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Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to cite and briefly discuss digital map collections. Design/methodology/approach ‐ Digital map collections were located, evaluated, and selected. Collections included in the annotated bibliography consist primarily of maps that originated in print, or contain historical maps, or are unique. Each included collection meets at least one of those criteria. Findings ‐ There are a wide variety of resources available online that users can freely access. This annotated bibliography focuses specifically on digital collections that contain cartographic materials. Each item, after being evaluated, includes a citation, brief description, and usage instructions. Originality/value ‐ While there are many digital collections available for users to access that focus primarily on the manuscript and photograph formats, there are a variety of other formats that are also digitized, such as cartographic materials. This annotated bibliography highlights 40 collections that were located, evaluated, and described. Most of these collections originate in print materials, while at least one collection focuses specifically on digitally born maps. All maps collections are housed and created by institutions or organizations in the USA, while the content ranges in subjects, date ranges, and geographic locations.

This paper aims to present recently published resources on information literacy and library instruction through an extensive annotated bibliography of publications covering all library types.

This paper annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2017 in over 200 journals, magazines, books and other sources.

The paper provides a brief description for all 590 sources.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

Maps as a genre are not typically dealt with in the study of grey literature. The transformation of information from maps to spatial data could likely be omitted from discussions as well. The author argues for an approach that focuses not on product, but on content. Three types of grey map presentations are profiled: a series, the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) Open‐file Report series; a collection, the Long Island Sound Resource Center; and an annual publication, the Environmental Sciences Research Institute’s (ESRI) Map Book. Significant research issues are indicated.

This article highlights the potential challenges facing a number of different sectors in the modern information‐based society and discusses problems relating to the application of digital spatial information systems increasingly used for such diverse purposes as political decision making, commerce and education. The article outlines the rapid evolution of new cartographic data processing techniques and distribution of digital information which produces potential problems relating to the quality and integrity of the used information. The main concern is that low‐cost products of unknown quality standards may gain wide acceptance in everyday use due to the limited availability or high price of better quality geographic data. The main conclusion is that the policies for minimizing potential problems should be to support easy and low‐cost availability of public geographic data for all users, to require the usage of comprehensive metadata in all connections and to carry out quality‐oriented research in the field of digital map production and spatial data management.

This article explores and explains the differences of emphasis in the past, evaluates current developments and speculates upon future uses of automated procedures in map collections. The emphasis is upon the automated retrieval and description of mapping, and upon technical, organisational, economic and political explanations for automation. The intention is to provide an overview and guide for the general reader to the concepts and literature of a specialist field.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected educational systems worldwide, forcing them to abruptly shift from face-to-face to online teaching and learning. This case study illustrates how a traditional lecture-based activity for undergraduate students in a Management of Health Service Organizations program was transformed into an argumentation-based learning activity using the technique of digital concept mapping and was deployed in an online format during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The students were tasked with solving an ill-structured problem bearing significance for their future professional lives and connected to the contents of their course (entitled “Assimilation of service quality in health systems”). The activity was composed of two phases. In Phase 1, participants were asked to provide five arguments to establish their proposed solution to the problem by using a concept map on a digital platform (Mindomo). In Phase 2, they were asked to substantiate their arguments. Reflective journals were used to ascertain how the participants viewed the activity. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data by searching for themes demonstrating different epistemological positions.

Six themes were inductively derived from the students' reflections: (1) transitioning from passive to active learning; (2) generating epistemic change; (3) social perspective-taking; (4) domain-based knowledge; (5) prior knowledge and experience; and (6) online collaboration with other students. Episodes, thoughts and feelings expressed by the students were reported so as to increase the reliability of the recurrent and common themes.

This study mainly shows that combining constructivist teaching and learning tools with advanced technology in an online course enables the development of lifelong learning capabilities among students in the health management professions.

This paper aims to present the authors’ attempts to evaluate the access to archival maps available in digital libraries. Its aim was to pinpoint the factors determining the effectiveness of access to old maps and to evaluate which Polish libraries provide resources in such a way as to give the users the best chance of finding the materials necessary for their research.

The presented research focussed on archival documents from academic libraries accessible from the Polish Digital Libraries Federation and available from Europeana Collections. The evaluation criteria were established along with features that determine the level of difficulty of access to data describing archival documents. The research took into account the way of recording the data about archival documents in metadata. The authors have also analysed the quantity of available resources and the consistency of metadata record.

The results of the research have demonstrated that one-third of the analysed libraries deserve a positive evaluation. The digital library of the Warsaw University and the Jagiellonian Digital Library received the best scores in terms of the description of archival documents. Considering the number of resources, the Jagiellonian Digital Library and the Digital Library of the University of Wrocław are positively distinguished.

The method of evaluating the access to archival maps has been developed. The criteria and features necessary for this evaluation and the way of their interpretation have also been defined. The future goals leading to the improvement of the access to the archival maps have been also presented.

This paper aims to present an objective summary of the current state of research concerning the evaluation criteria of map metadata. The undertaken research identifies which authors and to what extent the discussed issues related to the metadata of objects collected in digital libraries, with particular emphasis on cartographic materials.

Independent reviewers analysed the basic articles data. Selected papers were subject to quality assessment, based on the full text and 12 questions. Finally, iterative backward reference search was conducted.

The results demonstrate that there are no universal criteria for metadata evaluation. There are no works that would assess the metadata of cartographic studies, although numerous publications point to the need for this type of work.

Metadata evaluation allows users to obtain knowledge whether objects found in the library are relevant for their needs.

The criteria and methods most often used for assessing metadata quality which can be adopted to map metadata evaluation have been identified. The authors identified the existing research gaps and proved that there is a need for research contributions in the field of evaluating map metadata.

The aim of this work is to explore the use of lightweight but effective user interfaces for mobile navigation and wayfinding in urban environments.

Two interactive mobile interfaces were designed and implemented following a user‐centred approach. The first interface makes use of 2D digital technology such as different representations of 2D maps and textual information. To enhance the user experience during navigation, location aware searches may be performed indicating information about the surroundings. The second interface makes use of virtual reality (VR) and computer graphics to present 3D maps and textual information. The VR maps are also interactive and contain hyperlinks positioned in 3D space which link to either web pages or other multimedia content.

Both interfaces allow users to visualise and interact with different levels of representation of urban maps. Initial evaluation has been performed to test the usability of the 2D interface, and limitations of the 2D technology were recorded. To overcome these limitations and explore the potentials of alternative technologies a VR interface was prototyped and a pilot evaluation was conducted.

This paper provides two prototype interfaces with some initial evaluation that may be useful for future navigation and wayfinding systems.

As more and more people make use of mobile technologies and advanced interfaces to enhance access to location‐based services, this paper offers two prototype interfaces for personal digital assistants that provide solutions to urban navigation and wayfinding.