Digital collections have been amassed by institutions and individuals for over two decades. Large collections are becoming increasingly available as resources for research, learning, creativity, and pleasure. However, the value of these collections can remain elusive. Systems and methods are needed to unlock the potential held within collections, to access the knowledge and to make new discoveries with the available information. The aim of this research is to identify and describe a system for interacting with large volumes of digital material that supports both learning and creative development. This is done by investigating the Disc Jockey (DJ) who works with electronic media files. DJs have worked with large digital collections since the birth of file sharing in the 1990s. Their activities necessitate a library system that supports retrieval, creative play, and public presentation of material. The investigation will develop a model of information interaction from their activities. To examine the practice, the research employs an autoethnographic diary study, video interviews, and a practice-led method that combines Grounded Theory with digital interface development. Findings indicate a model of interaction which facilitates learning through the development of a personal collection, and allows creative innovation through key information behaviours of selecting and mixing. The research distinguishes fundamental interface requirements that support the process, and demonstrates transferability of the model to other data representations.

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ.

In den letzten Jahren grassierte unter Geisteswissenschaftlern das Archivfieber: Man sucht, auch in der durch gedruckte Texte überlieferten Vergangenheit, nach Sammlungen und ihren inneren Zusammenhängen. Man möchte über bekannte Textzeugnisse hinausgehen, man erforscht Kontexte, die sich in der Zeit verfestigt haben und nun in allen Tiefendimensionen studierbar sind. Man tritt gewissermaßen aus den geistesgeschichtlichen Selbstverständlichkeiten hinaus und nähert sich unbefangen dem, was man in anderen Formen schon kennt. So werden auch Bibliotheken interessant, sobald man über die normalen Routinen der Bestandsabfragen und über die Erforschung einzelner Stücke hinausgeht. Welche Fragen kann eine Bibliothek beantworten, nachdem sie die Fragen der wissenschaftlichen Curiositas und der alltäglichen Neugier schon beantwortet hat? Das vom Archivfieber entzündete Interesse richtet sich auf Provenienzen, also auf Herkünfte von Einzelstücken bis zu ganzen Büchersammlungen, was auch immer in größere Sammlungen integriert wurde.

Die Ausstellung „Ein Kosmos des Wissens“ präsentiert, wie es der Untertitel verspricht, „Weltschrifterbe in Leipzig“. Das ist hoch gegriffen und doch nicht zu wenig gesagt. Wir bewahren hier in der Bibliotheca Albertina seltene und sehr wertvolle Stücke auf, die unserer Obhut anheim gegeben sind, aber eigentlich der Welt gehören.

Die Ausstellung „Ein Kosmos des Wissens“ präsentiert, wie es der Untertitel verspricht, „Weltschrifterbe in Leipzig“. Das ist hoch gegriffen und doch nicht zu wenig gesagt. Wir bewahren hier in der Bibliotheca Albertina seltene und sehr wertvolle Stücke auf, die unserer Obhut anheim gegeben sind, aber eigentlich der Welt gehören.

(in English): The thesis describes the current situation and possible development of museum libraries in Prague. Its aim is to assess the current state of museum libraries in Prague, using a questionnaire survey accomplished in early 2011. In the descriptive part of the thesis is first briefly mentioned the history and basic legislation of museum libraries in Prague. Then follows a detailed description of the current state according to the specifics (founders, focus and scope of the collections, acquisition and processing of library collections, services and access to the collections, digitization, library presentation on the Internet, the current methods of financing options for museum libraries, library position within the museum etc.), activities and cooperation of the museum libraries in Prague and the illustrated examples of four museum libraries in Prague (National Museum Library, Library of the Jewish Museum in Prague, Library of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague and Library of National Technical Museum). In further part of the thesis is described in detail survey questionnaire method based on established facts and summary by the current state of museum libraries in Prague and their respective strengths and weaknesses. At the end of theses are outlined possible future development, and...

(in English): The thesis presents overview of current state of museum libraries in Bohemia. It relies on the results of questionnaire specifically made for this purpose. Focus is also on library collections of museum libraries (acquisition, processing, accessibility and conservation), self-presentation of libraries on Internet, means of financing of such institutions and their activities. The thesis also overviews history of museum libraries on the case of four individual institutions, legal regulations pertaining to them and to their collections, as well as cooperation possibilities between other museum libraries, general libraries or other institutions. The thesis concludes with resume of strengths and weaknesses of current state of affairs in the field and anticipates future development of museum libraries. The text contains numerous charts and tables [Author's abstract].

