ETL505 2.1: Digital Libraries – Organising Digital Content for Schools

Consider how a school might organise digital content.

For a high school library, I feel like the following might be important to consider when organising digital content:

  • student literacy needs
  • student attention span
  • student access to technology
  • student ability to navigate online spaces
  • student information behaviours (sadly they often take the easy, convenient way out)
  • student information needs (such as for specific subjects or assessments)

Due to this, a school’s digital collection should be organised with accessible language and formatting, in a visually appealing manner. Visuals such as book covers could support simple summaries of the text, while simple bibliographic details and subject headings could help users determine whether content is relevant to them or not. For instance, most students probably wouldn’t select a resource based on its size or page numbers. I think that having groups of similar resources would be an effective way of organising digital content for students who are looking for quick fixes with their research. Teacher librarians, working alongside classroom teachers, could curate reading lists for specific assessments which can help students navigate their way through the digital catalogue, and TLs should teach specific strategies (such as boolean operators, filters) to help students access and find relevant, quality information. Access to these digital libraries should be provided within the library and promoted to the school community to ensure students can independently access these resources in their classrooms and, where possible, at home.

ETL505 2.1: Tools of Library Organisation – Databases

Search one of the CSU Library databases and note the fields included in the records.  How much overlap is there with the fields and elements used in library catalogues?

The database that I’m most familiar with is JSTOR (thanks, Arts degree!). For this activity I went with an old favourite, Mary Beard, and compared the fields and elements used to describe one of her articles.

Beard, M. (1980). The sexual status of vestal virgins. The Journal of Roman Studies 70, 12-27.

JSTOR Content Metadata:

JOURNAL ARTICLE
The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins
Mary Beard
The Journal of Roman Studies
The Journal of Roman Studies
Vol. 70 (1980), pp. 12-27 (16 pages)
Thoughts on the JSTOR resource description:
This record also allowed me to see thumbnails of each page as well as the notes and references (113 footnotes total) which would help in the ‘select’ FRBR task. The ability to access and download a copy of the resource would also be useful for the ‘obtain’ FRBR task.
The Primo resource details are:
ARTICLE
The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins
Beard, Mary
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
The Journal of Roman studies, 1980-11, Vol.70 (2), p.12-27
The Vestal Virgins have often been the subject of close scrutiny by classical scholars…
PEER REVIEWED
Available Online
Details
Title: The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins
Creator: Beard, Mary
Is Part Of: The Journal of Roman studies, 1980-11, Vol.70 (2), p.12-27
Subject:
– Ambiguity
– Atriums
– Ceremonies
– Flames
– Men
– Priestesses
– Religious rituals
– Virginity
– Weddings
– Wives
Language: English
Description
The Vestal Virgins have often been the subject of close scrutiny by classical scholars. Indeed many articles have been devoted to a careful analysis of individual, apparently trivial, aspects of their legal rights, their privileges, their cult obligations and even their dress. In the same tradition I intend in this paper to consider just one element of their priestly position: their sexual status and its relationship to their sacred status. It is however an element which will be seen to have wider implications for their cult as a whole and for ancient religion in general.
Publisher: Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
Source: JSTOR Arts & Sciences II, Scopus, Periodicals Index Online
Rights
Copyright © Mary Beard 1980. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Copyright 1980 The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Identifier
ISSN: 0075-4358
EISSN: 1753-528X
DOI: 10.2307/299553
Thoughts on the Primo resource description:
Primo also gives me the option to see other linked sources which cite this resource or are cited in it, which is similar to the JSTOR ‘notes and references’ feature. Primo also has a menu on the right-hand side which offers ‘related reading’ suggestions to further my potential research and would be very useful for users engage in the ‘explore’ FRBR task.
Primo is much more detailed than JSTOR and offers more information to help users determine a resource’s relevance. It’s clear why Primo has been given that name – it’s clearly the better option!