Library Review

Nicholas Joint

2005 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530510588890

Purpose – To investigate recent enhancements to the internet search engine Google. Design/methodology/approach – An opinion piece based on practitioner experience and recent commentary on search engine innovations. Findings – That recent innovations in Google's functionality have yet to deliver what they promise, but that it is still early to say what can genuinely be achieved in these areas. Research limitations/implications – This is an expression of opinion about a service that will be radically improved and developed in the immediate future. Practical implications – Gives some useful insights and tips on how to use existing digital library tools to achieve information retrieval results along the lines of those aspired to by Google. Originality/value – An attempt to give clear, practice‐based examples of how to apply recent digital information retrieval developments to contemporary library work.

Jane Barton

2005 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530510588908

Purpose – This paper provides an overview of activities in the field of virtual museums and considers a number of issues for which there are parallels in the field of digital libraries. Design/methodology/approach – Using a range of illustrative examples, we attempt to determine what defines a virtual museum on the one hand and a digital library disguised as a virtual museum on the other; when it makes sense for virtual museums to work in partnership with digital libraries, or draw on digital library research and development; and how the power of the digital environment might be harnessed to further the traditional values of the museum community. Findings – Finds that virtual museums and digital libraries have much in common and the boundaries between them are increasingly blurred. The provision of object‐level metadata, needed to realise the wider potential of the digital environment to enhance and extend the traditional museum experience, gives rise to a number of issues which are shared by libraries and for which shared approaches would be beneficial. In particular, collaboration between the museum and library communities is essential if solutions to the problems of cross‐domain searching are to be found and its potential to facilitate new knowledge creation fully exploited. However, any collaborative approach must take into account the differences, as well as the similarities, between the two communities, as these differences are fundamental and defining. Originality/value – The paper will be of interest to museum, library and other information professionals, and particularly those developing distributed and/or cross‐domain digital collections.

Ewa Bakowska

2005 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530510588917

Purpose – To describe the history of the Jagiellonian Library (Biblioteka Jagiellońska), Cracow, Poland up to the present time. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a narrative and factual account of the library's past and present development in the broader context of Polish history. Findings – The strengths of the collection are summarised, as well as the historical role of the library, which has emerged as the second national library of Poland. Research limitations/implications – The paper is only able to present a summary of the library's collection strengths, though more scholarly analyses are listed for further reading. Practical implications – The paper gives historical insight into the development of a rich, historic library collection and explores how such a collection can maintain a vital relationship with the identity of a nation – in this case, Poland. Originality/value – This paper raises awareness of some hitherto unfamiliar facts about Polish Library history, highlighting aspects of the Jagiellonian Library's possibly unique position in world library history.

Priti Jain

2005 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530510588926

Purpose – This paper analyses the opinions of the Botswana National Library Service's (BNLS) Headquarters (HQ) staff and staff of the Botswana public libraries on strategic human resource management issues, which were tested by six hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis was carried out by statistical means. The t ‐test was the method used for comparing the two groups' mean scores. Analyses were repeated using the Chi‐squared test. Findings – The study identified a number of issues where staff had differences of opinion: changing employees' expectations about work, transformational leadership, job satisfaction, performance feedback and delegation of responsibility. The paper briefly discusses the issues where the status of the library influenced staff opinions. Research limitations/implications – It is to be noted that the data collected from HQ has to be used with caution because the number of respondents there was smaller than the respondents from public libraries. Practical implications – The author throws light on human resource management techniques in the everyday library environment. This paper may help policy makers to identify ways in which they can motivate their employees; it may help policy planners to identify their staff's different requirements. Originality/value – This paper provides a useful and insightful application of a general human resource management tool to the specific organizational context of public libraries.

Maitrayee Ghosh

2005 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530510588935

Purpose – The current situation of Indian public libraries has been viewed by some as follows: the public library system in India is condemned to remain peripheral to the actual information needs of the masses; that it is in a depressed state, and serves as little more than a warehouse of recreational reading materials, a majority of which are in regional languages. This paper suggests possible remedies on how to transform the situation, and details new technological developments which are already showing the potential to change public libraries in rural India for the better. Design/methodology/approach – A descriptive account of the contemporary situation in India with regard to public libraries, digital technologies and development possibilities, using official statistics and the LIS literature. Findings – The challenges that face public libraries in India are listed and a vision for their future based on the concept of “ICT for development” is sketched out. Research limitations/implications – It is difficult to get an overall view of this topic: authorized statistics on public libraries in India as a whole are not collected, because these libraries are the responsibility of a variety of agencies who, for various reasons, never disclose such information on a national scale. Practical implications – The author details new technological developments, the practical outcome of which would in particular facilitate the establishment of digital library services in rural India. Originality/value – This paper provides a useful overview of a library scenario on which aggregated statistical data is hard to find; and, from this summary of the present situation, goes on to suggest possible ways to transform the “digital divide” into “digital opportunities”.

Novera Afaq; Khalid Mahmood

2005 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530510588944

Purpose – The paper analyses the use of library and information science (LIS) journals (electronic and paper) in two developing countries, i.e. Malaysia and Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the results of a survey distributed to a population consisting of two sets of LIS journal users. The targeted group includes two sets of graduate students from Departments of Library and Information Science, each in an academic institution from one of the two countries. Findings – LIS journals have as their objective the provision of guidance in the education and learning process of LIS students and the provision of leadership in the practice of librarianship. The profession needs to have a heightened awareness of LIS journals and requires fast and easy access to this body of literature. For developing countries this objective can only be met through help of developed nations who can provide improved means to access LIS journals more efficiently and more effectively in both paper and electronic format. Research limitations/implications – The results of this study did not take in a large population of LIS journal users, but they do provide ground for further research in this area. Practical implications – The results of the survey questionnaire provide a better understanding about the usefulness of LIS journals as an educational tool and their contribution towards development of librarianship in both countries. Originality/value – There is comparatively little written on the use of LIS journals in developing countries. This paper helps fill that gap. The choice of a comparison between two contrasting developing countries' use of the literature is particularly useful, because the contrast throws into sharper relief the appropriate actions that should be taken to meet user needs.