The goal of this research was to conduct a usability study on Digital Innovation’s (DISA) South African Music Archive Project (SAMAP) website. In order to achieve this goal, it was very important to first (1) understand more fully the expectations of potential users and then (2) to identify any mismatches between the proposed Dublin Core system and users’ search techniques. Many researchers have pointed out that a system that is not easy to use, does not match user requirements, and ignores usability studies is likely to fail (Pearrow, 2000; del Galdo & Nielsen, 1996; Shneiderman & Plaisant, 2005; Kuniavsky, 2003). This study was conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College Campus in Durban, South Africa. A qualitative research method was chosen for this study within an eclectic-mixed methods-pragmatic paradigm which favours multiple data collection research instruments to collect data. Data collected was mostly of a qualitative nature and has been interrogated using NVivo™. The patterns that emerged out of this study will establish a better understanding of multi-disciplinary online music archives and website designs. A discussion of the findings and recommendations are presented in the final chapter of this dissertation, but essentially the study demonstrates the need to more fully understand user requirements before development takes place. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2011.

The subject of this master's thesis is how digitisation changes the understanding of textual archival matter. Drawing on document theory and media theory, the concept of digitisation is analysed as remediation, the repro - duction of one medium in another. A key theoretical assumption is that digitisation is not a neutral process, and conceptualising digitisation as remediation is a way of analysing the changed charasteristics of archival matter when represented in another medium. A tentative model for analysing remediated archival matter is presented, identifying three aspects or dimensions as crucial in understanding how remediation affects the interpretation of archival matter: the document dimension, the media dimension and the institutional dimension. The source material for this thesis are four instances of digitised archival material, each conceptualised and analysed as a case study. The four case studies are: a digitised archival volume from the archives of Swedish art museum Moderna Museet; the digitised typewritten manuscript of the poem ”De sju dödssynderna” (”The seven deadly sins”) by Swedish author and poet Karin Boye, available on the cultural heritage portal Alvin; a digitised handwritten notebook forming part of the manuscript for the novel To the Lighthouse by English author Virginia Woolf, available on the website Woolf Online; the digitised verdict from Swedish court of justice Kammarrätten (Administrative Court of Appeal) regarding the age rating for the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part One. It is argued that the digitised archival material in each case study has the character of a digital facsimile, whose charasteristics are dependent upon choices made in its production as well as mode of presentation. It is further argued that the characteristics of each digital facsimile shape and mediate the understanding of the archi - val matter, and that some kinds of information, e. g. textual information, are more easily represented than others, e. g. material information. In the light of these results, the changing role of the archive and the possibilities of different kinds of rese - arch are discussed. The original value of this master's thesis lies in its further development of the concept of re - mediation as a concept in archival science as well as deepening the understanding of the interpretative fra - meworks surrounding digitised archival matter. This is a two years master's thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies.

For thesis abstract select View Thesis Title, Contents and Abstract

This study examines the preservation practices of academic law libraries and argues that the survey results illustrate the growing gap between current preservation practices and new technology. The introduction to the study discusses challenges for libraries and cultural institutions in the digital age. In the second section, the paper analyzes U.S. copyright law and the effect of recent amendments on library preservation activities. The third section reports the results of a preservation practices survey. In the fourth section, the paper explores options for future law library preservation including institutional repositories and collaborative preservation efforts. The paper concludes that a new approach to scholarship and preservation is necessary to ensure that future generations have access to historically important legal literature.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the practices of Canadian repositories in making their archival holdings available on the Internet to see whether they are more or less restrictive than copyright law requires. The Internet provides an opportunity to make archival material more widely accessible; however, repositories’ copyright practices in making their holdings available online may affect the extent to which wider access to archival material is actually achieved. The study employed four different sources of evidence, i.e., the website content of 154 Canadian repositories whose websites feature archival material from the repository’s holdings; copyright policy and procedure documents of those repositories; 106 responses to a questionnaire sent to the staff of those repositories; and 22 interviews with repository staff members. In terms of selection for online access, the study found that the repositories studied prefer to select items that are perceived to incur little risk of copyright infringement (because the copyright has expired or because the repository owns the copyright), or items that require few or no resources to investigate copyright status or obtain copyright authorizations. Thus, with regard to selection, repositories were more restrictive than the law required, largely due to lack of resources. Although repositories have no legal or professional obligation to enforce others’ copyright interests, they nonetheless attempt to control further uses of their online holdings through the use of technical measures (e.g., low resolution images, watermarks, etc.) or non-technical measures (e.g., conditions placed on further uses), for reasons not necessarily related to copyright. Overall, the study found that repositories’ practices in making their holding available online were more restrictive than copyright law envisages. While this may be due to factors other than copyright, access to online documentary heritage may be limited as a result.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the practices of Canadian repositories in making their archival holdings available on the Internet to see whether they are more or less restrictive than copyright law requires. The Internet provides an opportunity to make archival material more widely accessible; however, repositories’ copyright practices in making their holdings available online may affect the extent to which wider access to archival material is actually achieved. The study employed four different sources of evidence, i.e., the website content of 154 Canadian repositories whose websites feature archival material from the repository’s holdings; copyright policy and procedure documents of those repositories; 106 responses to a questionnaire sent to the staff of those repositories; and 22 interviews with repository staff members. In terms of selection for online access, the study found that the repositories studied prefer to select items that are perceived to incur little risk of copyright infringement (because the copyright has expired or because the repository owns the copyright), or items that require few or no resources to investigate copyright status or obtain copyright authorizations. Thus, with regard to selection, repositories were more restrictive than the law required, largely due to lack of resources. Although repositories have no legal or professional obligation to enforce others’ copyright interests, they nonetheless attempt to control further uses of their online holdings through the use of technical measures (e.g., low resolution images, watermarks, etc.) or non-technical measures (e.g., conditions placed on further uses), for reasons not necessarily related to copyright. Overall, the study found that repositories’ practices in making their holding available online were more restrictive than copyright law envisages. While this may be due to factors other than copyright, access to online documentary heritage may be limited as a result.

