Capturing digital developments through qualitative inquiry

Kyrillidou, Martha; Cook, Colleen; Lippincott, Sarah

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/89814 Copy

Description

Title

Capturing digital developments through qualitative inquiry

Author(s)

• Kyrillidou, Martha
• Cook, Colleen
• Lippincott, Sarah

Contributor(s)

Potter, William

Issue Date

2016-01-01

Keyword(s)

digital libraries

Geographic Coverage

• North America
• United States
• Canada

Abstract

Purpose: To describe a model of digital library work that surfaced through the ARL Profiles 2010 and resonates current work underway by the large scale digital library projects like DPLA, SHARE, Hathitrust, Academic Preservation Trust and Digital Preservation Network (DPN). Design: Eighty-six ARL members submitted institutional profiles that were analyzed using Atlas.ti and surfaced major themes that comprise the mission of research libraries including serving the public good, expanding their presence globally, setting standards for access and quality, needing to explore best practices, and being visible at the national and international levels. Findings: The analysis of the narratives identified three key areas for digital library developments: (a) digitized special collections, (b) acquiring digital content, and (c) developing digital services (Figure 1). Specific examples and context are provided in the article. Research limitations/implications: The qualitative data collected from these profiles demonstrate that libraries are transforming their services to leverage digital technologies and meet the changing needs of their users. The approach was open ended and allowed libraries to celebrate their strengths and unique context. Some of the disadvantages of this approach include the amount of work both on behalf of the participating libraries as well as on behalf of the analysts and the difficulty of comparing libraries with one another. Originality/value: This was the first time ARL attempted to describe research libraries using narrative descriptions. The approach complements the traditional ARL Statistics and offers a viable alternative in a future environment that is dominated by radical change. This qualitative approach deployed here is critical for describing digital library developments as current large scale digitization projects have extended the directions that were surfacing in these profiles and have major implications for the future of digital content and research. Future research in this area is strongly encouraged.

Publisher

Emerald Publishing

Series/Report Name or Number

Performance Measurement and Metrics

Type of Resource

• text
• dataset / spreadsheet

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89814

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1108/PMM-03-2016-0007

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

Association of Research Libraries

Copyright and License Information

• Emerald Publishing
• Martha Kyrillidou

Owning Collections