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Tools for the assessment of the quality and reliability of Web applications are based on the possibility of downloading the target of the analysis. This is achieved through Web crawlers, which can automatically navigate within a Web site and perform proper actions (such as download) during the visit. The most important performance indicators for a Web crawler are its completeness and robustness, measuring respectively the ability to visit the Web site entirely and without errors. The variety of implementation languages and technologies used for Web site development makes these two indicators hard to maximize. We conducted an evaluation study, in which we tested several of the available Web crawlers.

For almost a decade, some libraries have offered access to electronic bulletin boards (Bulletin Board System, or BBS) for a variety of community service purposes. Public libraries, in particular, have been at the forefront of this development. Patrick Dewey has documented the BBS development he pioneered at the North‐Pulaski public library and other activity in this field.

This paper aims to show data about Spanish higher-education students’ usage, habits and perceptions regarding reading on new digital media to show the potential future of electronic books (e-books) and reading mobile devices (e-readers, tablets, cell phones, etc) in academia. It explores whether demographics and academic factors might influence e-book reading habits and attitudes and university students’ opinions about e-books vs print books. REWIL 2.0, a purpose-built research tool, was applied to measure students’ opinions about digital reading in different media and formats, considering their academic context, at the confluence of analog and digital materials and learning. Likewise, REWIL 2.0 detects who are e-book readers (eBR) and who are not and produces a statistics indicator to identify five categories of eBRs by their frequency of e-book reading. This research gathered 745 online surveys between April and July 2010 in 15 degree programs at the University of Granada: Spanish philology, English philology, history, mathematics, chemistry, environmental sciences, education, library and information science, law, medicine, biology, dentistry, computer systems, architecture and civil engineering.

This present study is a transversal applied research, where 745 students were surveyed from 15 different academic disciplines offered at the University of Granada (Spain), representing the five main discipline areas. The survey was carried out by means of a structured online survey, with REWIL 2.0 research tool. To ensure internal consistency of correlation between two different survey items designed to measure e-book reading frequency, Pearson’s r reliability test was applied. Likewise, Persons’ chi-squared statistics were applied to test the hypotheses and to detect if significant correlation existed between academic disciplines and e-book reading frequency measured through a Likert scale.

The present research is motivated by our interest in discovering what effect the current technological maelstrom and the rapid growth of new portable digital reading devices in the Spanish university environment are having on students’ lives, and the extent to which students have adopted new reading technologies. Their first aim is to establish who is reading e-books in the University? A second aim is to answer the following question: is the academic discipline a determinant factor in e-book reading habits and students’ attitudes about it? The authors began by considering the following hypotheses: University students’ attitudes to e-book reading and the way they use them will be determined by the scientific discipline they study. Students of humanities, social sciences and law will prefer to read traditional format books (printed paper), while students of experimental sciences, health and technical courses will prefer reading e-books. Students’ preferences will be determined by their previous reading experiences.

The main objective of the present study is to learn whether there are any notable differences among university students from distinct disciplines with regard to their attitude and behavior toward e-books. The authors, therefore, set out to identify the segment of the student population that does not read e-books yet (non-eBRs) from those who have already read at least one (eBRs), and within this segment, the readers that have read e-books recently (recent eBRs); find out how frequently university students are reading in different formats (paper and digital), document types (book, written press, etc.) and languages (textual, multimodal, etc.) identify what channels are used to access e-books; find out university students’ opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of reading e-books as compared to traditional print books; and identify the types of improvements or changes to the design–production–distribution–reception chain that students consider might help extend e-book reading.

Personal bibliographic systems (PBS) manage the input, storage, retrieval and output of bibliographic references, allowing for a number of different document types to accommodate for journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, reports, unpublished documents, etc. Unlike general purpose database management packages they are made to measure for bibliographic information, featuring amongst other things a variety of import profiles for records downloaded from the major commercial databases and automatic generation of dozens of different output styles, including those used by the most popular journals. This paper concentrates on low‐cost mainstream bibliographic software for personal use or smaller libraries. Full‐scale integrated library automation systems and online public access catalogue (OPAC) software, which specialise in finding a specific title within a vast amount of book‐type references, are not discussed. This paper does not review or compare individual products but focuses on the various characteristics which, when available, make a PBS attractive. Special attention is paid to structural flexibility, retrieval options, input, display and output formats, and interface‐ and management‐related issues. A product‐independent table of desirable features is included as an appendix.

In recent years, OpenGLAM and the broader open license movement have been gaining momentum in the cultural heritage sector. The purpose of this paper is to examine OpenGLAM from the perspective of end users, identifying barriers for commercial and non-commercial reuse of openly licensed art images.

Following a review of the literature, the authors scope out how end users can discover institutions participating in OpenGLAM, and use case studies to examine the process they must follow to find, obtain and reuse openly licensed images from three art museums.

Academic literature has so far focussed on examining the risks and benefits of participation from an institutional perspective, with little done to assess OpenGLAM from the end users’ standpoint. The authors reveal that end users have to overcome a series of barriers to find, obtain and reuse open images. The three main barriers relate to image quality, image tracking and the difficulty of distinguishing open images from those that are bound by copyright.