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Library (UNECA Library) has a collection of more than 90,000 electronic information resources and half a million-print collection. These resources are available freely to staff members of the UNECA, United Nations agencies, diplomats, researchers, students and others. The study investigated the utilisation of electronic information resources and the challenges faced by the different users of the Library. A quantitative research approach with a survey research method was applied. The population for the study was 600 users,, out of which 500 were internal users (UNECA and United Nations agencies staff members) and 100 were external users (researchers, students, or non-staff members). From the population, 20% from each category, that is, 120 users were taken as a sample. A webbased questionnaire built on SurveyMonkey was distributed through email to collect data from randomly selected users. The total response rate was 74%. The data were analysed using built in survey monkey analysis software and reported with simple frequency and percentages. The results shows that 92% of the respondents were aware of the availability of the electronic information resources in the UNECA Library. TInstitutional Repository (IR) and e-journals were frequently accessed and utilised. Highly accessed and utilised databases were the Economist, African Journal Online, JSTOR, Ebscohost, ScienceDirect, and Financial Times. 94% of the respondents reported that the electronic information resources were useful, with 84% agreeing that the resources were easy to use. High numbers of the respondents positively agreed that the quality of their output was improved by using the electronic information resources provided by the library. The respondents also indicated that using the electronic information resources have improved their research output, and overall, the resources have increased their performances. The challenges were information overload, access restriction with IP address, lack of training and remembering login credentials. 68% of the users reported that the library services met their expectations. The study recommends the development of strategies for enhancing accessibility and discoverability of the resources, providing information literacy trainings for all users, and finding alternative measures for IP restriction access. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

LGBT+ and Public Libraries Hana Bouchalová English Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to define the relations of the Czech LGBT+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* with respect to other gender identities and sexual orientations) and Czech public libraries. Focusing on LGBT+ literature and library and information services, the thesis offers both library and LGBT+ community perspective, using following research methods: questionnaires and interviews (executed with the help of LGBT+ groups and organisations), interviews with librarians, mystery shopping and analysis of selected Czech public library collections. Theoretical chapters discussing the existence of Czech queer libraries and the situation of LGBT+ community in the Czech Republic and elsewhere are also included. Final chapter contains suggestions for libraries how to better design and improve their services and offers related topics for further discussion.

Die Bibliotheken, die reichen Sammlungen über den Islam haben, stehen vor den Problemen der Organisation des Wissens während Klassifizierung von Materialien über den Islam. Denn die Standard-Klassifikationssysteme wie DDC-Sachgruppe, Library of Congress Klassifikation, Universal Decimal Klassifikation, Bliss Klassifikation, und Colon Klassifikation, die durch eine große Anzahl von Bibliotheken verwendet werden, nicht genügend Platz und angemessene Zählen oder Hierarchie für islamischen Wissens haben. Anschließend, verschiedene alternative Lösungen wurden von Gelehrten sortiert und von diesen Bibliotheken adoptiert. Diese Lösungen umfassen Erweiterungen im Standard-Klassifikationssysteme mit unterschiedlichen Ansätzen und indigenen Klassifikationssysteme für den Islam gemacht. Trotz dieser Lösungen, die Bibliotheken hatten Probleme und sind immer noch unzufrieden. Dieses Forschungsprojekt untersucht dieses Problem. Es hat die Literatur zu diesem Thema bewertet, und empirischer Daten gesammelt, die im Bibliotheks-und Informationswissenschaft (LIS) Bereich in neun verschiedenen Ländern der Welt relevant sind. Die Forschung verwendet Interviews (persönlich oder per Telefon) als wichtigstes Instrument für die Datenerfassung. Die Durchsicht der Literatur und die Analyse der empirischen Daten bestätigte die Existenz des Problems und die Unzufriedenheit der Bibliotheken. Folglich, die optimale Lösung dass in der Literatur und von recherchierten Bevölkerung angegeben ist, wurde vorgebracht worden in diese Forschung: Entwicklung einer unabhängigen und umfassenden Klassifikationssystem für islamischen Wissens. Dieses System wurde von den Gelehrten der LIS und Islamische Studien überprüft worden. / The Libraries that have rich collections on Islam are facing the problems of knowledge organization while classifying materials on Islam. This is because the standard classification systems like Dewey Decimal Classification, Library of Congress Classification, Universal Decimal Classification, Bliss Classification, and Colon Classification, which are used by a huge number of libraries, have not provided with sufficient place and proper enumeration or hierarchy for Islamic knowledge. Subsequently, different alternative solutions have been sorted by scholars and opted by these libraries. These solutions include expansions made in standard clas-sification systems with different approaches and indigenous classification systems for Islam. Despite these solutions, the libraries had problems and were not satisfied. This study has addressed this problem, reviewing litera-ture on the problem and collecting empirical data from relevant libraries and scholars of Library and Information Science (LIS) from nine different countries of the world, using interviewing as data collection instrument. Findings of literature and empirical data confirmed the existence of prob-lem and dissatisfaction of libraries. Consequently, the optimal solution in-dicated in literature and by researched population has been brought for-ward in this research, i.e., development of an independent and comprehensive classification system for Islamic knowledge. This system has been got verified by the scholars of LIS and of Islamic Studies.