Evaluation and usage scenarios of open source digital library and collection management tools

Background and purpose: With the advancement of science and the increase of electronic resources, the need to create libraries to collect, organize and disseminate these types of resources is felt. With the growth of electronic resources, resource management has gained special importance and is one of the important areas and issues in the discussion of digital libraries. In this study, the aim is to examine the issues and challenges facing the management of digital libraries and provide solutions to solve the challenges and issues facing digital libraries and digital library management. Research method: The current research is applied in terms of purpose and survey research in terms of method. The current research has been conducted by field method and using library techniques, and the researchers have presented digital library management approaches by reviewing the published texts on digital libraries and digital library management issues. Findings: The results of the research showed that the most important components of digital library management include human resources, management of shared resources, author's right to update resources, cataloging and maintaining the technical structure. Also, the surveys showed that the most important challenge facing digital libraries is the issue of intellectual property and compliance with copyright laws. Conclusion: The results of the research showed that in digital libraries, as in traditional libraries, measures must be taken in the field of collecting, organizing, storing and disseminating information, and it is not possible to carry out the above-mentioned activities without a competent manager. Digital library management leads to the creation of coordination between different parts of the digital library and helps the library to achieve the desired goals. The digital library is facing many issues and challenges, including financial and budget issues, issues related to expert human resources, issues related to digital equipment and internet infrastructure, issues related to author's right and copyright, issues related to the lack of devices. Digitization and security of important information resources and documents and finally issues related to the protection and maintenance of digital resources are faced, which cannot be solved except with the presence of a capable manager and strong human resources of the library.

Discussions surrounding digital libraries and their metadata have become less robust than before, given that creating and hosting digital collections have become the norm for most cultural heritage institutions over the last 20 years. Consequently, there are fewer discussions of how the characteristics of digital collections and their metadata have changed over time. This article showcases the evolution of digital collections and their metadata at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library in the last 20 years. It discusses the growth of its collections and their characteristics, examines historical changes in the use of metadata elements, and explores responses to the changing nature of digitized and born-digital materials. Based on a large-scale data analysis of the digital collections and their metadata housed in UIUC Digital Library, the paper also examines the challenges and opportunities of the curation and management of digital collections and digital libraries in the future.

Robust and flexible digital collections management and presentation software is essential for creating and delivering digital collections. But digital library technologies and contents are not static. Continual evolution and investment are required to maintain the digital library. Few commercial digital library products are comprehensive and extensible enough to support this evolution. Many of these systems are in early release and have not been used and tested widely. Some require an initial investment in license fees or staff time that we could not afford. None of the products covered the full range of functionality needed for our digital library.

Digital resources are becoming increasingly complex and are being used in diverse ways. For example, educational resources may be cataloged in digital libraries, used offline by educators and students, or used in a learning management system. In this paper we present the notion of “checking out” complex resources from a digital library for offline download or exchange with another digital library or learning management system. We present a mechanism that enables the customization, download and exchange of complex resources. We show how the mechanism also supports digital library and learning management system exchange formats in a generic fashion with minimal overhead. We also show how checkouts grow linearly with respect to the complexity of the resources.KeywordsDigital LibraryComplex ObjectLearn Management SystemDirectory StructureCanonical StructureThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

General Background: Metadata interoperability is a critical foundation for the effective development and management of digital libraries, enabling extensive, open, and sustainable access to information. Specific Background: Existing research predominantly adopts a positivistic paradigm, emphasizing technical conformity to metadata syntax, format validity, and interoperability protocols such as OAI-PMH and Dublin Core. Knowledge Gap: This technical focus often neglects social, semantic, and institutional contexts, resulting in limited adaptability to diverse user needs and institutional environments. Aims: This study introduces the sociotechnical paradigm as an alternative framework for understanding and enhancing metadata interoperability. Results: Through a literature review and reference to digital library development models, the research demonstrates how the sociotechnical paradigm integrates technological systems with social dynamics, institutional policies, and localized meaning-making processes. Novelty: The study reframes metadata interoperability not merely as a technical process but as a collaborative, participatory, and semantic negotiation among stakeholders. Implications: By embedding sociotechnical principles, digital libraries can evolve as adaptive socio-information systems that reflect user contexts, embrace diversity of meaning, and strengthen inclusivity in knowledge access. Highlights: Bridges technical and social dimensions of metadata. Promotes participatory and contextual design. Enhances inclusivity in digital library systems. Keywords: Metadata Interoperability, Sociotechnical Paradigm, Digital Libraries, Semantic Context, Inclusive Access

ABSTRACTThe explosion of availability of information on the Internet requires that libraries evolve into value-added information providers, rather than mere curators of collections. Modern libraries need to stay relevant to a diverse, technologically savvy patron base and to facilitate and add value to the research community, while facing significant resource constraints. To face these challenges, libraries need to embrace digital technologies and library management systems (LMS) in order to work smart and achieve more with less. While LMS systems have been around for decades, libraries can explore the new frontier by embracing open source solutions, like open source software (OSS) library systems, which are free to acquire. They need to collaborate with computer experts and become technologically savvy to harness the full power of OSS solutions to meet the specific needs of the library and patron base. This article provides an overview of the availability, benefits, and drawbacks of various LMS systems and OSS variants, drawing from experiences in the present Indian context.

