While I will be learning many important facets of librarianship in my LS5013 class - which naturally I will share with my readers here - the topic of interest I have chosen to focus on is Library Digitization Programs, or how libraries organize their information digitally. I am particularly interested in academic libraries.
One aspect of libraries that I love is the wealth of research materials they provide, yet all of that information must be stored in a manner that is easily accessible and retrievable for users who visit the library. Gone are the days when a good card catalog was all a library needed. In this Internet age when people can access news, articles, research papers, journals, and even some books electronically online, how do traditional libraries compare with the convenience of the Internet and/or compete? How do libraries successfully organize their information to make searches for material as easy to perform as a Google search, while (hopefully) being more accurate in meeting the user's needs? I find this topic fascinating, and I intend to find answers to these questions as my college semester progresses.
To get started, I looked for others who share a similar interest using blogsearch.google.com, and I found this entertaining blog titled "Digital Library Organiziation: A Research Proposal": http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/collaboratory/?p=281. In this blog, the author proposes:
Digital initiatives are fast moving. There is no single definition of what a “digital” unit does. Therefore, what types of projects are “digital” library units doing? How are these departments organized and how do they operate within the library?
By examining this, I hope to develop a model for classifying different types of digital library work and define some of the characteristics of each. This will show what the necessary elements are to perform different types of digital work and what the potential weaknesses might be for strategic planning.
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