention by the recommended authorities from accessing viable sources and
respondents who will help out in the provision of rightful information about the notion of
digital library development and this will impend on the validity of study.
3.7.2 Solutions
Being honest and open-minded to respondents will enable the researcher have close
dialogue and interaction with the viable respondents, an avenue to help the researcher get
farfetched information about the notion of digital library development.
Early and effective communication with the course tutor and supervisor will help the
researcher iron out the limitation of UN anticipated out comes.
The researcher will ensure that integrity is maintained and advances will be made to
assure the respondents that the research findings will be kept as secret in order to
rejuvenate the recommended authorities and respondents to give their all without fear or
favor of letting information spread to the public. These will however enable the
researcher achieve the validity and the reliability of the study.
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APPENDIX A: PROPOSED BUDGET
No. Item Description Quantity Unit Cost Estimated
amount ug shs
1. Stationery
1. Photocopying
2. Writing
Materials
3. Flash disk
4 reams
2 writing pads
and pens
4GB Flash disk
10000
15000
45000
40000
15,000
45,000
lxvii
2. Personnel
1. Research
Assistant
2. Typist
6 Assistants
1Typist
30000
20000
180,000
20000
3. Travel
1. To the 3 places
of study
5Times 6000 30,000
4. Consultancy
1. Data Analysis Twice 25000 50000
4. Miscellaneous 45000
5. Sub total = 151,000
6. Total Ug shs. 425,000≠
APPENDIX B: WORKPLANNo. Phase / Activity Time / Month Dates 2011 / 2012
1. Proposal Development 1 Month 17-17 December 2011
2. Piloting Instruments 3 weeks 17-07 January 2012
3. Data Collection 2 Weeks 18-01 February 2012
4. Data Analysis and
Interpretation
3 Weeks 02-22 February 2012
5. Final Report Word 2 Months 23-23 April 2012
lxviii
processing
6. Proof Reading 2 Weeks 24-04 May 2012
7. Revising for Exams 2 months May-June 2012
8. Submission 2 Months 28 June 2012