The aim of the study was to evaluate an online tutorial designed to teach digitization and metadata indexing of library and archival resources. The online tutorial was designed according to constructivist teaching principles to promote collaborative learning. The tutorial was hosted on the OLS (Open learning System) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). The research was concerned with answering three research questions: Is the online tutorial a teaching instrument capable of teaching metadata indexing and digitization skills? Is the online tutorial an effective teaching tool? Does the use of constructivist teaching elements in the tutorial design allow for a more effective communication of knowledge and skills? A total of 10 participants registered for and took part in the online tutorial. On completion of the tutorial a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the tutorial was done. In terms of the latter a self-administered questionnaire was used as the data collection technique. The qualitative evaluation was done via an analysis of discussions on the discussion forum and e-mail correspondence between learners and the researcher during the running of the tutorial. A more quantitative analysis was then conducted of the responses to the self-administered questionnaire. The qualitative and quantitative analysis identified significant issues that affected the running of the online tutorial. The main issues included problems relating to Internet access to the online tutorial, participation of learners on the tutorial and the functioning of the online learning environment. The analysis of the results of the evaluation provided answers for the three research questions. The analysis found that the online tutorial was able to teach metadata indexing and digitization skills. This was based on completed work that was submitted by participants and responses participants gave to questions on the postcourse questionnaire. However, the amount of work submitted by all participants for the metadata indexing and digitization exercises was generally low. The online tutorial was able to conduct effective teaching at certain times in the tutorial. However, there were a number of issues that disrupted the functioning of the online tutorial and this limited the effectiveness of teaching on the tutorial. The use of constructivist teaching elements in the tutorial design was unable to enable effective communication of knowledge and skills and the promotion of constructivist learning on the tutorial. This goal was hampered by various problems associated with the hosting of the online tutorial and Internet connectivity to the OLS site. Various suggestions for further research were made. / Theses (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Library and Information Studies)-Durban University of Technology, 2006. xii, 210 leaves. / This study was aimed at investigating the digital scanning of photographs in archival collections with a view to highlighting some of the key issues in the provision of a digital imaging service.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Library and Information Studies)-Durban University of Technology, 2006. xii, 210 leaves. / This study was aimed at investigating the digital scanning of photographs in archival collections with a view to highlighting some of the key issues in the provision of a digital imaging service.

Introduction. This thesis examines historical patients’ experiences of staying in sanatoria in Mörsil, Sweden, with a special focus on power structures within the institution. This thesis project is simultaneously a scholarly digital humanities inquiry using digitised sources as the material of study, and a hands-on digital humanities project in the form of a digital archive containing the materials examined in this study. Previous research suggests that there is a need to nuance the modern narrative about patients in sanatoria, and that studying patients’ own accounts is one way to do this. Method. Letters, brochures, programs, and newspaper articles and notices were studied in this thesis. Handwritten materials were automatically transcribed using the artificial intelligence tool Transkribus Lite. Omeka.net was used to publish the digitised collection online. A qualitative conventional content analysis was used to aid interpretation and processing of the study’s materials. Analysis. This study used Foucault’s (1995) theory of discipline to analyse patients’ own stories, and printed materials from the sanatoria, in order to examine the presence of power imbalances. Results. The results of this study show many varied signs of institutionalised discipline. They also provide insight into patients’ experiences at the sanatoria related to medical treatments and sanatoria practices. Conclusion. This study concludes that studying patients’ stories can provide unique insight into the practices, treatments, and the patient experience in sanatoria. This knowledge contributes to nuancing the modern view on sanatoria and its patients. / Introduktion. Den här uppsatsen undersöker historiska patienters upplevelser av att spendera tid på de sanatorier som fanns i Mörsil, Jämtland, med ett särskilt fokus på maktstrukturer inom institutionen. Uppsatsen består både av en akademisk digital humaniorafrågeställning med digitaliserade källor som empiriskt material, och ett praktiskt digitaliseringsprojekt. Tidigare forskning föreslår att det finns anledning att nyansera det moderna narrativet kring sanatoriepatienter, samt att studie av patienternas egna berättelser är ett bra sätt att åstadkomma detta på.  Metod. Brev, broschyrer, program samt tidskriftsartiklar och -notiser studerades i denna uppsats. Handskrivet material transkriberades automatiskt genom Transkribus Lite som är baserat på artifciell intelligens. Omeka.net användes för att publicera studiens digitaliserade material online. En kvalitativ konventionell innehållsanalys användes för att tolka och tematisera studiens material.  Analys. Den här uppsatsen använde Foucaults (1995) teori om disciplin för att analysera patienters berättelser och publicerat material från sanatorierna. Resultat. Resultaten av den här studien visar på många olika typer av institutionaliserad disciplin. Resultaten ger även inblick i andra aspekter av patienternas upplevelser, exempelvis kopplat till medicinska behandlingar och sanatoriverksamheten i stort. Slutsats. Uppsatsen visar att studien av patienters egna berättelser kan ge en unik inblick i de praktiker, behandlingar och uppplevelser som ägde rum på svenska sanatorier. Den här kunskapen bidrar till att nyansera den moderna synen på sanatorier och dess patienter.