The main objectives of the study were to identify key features of the digital library management system (DLMS) for developing and managing digital libraries, to reveal the satisfaction level of the library professionals in using digital library management system, and the problems being encountered in using these systems. The current study was quantitative in nature as quantitative measures were applied through a survey research strategy. Keeping in view the nature of the study, a purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from the target librarians who had been involved in operating digital library systems for building digital libraries in their respective libraries. Descriptive and inferential statistical tests were used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that in most of the university libraries in Pakistan, free and open source software (FOSS) had been implemented. DSpace was the most widely used software by library professionals in Pakistan. Key features of the digital library software included a user-friendly interface, customization, reliability and security, use of metadata standards (Dublin Core), web-based, advanced searching, consultancy and technical support, sharing e-books to devices (mobile, tabs), full-text searching, use of Boolean operators, and access control. The study recommended that library professionals of universities should be careful in planning library digitization and they should consider the above features before implementing any digital library software in their libraries.

Information professionals and librarians have been studying, discussing, and developing digital libraries for more than two decades, but understanding ultimate use of images from digital libraries remains a mystery for many of them. Most articles written on digital library use focus on users’ search retrieval needs and behavior. Few mention how digital library patrons use the images they request. Like many digital libraries, archives, and special collections, the University of Houston Digital Library makes high resolution images available to its patrons. Image delivery is achieved by an automated system, titled the Digital Cart Service. An unexpected benefit of the Digital Cart Service is the reporting mechanism that produces data that includes intended use information. This article discusses the analysis of this data to determine why images were used, what products were created from the images, and what implications this has on digital library management. The authors believe that answering these questions creates an environment in which digital library innovators can better promote and design digital libraries, and describe and select the content in them.

This community service activity under the scheme of applying science and technology for the community is in partnership with the village of Tegal Harum, Denpasar Bali, in the field of digital library management. The Sastra Mahottama Library in Tegal Harum Village, apart from providing conventional services, also provides digital library services through the SIPESAT application (Digital Library Application) in Tegal Harum Village, which makes it easier for people to borrow various types of e-books according to their needs. Problems faced by the library managers are related to the classification and cataloguing of library materials, as well as increasing the capacity of human resources for digital library managers. The implementation using the classical and individual methods lasts for one month at the Tegal Harum village office. Activities consist of situation analysis, training, and evaluation stages. The implications of service activities are the results of the classification and cataloguing of 30% of reading collections as well as increasing knowledge and skills in using digital library applications.

DiSSCo Flanders aims at developing a standardised natural science collections management infrastructure, ensuring proper long-term conservation, and future re-usage of the collections. Meise Botanic Garden coordinates the Flemish consortium. This four-year project, funded by the FWO (Research Foundation – Flanders), started in January 2021. The consortium brings together both the more classical ‘museum’ collections (Meise Botanic Garden, Ghent University Museum), with research collections (Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Flanders Marine Institute, universities), and living collections (Belgian Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta, Zoo of Antwerp (Poo 2022)). Many of the research collections are smaller orphan collections, lacking a (full-time) curator, for which collection management is not the core business of the hosting institute. The Belgian federal DiSSCo members are associated with the project, allowing close collaboration between European, national and regional (digital) collection management inititatives. Building on the expertise of the European DiSSCo-related projects, an initial high-level inventory and assessment of the collections has been made and will provide a better understanding of the collections landscape in Flanders (Van Baelen 2022). This step in the digitization will increase the findability of the diverse regional collections and highlight the available knowledge to the research community. Close collaboration with the TDWG Collections Descriptions interest group and the development of the Latimer Core standard (Woodburn 2021) will ensure maximal interoperability of the collection data. In order to be relevant for research, the Flemish collections need to be more interconnected and linked to other data sources. To ensure that collection data is adhering to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Resuable) and ready to connect to the DiSSCo research infrastructure, DiSSCo Flanders will have a large focus on the collection(s) management system (CMS). Depending on the needs and specificities of each collection, a strategy will be chosen to implement and/or collection data will be migrated to (an) optimised system(s). Parallel to the digital inventory and CMS choice, the consortium addresses specific themes in the format of working groups. Most of the institutes have identified that their molecular collection (DNA, tissues) has not been properly acknowledged as a separate long-term collection. Challenges such as the storage and curation of e-DNA and environmental samples (e.g., soil) have been identified. Very often it will only be feasible to add basic data in the CMS and essential data is not available to the researchers. DiSSCo Flanders invests in the enrichment of specimen data to ensure that a maximal amount of information becomes available to the community. This can be accomplished either through the use of citizen science/crowdsourcing using the DoeDat platform (Groom 2018), or by using machine learning techniques performed by the IDLab at Ghent University (Thirukokaranam Chandrasekar 2021). Besides the technical aspects of the DiSSCo research infrastructure, the consortium is covering topics such as data publication, legal aspects of collections, standard operating procedures, etc. through knowledge sharing and active dialog.

