Library Review

Nicholas Joint

2006 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530610655966

Purpose – To point out the limitations of recent legislation designed to enhance digital library service provision to the disabled and, in general, to point out the impact of observing moral rights on the feasibility of larger‐scale digitisation services in libraries. Design/methodology/approach – A simple, summary analysis of the legislation combined with brief observations of library practice. Findings – That the law needs to be extended in important respects to help larger sections of the disabled community in Higher Education, and that quality control issues, as enforced by consideration of our legal obligations under moral rights legislation, will always restrict the level of digital service libraries can offer to readers who need either accessible or digitised texts. Research limitations/implications – This practice‐based supposition will be tested more extensively by investigation of the relevant legal and operational issues through practitioner experience. Practical implications – Suggests that the library profession should lobby to improve legislation for services to the reading impaired, and that, in terms of on demand digitisation, general, all‐purpose digital short loan collections can only offer a limited spin‐off service to disabled users. Digitisation for reading and visual impairment will continue to have specialist features that make it a specialist activity. Originality/value – The paper describes how copyright and moral rights are quite separate, distinct issues affecting library digitisation activity, and that it is easy to overlook the arguably more pronounced limiting effect of moral rights (as opposed to pure copyright) legislation on digitisation services to disabled users.

R. John Robertson

2006 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530610655975

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the future of long‐term curation and preservation of digital assets with particular reference to Further Education (FE) in the UK. Design/methodology/approach – Reviews current requirements of digital preservation and the efforts underway to support them. Drawing on other recent work and the author’s experience in a recent development project it subsequently comments on these efforts in the context of FE. Findings – Argues that the long‐term curation and preservation of digital assets produced by further education colleges should not be the responsibility of those colleges. Research limitations/implications – Written with direct reference to the UK; how the suggested solution would be applied elsewhere remains undeveloped. Practical implications – National memory institutions should strive to establish collaborative curatorial practices with the FE sector. Originality/value – Suggests that the preservation of digital assets in the FE sector requires a different approach than the HE sector.

Jenny Craven and Helen Booth

2006 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530610655984

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describes the methods and findings of two research projects undertaken to explore user behaviour and usability issues relating to the use of Web‐based resources by people with disabilities. Design/methodology/approach – Whilst the aims of the research differed, the methods adopted were similar – including observation, talk aloud protocols, questionnaires and focus groups. Findings – The findings from both studies provided evidence of the problems faced by disabled users when using Web‐based resources. It provided evidence of the types of features users liked and disliked, how they overcame navigational problems and what types of features enhanced their experience, all of which can be fed back into recommendations for the design of electronic resources. Practical implications – The richness of the data collected for both studies confirmed the importance of involving users in accessibility and usability assessments. Analysis of both the findings and the methods for both studies also enabled a checklist to be developed, outlining issues that should be taken into consideration when planning a usability test. Originality/value – Document analysis of past and current usability studies revealed that suggested methods are often directed more towards expert usability testing, rather than managing the user testing in‐house. Although it may be preferable to engage an expert, in reality practical guidance is also needed. The checklist aims to address gaps in usability advice identified, by providing practical guidance to enable providers and developers of web‐based resources to conduct their own effective usability testing.

Vicki L. Waytowich; Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie; Qun G. Jiao

2006 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530610655993

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to investigate the citation error rate and quality of reference lists in doctoral dissertation proposals. This research also sought to examine the relationship between perfectionism and frequency of citation errors and the adherence of the reference list to the fidelity of the chosen citation style among doctoral students. Also of interest was to determine which demographic variables predict citation errors and quality of the reference list. Design/methodology/approach – Participants were 64 doctoral students from various disciplines enrolled in a graduate‐level, dissertation preparatory course at a large southeastern university in the USA. Findings – Findings indicated that graduate students with relatively high levels of self‐oriented perfectionism and other‐oriented perfectionism tended to commit the least citation errors and construct reference lists that departed the furthest from the citation style stipulations. Participants’ dissertation proposals, on average, contained more than 12 missing or inconsistent citations. This indicated that for every three citations included, one of them represented some type of error. Regression analyses revealed that: students with the lowest expectation levels tended to commit the highest rate of citation errors; and students who have taken the most courses in their graduate programs tended to receive the lowest scores pertaining to the quality of reference lists. Practical implications – These findings suggest a need for more formal and more deliberate approaches for all instructors to instill in students the importance of avoiding citation errors. Originality/value – To date, no research has investigated the role that perfectionism plays in relation to the commission of bibliographic citation errors.

Mei‐Yu Wang

2006 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242530610656000

Purpose – Although knowledge management (KM) concepts and systems have been widely adopted by some pharmaceutical companies in developed countries, most Taiwanese pharmaceutical manufacturers are still pondering the implications of going down the route of KM strategies and solutions. The purpose of this paper is to assess how organizational information culture is connected with the company’s approach to knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study using in‐depth‐interviews analyzed through the case study methodology. Findings – The results show that the information cultures of Taiwan pharmaceutical manufacturers are hostile toward KM. In addition, manufacturers are daunted by concerns about the financial investment required, and the compatibility and interoperability of such systems. Research limitations/implications – These research findings could be explored in wider organizational contexts and in different information cultures. Practical implications – This paper identifies key obstacles to implementing KM for the pharmaceutical manufacturers in Taiwan, in particular a correlation with inhibiting information cultures. Originality/value – The study concludes that the fundamental and most economic solution to the KM problems of the industry would to deal with its ‘unreceptive’ atmosphere by refining and cultivating the appropriate information dimensions of their organizational culture.