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The face of the library is evolving. Technology is seeping in and causing great changes in the way organizations procure, organize, disseminate and preserve information.
Years ago, if you wanted to find information about your company or industry, you would have contacted your in-house librarian, explained what you were looking for, and asked him or her to conduct a search. After a few calls, you could submit a request to borrow the selected documents and they would be shipped to your office.
Today, this process has been streamlined significantly. Users now often have direct access to a variety of documents and have the skills and knowledge to conduct their own searches. Content is also increasingly being purchased electronically or is being converted for broader access by remote users.
This wealth of new digital content creates challenges for librarians in terms of how to organize, present and deliver information. Libraries have taken many paths to resolve these issues, varying from homegrown web portals, through to elaborate end-to-end platforms that automate the library’s complete operations.
In looking at options for an eLibrary solution, many librarians start first with technology options and build their process around what’s available. This paper will look at the elements that go into planning an eLibrary project, with a strong focus on defining needs, audience and purpose first, and letting the technology follow suit. It will also focus on the concept of leveraging technology building blocks to speed up implementation and reduce costs.
An electronic library, also referred to as an eLibrary, refers to a portal, intranet, extranet or internet site that replicates the resources of a physical library in an electronic format, while improving access and search capabilities. An eLibrary can provide resources and documentation, or can combine internal documents with external resources to provide a full collection of pertinent information for distribution to retailers, partners, students, association members, patients, and more.
This mix of original documents, digitized content and third-party resources creates a challenge in how to package information efficiently for a wide span of users with different needs, often in different locations.
How does an eLibrary differ from the Internet?
One important distinction to make is that an eLibrary is not the same as the Internet. While both of these channels contain electronic documents in a highly searchable environment, there is a clear distinction between the two. The Internet is primarily comprised of materials that are unpublished. They may be produced by credible individuals or organizations, but they are not vetted by anyone. By contrast, an eLibrary is built using credible, chosen materials that have been selected for inclusion by a professional. These materials – which often include books, journals, reports, magazines, newspapers, etc... – may or may not be freely published online. In some cases the user may require a subscription or a login for access, in other cases, the materials may be available under open access, but the content is controlled by and organization or individual.
The first step in looking at the requirements of your eLibrary is assessing your target audience. This helps identify any special needs and defines the profile of the users in terms of technical competency, age, social demographics, familiarity with the subject matter and more.
The profile of the audience will also later help in your choice of technology. If your users are exclusively employees of your organization that are accessing the eLibrary from set locations, there is a certain level of control over the environment. This control means an increased freedom to set standard hardware and software requirements. A captive and controlled audience also allows you to provide more context and training on how to use the eLibrary, a luxury you don’t have when your audience is unknown.
If your library is open to users that will access it from external locations then you must ensure that it supports the broadest scope of users, without requiring special hardware, software or knowledge. It must have a very low barrier to entry and must be completely self-explanatory in terms of use.
Another consideration for a publicly accessed eLibrary is support for users with special needs, including support for accessibility devices such as audio screen readers, Braille devices, and screen magnifiers.
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