A Survey of Digital Library Education Tefko Saracevic

A Survey of Digital Library Education Tefko Saracevic & Marija Dalbello Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA saracevic@scils. rutgers. edu www. scils. rutgers. edu/~tefko dalbello@scils. rutgers. edu www. scils. rutgers. edu/~dalbello

Introduction n n Education is dependent activity (linking of education to digital library research, practice, organization, and commerce? ��) Survey to examine the rationale and current orientation for digital library education n Identify emerging models n Suggest model for digital library education

Outline n n n Why teach digital libraries? rationale What to teach about digital libraries? What is a “digital library”? content What is taught about digital libraries? current applications How were digital libraries taught? context Where does that leave us now? conclusions

Why teach Digital Libraries? Rationale n n new form of managing the knowledge record of post-industrial society infrastructure in place (digital technology and networks) new approaches to sustaining scholarly communication DL research and development funded Combination of social trends and technology is a push for educational efforts

What to teach about digital libraries? Content n What are digital libraries? u Lesk (1997) u Arms (2000) u Borgman (1999, 2000) u DLF (Digital Libraries Federation, 1996+)

What are Digital Libraries? u collections with "associated services" (Arms 2000) u persistent collections of digital works "readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of communities" (definition of Digital Libraries Federation (DLF)) u collections "constructed, collected and organized, by (and for) a community of users, " and functional capabilities of digital libraries to "support the information needs and uses of that community" (Borgman 1999, 2000)

What to teach about digital libraries? Content n What to teach about digital libraries? Content choices u systems, networks, and technology; collection and resources in various media; representation, organization, and operability; storage and searching; functionality, access and use; institutions and services; and user communities and related applications

What to teach about digital libraries? Content n What to teach about digital libraries? Educational choices u technology, resources, organization, access, institutions, and use, or a mix thereof

What is taught about digital libraries? A survey of applications n Web survey F website analysis of 56 ALA-accredited programs n Email survey F questionnaire (listserves: ASIS member list, JESSE, ACM SIGIR, Humanist Discussion Group)

What is taught about digital libraries? A survey of applications n Web survey: inclusion / integration u Inclusion: (47 - 89%) u Independent DL courses (15 - 32 %) u Combination of Independent DL course and DL content integrated in other courses (8 15%) u Content integrated in other courses (no independent DL course) (23 - 49 %) u Other (content integrated with continuing education) (1 - 2%)

How were digital libraries taught? Context (connecting areas) n Areas of application (for 34 programs): u tools (13) u environment (4) u objects (3) u combined (14)

How were digital libraries taught? Context (connecting areas) n Areas of application (for 34 programs): u tools (technologies and technology based processes) u environments (the contexts in which digital libraries operate) u objects (representation, structure and life cycle of documents in various formats) u combined (several areas of applications present without any one being distinctive)

How were digital libraries taught? Context (connecting areas) n Existing models for digital library education Michigan u California (LA) u UBC u Pittsburgh u Illinois u U North Texas u Montreal u Rhode Island u u Rutgers u California (Berkeley) u KSU u Florida

How were digital libraries taught? Context (connecting areas) n Suggested model for digital library education to integrate u Concepts u Access u Content u Preservation u Creation u Management u Organization u Context u Technology

Conclusions n tunnel vision problem “the current digital library agenda has largely been set by computer science community and clearly bears the imprint of this community’s interests and vision” (Levy 2000) n integrationist solution

Digital libraries and a question of purpose u digital libraries need to be seen in the communications’ circuit of creation, organization, distribution, preservation, and use of knowledge records and knowledge itself u integrate this perspective in educational efforts

Directions for Future Research n Expand study to examine contexts of integration of digital library education in LIS curricula (topical) nationally and internationally u to identify contexts of integration and gaps in current offerings u to identify boundary areas and disciplines (areas of growth) n Examine other homes of digital library education beyond LIS (computer science, medical informatics, digital humanities)