Editorial

Citation

Tammaro, A.M. and Machin-Mastromatteo, J.D. (2022), "Editorial", Digital Library Perspectives, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 249-250. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-08-2022-135

Data curation is an emerging field of theory and practice in the digital library environment that encompasses digital preservation, digital curation and information asset management throughout their life cycle, together with a user-centred approach and collaboration.

In the modern era of big data, curating data has become more important, particularly for processing complex, high-volume data systems. In science, data curation can indicate the process of managing research data during the research life cycle and extracting important information from scientific texts, following FAIR principles. In cultural heritage institutions, the transition from predominantly analogue to predominantly digital collections requires significant changes in professional thinking and practices. The intellectual and practical framework developed for data curation to date highlights the concept of the importance of a data curator in adding value to academic (science, social sciences and humanities) and other types of data. While arguing that data curation is a vital strategy for dealing with the so-called data deluge, there are key issues and debates in the digital libraries area.

This Digital Library Perspectives issue number 3 collects some research papers that suggest the need for further empirical research on data curation, such as exploring the actual sharing and reuse practices of various sectors, disciplines and domains, but also considering the importance of metadata, the potential role of information professionals for extending access and discovery, the need for capacity and infrastructure, practices for outreach and awareness raising, and new metrics.

Bashir, Malik and Mahmood from Pakistan in “Measuring personal and academic differences in students” perceived social media credibility’ examined the credibility of social media through the perceptions of university students. The difference of opinion was analysed according to gender, academic disciplines and study programs. This study could likely benefit faculty, researchers, librarians/information professionals and digital libraries to understand students’ views on social media credibility from a developing country’s perspective. Such understanding is important to better educate students on how to assess the quality of information by offering information literacy programs.

Srirahayu, Nurpratama, Handriana and Hartini investigated the factors that influence the use of e-Books by Generation Z in “Effect of gender, social influence, and emotional factors in usage of e-Books by Generation Z in Indonesia”. The results of this study indicate that social influence and gender do not affect the use of e-books, in which only emotional attachment directly affects the preference towards e-book.

Mohideen, Sheikh and Kaur in “Developing an open-source mobile app in library services: the case of a national university in Malaysia” reported about the mobile app version of the Koha Open Source Library Information System. They discussed, illustrated and analysed the design, features and advantages of this mobile app. This study can be useful for mobile app developers and libraries that plan to offer mobile library services to their patrons.

Skøtt’s study, “Digital dissemination skills in public libraries”, strived to look at library staff members’ skills and how they change, due to the transition to digital forms of dissemination to give employees a voice. This study offers different explanatory models on current challenges of respondents due to digitalisation.

In “Digital librarianship practice and open access technology use for sustainable development in Nigeria”, Okuonghae and Achugbue evidenced that the level of digital librarianship practice in university libraries in Delta State is low and social media tools, open-source integrated library systems and Google Cloud Platforms, are the preferred open technologies in the libraries. One practical implication they highlighted is the need of training librarians to better use various open access technologies towards sustainable development.

Begum and Elahi contributed “Digital library services to support online learning amid COVID-19: a study of a private university library in Bangladesh”, where they described the University Library’s digital services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors used a reflective practice approach to assess the library’s practices during this crisis, with a focus on the technologies used for providing services, and also the efforts to re-innovate in digital services.

Jana and Rout took a practical approach in “Designing metadata schema for a human library: a prototype” for describing a human library resources in the absence of a working model of metadata schema. This study found that the widely used metadata schema – Dublin Core – was not appropriate to describe the contents of the human book and suggested a roadmap on the inclusion of new metadata schemas for describing the uniquely featured resources of the human library.

Giangrande, Cassigoli and Giusti investigated teachers’ perceptions of students’ information literacy skills in “Faculty perceptions of information literacy skills: an investigation at the Florence University Campus of Social Sciences”. The Florence University Social Science Library has – for some time – been engaged in delivering information literacy courses, but so far, there has been a lack of collaboration with teachers and this study represents one of the few contributions about this gap in Italian universities

Finally, “Toward a definition of digital object reuse” provides a use-reuse matrix which was the result of a project financed by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, done by a research team composed by Stein Kenfield, Woolcott, Thompson, Kelly, Shiri, Muglia, Masood, Chapman, Jefferson and Morales. The Digital Content Reuse Assessment Framework Toolkit (D-CRAFT) proposes distinct definitions for describing and differentiating between digital object use and reuse in the context of assessing digital collections and data. The authors strived to devise a new model for defining use and reuse beyond the traditional metrics, and for demonstrating the impact of how digital content and objects are reused after they are viewed or downloaded.