Archive for the ‘Digital library’ Category
My Digital Library Learning Project
Librarians in Troubles, picture by Claesju
Hi everyone,
today I have finished my Digital Library Learning Project.
I have introduced more practice exercise to support the different Digital Library examples.
Also there are a new section that include a discussion about the Libraries future, where I include my opinion about it.
As I say in my project, we are involving in a change time. The Digital Library subject is really huge and now is under developing. So I hope that my learning project could help people to understand the Digital Libraries, only as overview but being useful and clear.
This picture illustrate the blog´s name, Librarians in Troubles. I think that is so funny. There are two librarians very sad and worry because many people think that the Libraries are going to disappear, and the traditional librarians with them.
I don´t share totally this opinion, but I think that we need improve and adapt our profession. Or really we could finish as the picture show.
I hope you enjoy my learning project.
Newborn World Digital Library: testing the quality
Today has been inaugurated the new World Digital Library with the support of UNESCO. I had been waiting patiently the moment to go inside it and finally I like it in many senses.
A good point is that the WDL is very good presented.
The first page that you see is a map of the world divided by subdivisions of the continents and the number of documents available by time. Down this map you could see a time´s line where is possible choose a specific century or a time scale. Of course is possible do a “more normal browsing” by time, place, topic, type of item and institution.
A bad point is that I think now is only an example of what is going to be, because I think is still “empty”.
Testing the quality of the World Digital Library:
At the first time a tried to browse an edition of the spanish author Cervantes, that
“His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel by many,[1] is a classic of Western literature and is regularly regarded among the best novels ever written. His work is considered among the most important in all of literature.” (from Wikipedia)
But this first browsing about Cervantes Saavedra didn´t work.
I introduced “cervantes” in the search space. The same with “quijote” or “quixote”. So I supposed they don´t have any document related to this topic.
Next I decided choose a document offered by them, because at this moment there are not too much documents.
The result was great. A wonderful picture of a “ Chola Woman, Full-Length Portrait, Standing, Facing Right, La Paz, Bolivia”. The picture has a very good description, also in spanish, and others languages and the quality is wonderful.
There is possible find out more pictures or information related to this document. For example the author, the collection from is part, etc. Is intituitive, I think so, more than a normal catalog, and the presentation is wonderful.
So I hope the WDL is going to have more documents in the future, because now is almost only an example of Digital Library. But I like his use and the quality of the pictures, cataloging, interaction, etc. Now we can talk about the world digital library as something real and working, but at the moment, only as an example of his potential.
Kirkas Gold Robotic Book Scanner
Here you have another book scanner. It is faster!!
New Spanish version of Librarians in Troubles
Hello,
today I´m opening a spanish version of this blog. The idea is provide a different point of view introducing information from the spanish resources and also make avaible the english posts of “Librarians in Troubles” for more people.
I have to say that I´m sure that many times the information in the two websites are going to be different, but I wanna try to provide in both blogs the respective pages. I know that it is going to be more work but I hope is a good way to do an integration.
The links is
Also is possible access to the Spanishversion by the page that appear in the right-up side.
Stanford University Digital Library
Hi,
today I wanna show an interesting video that I have found in youtube. It is about the transformation inside the Stanford University´s Library.
Project Gutenberg
After this short introduction extracted from Wikipedia I´d like to comment on how this project impressed me for years. I use it to find books that I like to read, as a normal library but with the huge difference that I can see every book from my home and I can edit, copy, print or anything I would like. For example I love the Beatrix Potter´s tales, and her beautiful and expressive animal drawings. The catalogue is easy to use, I introduce her name and I receive the page with all her digitized works and something interesting, also her webpage in Wikipedia.