This study focusses solely on the examination of art museums and galleries. Libraries, archives and also other types of OpenGLAM museums (e.g. archaeological) stretch beyond the scope of this paper.

The authors identify practical barriers of commercial and non-commercial reuse of open images, outlining areas of improvement for participant institutions.

The authors contribute to the understudied field of research examining OpenGLAM from the end users’ perspective, outlining recommendations for end users, as well as for museums and galleries.

Libraries of all types are in the midst of attempting to acquire the equipment and connections necessary to provide patron access to the Internet. The 1994 survey of public libraries by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science indicates that 87.3 percent of all public libraries surveyed do not currently provide public access terminals; yet, informal surveys of library and information science literature, popular literature, and attendance at conferences and workshops indicate there is considerable interest in acquiring connections to the Internet, and many libraries are making concrete plans to do so. Still, libraries involved in the acquisition stage of Internet connectivity may have temporarily set aside consideration of policy issues relating to that access. However, the Internet is far more than merely another format, such as libraries dealt with when deciding to collect videos or CDs; the Internet is a new publishing format, communication tool, repository of information, and art form. It challenges our assumptions and policies regarding censorship, confidentiality, intellectual property, the reliability, stability, and verifiability of information—even our view of (virtual) reality! Providing public access to the Internet can affect every aspect of library policy making and demand new definitions and decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact and techniques for mitigating the effects of web robots on usage statistics collected by Open Access (OA) institutional repositories (IRs).

A close review of the literature provides a comprehensive list of web robot detection techniques. Reviews of system documentation and open source code are carried out along with personal interviews to provide a comparison of the robot detection techniques used in the major IR platforms. An empirical test based on a simple random sample of downloads with 96.20 per cent certainty is undertaken to measure the accuracy of an IR’s web robot detection at a large Irish University.

While web robot detection is not ignored in IRs, there are areas where the two main systems could be improved. The technique tested here is found to have successfully detected 94.18 per cent of web robots visiting the site over a two-year period (recall), with a precision of 98.92 per cent. Due to the high level of robot activity in repositories, correctly labelling more robots has an exponential effect on the accuracy of usage statistics.

This study is performed on one repository using a single system. Future studies across multiple sites and platforms are needed to determine the accuracy of web robot detection in OA repositories generally.

This is the only study to date to have investigated web robot detection in IRs. It puts forward the first empirical benchmarking of accuracy in IR usage statistics.

Learning object developers need to understand that presently there are powerful organizations of “intellectual property” owners, and vendors of music, videos, books and software that are making a concerted attack on copyright, attempting to convert it from a law to promote knowledge and the useful arts into a mechanism to protect and serve their special interests. This paper represents an attempt to overturn the misconception that copyright is simply about protecting the rights of authors and re‐introduce an understanding of the original foundational role of copyright in “promoting science and the useful arts” and inform U.S. and international readers of the concerted assault on our “fair use” copy rights as educators in the digital environment. The paper argues for the need to put an end to the “quasicopyright” laws that have severely curtailed the traditional rights of educational institutions and passed on responsibilities that previously were the purview of the copyright owners. It calls for a restoration of the balance returning copyright to its original educational focus.

The study aims to show how several factors interact to promote mobile game download: the number of games released by a publisher, the quality of the games released, the popularity of a game's genre, the quality of borrowed intellectual property, the frequency of recommendations, intragenre ranking, consumer rating and review quantity.

Signaling theory was used to classify the mobile game information displayed on the Apple App Store into four groups. A conceptual model was proposed to illustrate the complex relationship between the information and download. Based on information on 203 mobile games in the seven days following their release, the model was empirically tested to identify the influence of information configuration on game download by combining fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and a fuzzy cognitive map (FCM).

Three solutions were identified for high game download and two for low/medium. The number of previous games released by a publisher, intragenre ranking, consumer rating and review quantity are core conditions that reinforce high game download. The effects of one information type on another and on downloads change as coexisting information types change.

This study enriches existing knowledge about how combinations of multiple types of game information lead to game download and extends previous variance-based research. Combining an FCM with fsQCA can facilitate one’s understanding of the complex causal relationships between game information and download.

This study aims to examine the role of product attributes, applying the multi‐attribute model, on consumers' decisions to download digital music via unauthorised sources in the UK.

The data were collected through an online survey. Consumer choice was measured through three sets of questions built on Likert scales to identify individuals' evaluation of importance placed on the eight attributes, when making a choice, and level of satisfaction with those, both for purchasing and downloading. Two logistic regression models are developed using background characteristics and responses to these three sets of questions. The consumer choice between purchasing digital music and downloading through unauthorised channels was analysed in regards to eight product‐specific attributes.

The results show that illegal downloaders expect a similar utility from both channels, while others tend to have a more positive attitude towards their chosen channel (i.e. purchasing). Background characteristics such as age, gender, education, and income show some relevance to the choice of music downloading channel. Regarding the importance attributed to and satisfaction from the eight product attributes, security of the source, variety of available music, quality, copyright, and legitimacy of the source are found to be significant in determining the choice.

This study is likely to guide digital music providers in designing their marketing plans using key attributes and consumer perceptions.

This is a rare study of downloading behaviour in the UK using a mixed population sample which is not dominated by students. Findings question the weight of price in decision making.