Legal Research

Digital information seekers: How academic libraries can support the use of digital resources

By admin

Here’s a new JISC highlights report worth reviewing:

How Academic Libraries Can Meet the Needs of Their Digital Information Seekers

Excerpted from Digital information seekers: How academic libraries can support the use of digital resources:

??How academic libraries can meet the needs of their users

+ Library systems must do better at providing seamless access to resources such as full-text e-journals, online foreign-language materials, e-books, a variety of electronic publishers? platforms and virtual reference desk services
+ Library catalogues need to include more direct links to resources and more online content
+ Libraries should provide moredigital resources of all kinds, from e-journals to curated data sets, as well as emerging services such as virtual research environments (VREs), open source materials, non-text-based and multimedia objects, and blogs
+ Library systems must be prepared for changing user behaviours, which include advanced search options, demands for immediate access and quick perusal of resources
+ Library systems need to look and function more like search engines (eg Google) and popular web services (eg Amazon.com), as these are familiar to users who are comfortable and confident in using them
+ High-quality metadata is becoming more important for discovery of appropriate resources
+ Librarians must now consider the implications of power browsing behaviours
+ Students need more guidance and clarity on how to find content and how to assess its worth as well as its relevance
+ The library must advertise its brand and its resources better to academics, researchers and students, demonstrating its value clearly and unambiguously.”

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on June 24, 2010 (boomark / email).