Core Topics in Digital Library Education

Abstract

This chapter introduces the effort of developing a digital library (DL) curriculum by an interdisciplinary team from Virginia Tech and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It presents the foundations of the curriculum building, the DL curriculum framework, the DL educational module template, a list of draft modules that are currently developed and evaluated by multiple experts in the area, and more details about the resources used in the draft modules and DL-related workshop topics mapped to the DL curriculum framework. The use of information systems such as DLs is increasing in education and businesses. To better-support their users, DLs must include both a well-organized underlying architecture and a set of services designed to address their potential users’ information needs. For this vision of the future to come to fruition, information professionals need to be educated to establish and manage digital libraries. The proposed curriculum framework provides a firm foundation for these important educational activities.

Digital Library Education in Europe

“…Therefore, digital librarianship is a mixture of both librarianship and separate emerging discipline. Yang, Wildemuth, Pomerantz, Oh, and Fox (2009) noted that several disciplines have an interest in the development of a graduate-level curriculum for DL education. Most DL courses have been taught either in LIS or CS programs (Ma et al, 2009).…”

“…Interdisciplinary curriculum and its related areas have been studied by a number of authors, such as Spink and Cool (1999), Coleman (2002), Pomerantz (2008), Yang et al (2007), Yang et al (2009), and Weech (2005). Pomerantz (2008), Yang et al (2007), and Yang et al (2009) being involved with the VT Department of Computer Science and the UNC-CH School of Information and Library Science DL Curriculum Development project reported the progress with the interdisciplinary curriculum development, experts opinion about curriculum contents, and different related aspects.…”

“…This curriculum project has affected LIS curriculum and teaching, in particular DL curriculum across the world. Readers interested in knowing more about the curriculum can read works of Oh, Yang, Pomerantz, Wildemuth, and Fox (2015) and Yang, Wildemuth, Pomerantz, Oh, and Fox (2009) and can check their website at http://curric.dlib.vt.edu/ In Europe, there have been several projects and funding nationally and locally that focus on DL development. The European Commission's (EC 2009) i2010 DLs initiative was launched in September 2005 suggesting the creation of a European DL and the promotion of Europe-wide DL initiatives.…”

Contextual factors affecting the development of digital library education in Vietnam

“…The foundation for the programme was the 5S theoretical framework consisting of five elements: the digital formats of information (Stream model); structuring or organising of that information (Structural model); logical and representational properties and operations of DLs' components (Spatial model); the behaviours of DLs (Scenarios model); and human factors such as users, managers, actors, who act together to implement the DLs' behaviour (Societies model) (Yang et al, 2006, p. 62). Based on the model, a DL curriculum was developed with 10 modules, including: Overview of digital libraries; Digital objects; Collection development; Information/Knowledge organisation; Architecture (agents, mediators); User behaviour/Interactions; Services; Preservation; Management and evaluation; and Digital library education and research(Yang, Wildemuth, Pomerantz, Oh, & Fox, 2009). That curriculum is currently being used to educate computer science students and LIM students who aim to work in the digital environment.…”