Is great know that some of the tales are audiobooks, not all of them, but some. Miss unless there is no more language versions. I supposed in the future this will be more complete, hopefully!! But allways is necessary remind that it is a cooperative work. This point remind me one famous novel and film, more famous between the librarians because we normally use as an example 
, the novel ”Fahrenheit 451″ where
“The novel presents a future American society in which the masses are hedonistic, and critical thought through reading is outlawed. The central character, Guy Montag, is employed as a “fireman” (which, in this future, means “book burner“). The number “451″ refers to the temperature (in Fahrenheit) at which the books burn[1] when the “firemen” burn them “for the good of humanity”. Written in the early years of the Cold War, the novel is a critique of what Bradbury saw as an increasingly dysfunctional American society.” (from Wikipedia article).
Of course is not my purpose explain here the novel, but I only wanna comment that this novel-world has some similarities with the PG, on the novel some crazy people go away from society to save their favorite book and so it could survive with them, as book-people, which may transmit to future generations, independenly of political or religious reasons. On PG the people work to make available the books to the public, exactly on the same way that in the novel of Ray Bradbury. I like very much this ideals and the spirit behind it. Share culture, share knowledgement, share humanity using our little bit.
Digital Library Projects- Europeana
Still on the subject of digital libraries, today I would like to mention one of these projects. This is the Europeana projects. Initiated by the European Commission and based at first on the European Library. Some definitions and ideas about Europeana: Task B Creating a Learning Presentation Resource- Latina Day 4
The task B for today is to create a Learning Presentation Resource using Google and Wikipedia and more than 3 different resources. As I have said in other post I am interesting in the the Digital library, Library 2.0 and Web 2.0. I think it may be a good topic to do my Learning Presentation.
DIGITAL LIBRARY
What is a Digital Library (DL) ? In my own words I can define DL in very simply way as
a library in a digital format that is accessible by computers using the World Wide Web.
An interesting article to do a first approximation is : Digital Library from Wikipedia
An example of the work and development of one Digital Library; the case of the Digital Library of Congress
But it is not all. The future of the Digital Libraries is totally amazing and powerful. Please just watch this video
This video shows a change that is happening now.
And finally, if you have time I recommend you watch this video too. It is the spirit of the Digital Libray in person.
One note: at this moment this video has more than 16,000 views!!
I like more my profession when I listen things like that.
Librarians in troubles- Day2 Latina Lessons
Google’s vision statement reads: ”organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” ref. So I am wondering now, as a librarian that I am (or I suppose it is our job…not? I can remember that it is the same idea that I have since I started my studies in Library and Information Science. I have been thinking that is not possible do it perfectly because allways you have something to improve or something to add in a reference service, in a library or an information resource. Neverthless we have been triying to improve in all the senses, sometimes better than others. But…one point is changing quickly!! The librarians have been bussy working with the new cataloging tools, the online cataloge, the more advanced database, new formats, new medias, etc, and suddenly all the new digital world is becoming so far away from the traditional libraries. As a very technological enemy that pretend move on the librarians to become them in a part of the past. Why do I think so? because one company like Google, is necessary remember that is not any company is one of the biggest in the world, wants to do the same that we have been doing for centuries!! Google wants to be the guardian of the knowledge. And the most important is that he has a power that the traditional libraries do not have. Google has the users.
Every time a person look for information using a google’s search is a time that he does not go to his library. Perhaps not all the times, but many of them. For example. I am sure that if you need information about a country, because you are planning travel there, you are not going to take a look in your library to find a guide there. My town’s library has many guides but I prefer find the information in internet, using a google’s search!! So Google has the users and I am the first one. I think the libraries as institutions must change their roles.
And I have one question to answer: How the library as an institution may respond to this challenge? I think is difficult to answer it but I can say, in my point of view, that the library role must change, the same as the librarians, the library must be changed according to the new age. If the age is the digital age the library must be digital. If the users use the social network the library must use the same digital place. The library must be with the users and their necessities. Many ideas are confluencing now respecting to that point. I like the idea from the Library 2.0 where the library share their knowledge openly with the users in a social and digital environment.
Librarians we need adjustments or we are going to die!!
