A study to evaluate the digitization level of Korean libraries (part II)
| Pages | 359-403 |
| Published date | 20 June 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-01-2016-0010 |
| Date | 20 June 2016 |
| Author | Younghee Noh |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology |
A study to evaluate the
digitization level of Korean
libraries (part II)
Younghee Noh
Department of Library and Information Science, Konkuk University,
Chungcheongbuk-Do, South Korea
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the current digitization levels of Korean libraries
by identifying key elements of library services and measuring them for conventional vs digital
approaches and use.
Design/methodology/approach –The study utilized previous research related to digital libraries
and consultations with experts to arrive at 13 evaluation elements and components within them to
analyze. For the purpose of this study specialized libraries, college and university libraries, and public
libraries were surveyed, and their responses analyzed to rate their current digitization levels vs more
conventional approaches.
Findings –First, after determining the elements that characterized the conventional and digital
libraries by analyzing different pieces of literature and consulting with experts, 92 factors were
identified for each of the conventional and digital elements based on the axis which was composed of
13 items. Second, this study indicated that the libraries obtained one of the conventional or digital
characteristics independent of the situation, rather than that the digital library was more effective than
the conventional library. Third, in evaluating the chosen libraries used as the examples, it was
observed that the libraries had more conventional characteristics among the elements of the digital and
conventional libraries. Also, based on the axis used for comparison of 13 items, elements such as the
next generation service, the SNS service, and the library program service were more conventional, but
elements such as classification and cataloging, acquisition, and the organization were more digitized.
Originality/value –This study is the first study in the world to measure the level of digitization of
the library. Therefore, hereafter, each library will be able to measure and determine its digital position
based on these elements. Up to now, some research was performed in pursuit of extracting the elements
of a library but it had relied solely on literature review. Comprehensive research had never been
performed as in this study.
Keywords Digital library, Conventional library, Elements of the digital library,
Level of digitization of the library, Evaluating the digitization level, Evaluation elements
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
This research study was undertaken to evaluate the current digitization levels of
Korean libraries by identifying key elements of library services and measuring them
for conventional vs digital approaches and use. A better understanding of this issue
was thought to be essential to comprehend where things currently stand and to allow
for development of the libraries of the future.
The study utilized previous research related to digital libraries and consu ltations
with experts to arrive at 13 evaluation elements and components within them to
analyze. For the purpose of this study specialized libraries, college and university
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 34 No. 2, 2016
pp. 359-403
©Emerald Group Publis hing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-01-2016-0010
Received 25 January 2016
Revised 11 April 2016
Accepted1May2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
This work was supported by Konkuk University in 2016. The authors want to thank anonymous
reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments that helped to improve this paper. The
author would also like to thank Ilene Freedman for editing this paper into fluent American English.
359
Digitization
level of
Korean
libraries
libraries, and public libraries were surveyed, and their responses analyzed to rate their
current digitization levels vs more conventional approaches.
A large volume of information resulted and a decision was made to present the
findings in two parts. This is part II.
In part I, the results of the literature review are intensely analyzed and presented.
The process by which the items for evaluating the digitization levels were determined is
discussed and the elements identified. The components that make up each element are
presented in a chart and coded for easier analysis. Additionally, the results for the first
eight of the 13 elements with respect to the digitization levels broken down by the type of
library are presented and summarized (Noh, 2016).
In part II the digitization levels of the remaining five elements with respect to their
digitization and library type are presented and summarized. The contents and
classifications of the indices for evaluating the levels chart is repeated in this paper to
help the reader to understand the data. Additionally, data are presented which analyzes
the libraries as a whole on both the elements and the items within them. A detailed
discussion of the digitization levels in these libraries is followed by recommendations
for where to conduct additional research to shed further light on this issue.
2. Research questions
This study aimed to discover and enumerate the elements of the digital library and
measure how much an individual library was equipped with the characteristics of the
digital library accordingly:
RQ1. What determined the elements of the conventional and the digital libraries?
RQ2. Was any research performed to figure out the elements of the digital library?
RQ3. Did the researchers insist that the digital library was more effective than the
conventional library?
RQ4. In selecting a library as a sample, which attributes were most selected and
included among the elements of the conventional and the digital libraries?
RQ5. According to the axis of comparison, which areas were the highest and which
were the lowest?
This study was intended to solve the stated questions above, and discuss them in the
result section below.
3. Research design and methodology
3.1 Research process
As mentioned above, the results of this research are presented by being divided into
the two parts. And, if we were to concisely express the details of each part, they are
as in Figure 1.
If we were to develop the items for evaluating the digitization levels of the libraries
and if we were to specifically describe the research procedure based on the evalua tion
items that have been developed, they are as the following.
First, research on the characteristics and the representative services of the digital
library were comprehensively reviewed.
Second, examples of the library services that were being considered for the
next generation digital library were investigated to compare with the conventional
library services.
360
LHT
34,2
Third, the elements of the conventional and the digital libraries initially extracted were
examined by ten experts. These experts were composed of researchers and professors
specializing in digital libraries, and career librarians who had worked in the digital
library field for at least ten years and the elements were verified through discussions
with them.
Fourth, 19 university libraries, 16 public libraries, and 17 special libraries were
selected in accordance with the verified elements of the conventional and the digital
libraries to measure the digitization level of the libraries.
3.2 Contents and classifications of the index for evaluating the level
As mentioned in part I of the study, ten expert advisors were consulted to arrive at the
thirteen elements of the axis of comparison. They are as follows: acquisition, book
collection, classification and cataloging, circulation service, reference service, user
service, libraryprogram service, space service, SNS service, organization and employees,
device providing service, and next generation service. The results are summarized in
Table I with codesassigned to more easily allow for the analysis of the tables and charts.
4. Result
The participants in this study totaled 52 libraries of which 19 were public libraries,
16 university libraries, and 17 special libraries that were registered in the National
Library Statistics System; the collected indicators were in total 52 sets, with an
86.67 percent return rate. The evaluation was performed from August 18-31, 2015.
The libraries were evaluated on how much they were conventional or digital
according to the elements, and 13 items such as acquisition, book collection,
classification and cataloging, circulation service, and user service were assessed.
4.1 Evaluation for the digitization level in the elements of the libraries according to the
library types
4.1.1 SNS service. The digitization level in the SNS service was evaluated on the aspect
of the conventional library; it scored 95.00 for I4 (none) and 92.14 for I5 (direction
service of library location using offline tools) in the public libraries, 90.53 for I6 (library
service guide by website) and 89.47 for I5 (direction service of library location using
offline tools) in the university libraries, and 92.67 for I9 (book searching service by the
list) and 88.57 for I5 (direction service of library location using offline tools) in the
Part I
Library Hi Tech, Volume 34, Issue 1
Library Hi Tech, Volume 34, Issue 2
Literature
Review
Extracting
13 Evaluation
Elements
Evaluation
Results of
8 Elements
Evaluation
Results of
5 Elements
Overall
Analysis of
13 Elements
Discussion
Conclusion
and Future
Research
Survery
and Expert
Advice
Part II
Figure 1.
Research process
and methodology
361
Digitization
level of
Korean
libraries
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