Research in disciplines such as the earth and biological sciences depends on the availability of representative physical samples that have been collected at substantial cost and effort and some are irreplaceable. The EarthCube iSamples (Internet of Samples in the Earth Sciences) Research Coordination Network (RCN), funded by the National Science Foundation, aims to connect physical samples and sample collections across the Earth Sciences with digital data infrastructures to revolutionize their utility in the support of science. The goal of this workshop is to attract a broad audience comprising of earth scientists and other scientists working with physical samples, data curators, and computer and information scientists to learn from each other about the requirements of physical as well as digital sample and collection management.

This study is an examination of features of the four most popular digital library open source software packages against a set of predetermined criteria that is deemed to be essential for the development of a digital library. While analysing and identifying the similarities, differences, strengths, and weakness of the open source software packages, it is indicated that open source digital library software still lacks certain functionalities that are perceived to be important. Each software package has its own individual strengths and weaknesses that will appeal to organizations and stakeholders with different needs. The study is expected to help those library professionals, seriously interested in implementing a digital library by providing a checklist to evaluate how well a particular software fits into their specific implementation requirements. Certain good features of the four open source software packages have also been pointed out via a comparison analysis.

The development of the times is getting faster with technology. Digital madrasas also need other supporters for better educational sustainability. In the era of digitalization, the Madrasah as an educational institution also has a role in keeping up with the times. This study aims to describe efforts to optimize digital libraries and analyze the strategy for developing digital collections in madrasah libraries. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method, with data collection techniques including observation of the condition and state of the digital library in the Madrasah, interviews with resource persons as digital library managers, and documentation of activities in the digital library. The study results show that digital libraries in madrasas are optimized for digital use, especially in education. In addition, the optimization strategy carried out is that the digital library has collections that are digitally recorded where the development of digital collections in the Madrasah includes analyzing user needs, mapping digital collection sources, and evaluating the use and IDs distributed to each library member including all students, teachers and education staff in the Madrasah. As well as optimizing the digital library in collaboration with the central library in Lamongan. The optimization of digital libraries can increase the popularity of digital libraries in madrasas and can expand library digital services.

In this paper, we will study the work of Konstantinos Volanakis, a leading yet underrated figure in 19th-century Greek seascape painting. We will explore his unique artistic identity through the prism of history and symbolism, emphasizing the thematic richness and emotional depth of his nautical iconography. The study will explore Volanakis’s seascape painting as an existential and cultural heritage treasure, its place in the broader context of Greek art, and the reasons behind its limited recognition. Central to this study is the integration of digital technologies. For the needs of this study, an interactive website, a virtual exhibition, and a digital timeline were created - designed to enhance accessibility and public participation. This digital study was established by the author's interactive work, entitled "Konstantinos Volanakis, the Poet of the Sea", which is implemented as an online platform and was created for the needs of the course "WWW and Digital Collections Management", for the master’s program in Digital Culture from the University of Piraeus. By connecting it to the present, the research demonstrates how Volanakis' themes of travel, migration, and "belonging" have an effect in contemporary contexts, while at the same time highlighting the potential of digital cultural heritage works to promote critical thinking and preserve collective memory.

The libraries must be able to transform into a digital library so they can build a digital society and serve the digital generation. Problems occur when the library itself fails to develop the digital culture of its employees which results in the failure of transformation into a digital library. This article is an experience in undergoing and observing the efforts of the Library of East Kalimantan Province to transform itself into a digital library. This effort has lasted until now, where one of the obstacles is that most employees are digital immigrant generations. Data collection was done by remembering and writing down the process from 1992 to the present. The analysis process was employed by looking at every meaning of the writing in the diary (content analysis). In 2015, The Library Agency of East Kalimantan Province of Indonesia obtained an A rating in the management of digital libraries from the National Library of Indonesia. There are three factors that need to be considered in the transformation effort, namely formal and informal education for employees, leadership, and employee mental development. This article is beneficial for government institutions in facing the constraints of transformation into digital libraries, especially dealing with employees who are mostly immigrant digital generations.