Technical aspects of managing e-resources - Introduction

E-RESOURCES - DEFINITION E-resources are those electronic products that delivers a collection of data, be it text referring to full text basis, e-journals, image collection, other multimedia products and numerical, graphical or time based, as a commercially available till that has been published with an aim to being marketed. Information (usually a file) which can be stored in the form of Electrical Signals usually, but not necessarily on a Computer. Online information resources, including bibliographic databases, electronic reference books, search engines for full text collections, digital collections of data and data sets.

WHY E-RESOURCES Electronic publishing has led to new era of communications and information sharing . It creates opportunities for users as well as authors and publishers. Many of the electronic books or electronic publishers ‘ web site freely permit and encourage readers to provide feedback on works, often directly to the author rather than to the publisher. Today, libraries are adopting access to electronic resources due the fact that e-resources have enabled libraries to improve services in a variety of ways.

WHY E-RESOURCES cont. e-resources come equipped with powerful search-and-retrieval tools that allow users to perform literature searches more effectively and efficiently. Accessed via the web, users can have desktop access to them 24 hours a day. Users can navigate directly from indexing databases to the full text of an article and can even follow further links from there. Nevertheless, the emergence of e-books and e-journals followed the widespread adoption and use of electronic mail, list servers and discussion groups to disseminate information quickly to large audiences.

SELECTION OF E-RESOURCES As the web has grown, not just in popularity and use, but also in content, librarians are trying to meet the needs of the user and identify new resources, such as online databases, web based resources, collections in digital library, eBooks, e-journals etc. The selection process should be done in relevant with the demands of the users, committee, focus group, users recommendation etc.

STEPS TO SELECTING E-RESOURCES to identify library needs; to identify content and scope of the e-resources; to evaluate quality of that particular resource and search capabilities; to estimate the cost; to check either subscription based or web based when acquiring; to evaluate the systems and technical support; to review licensing agreements; to evaluate application software and installation, updated sporadically or in regular schedule; and to check the facilities for educational support and training.

EVALUATION OF E-RESOURCES Evaluation of resources assumes a greater importance due to the large e-resources such as e-journals, database, e-text, etc available on the net. Authority, currency, intended audience, ease of use, accuracy etc are some responsible criteria for evaluation of e-resources. With the evaluation of e-resources the followings should be should be considered:

EVALUATION OF E-RESOURCES cont. to identify the electronic version have the retrospective data (as mostly electronic resources do not include data prior to some year); to determine particular source of information of e-resources offer any special features which are not available in other print version; to check the content of the e-resources with relevant to the users as well as to the collection as a whole; to check whether the information is often updated or not;

EVALUATION OF E-RESOURCES cont. to determine the e-resources have affordable price or not though offered diverse pricing system by the publishers; to identify the method of accessing of e-resources available; to identify the e-resources needed to maintain and redesign the library website identified; to check the staffing needs for training of recruiting with the existing technology.

DELIVERING ACCESS TO USERS One of the key jobs of the library is delivering access to electronic resources. As the library increases its investments in electronic information it's vital to provide convenient ways for users to find the information they need within those resources.

DELIVERING ACCESS TO USERS Links from the Online Catalog: The online catalog provides one means for accessing electronic resources. Through title searching and subject headings, users can find any electronic journal the library subscribes to and go to that journal through the link provided. The main limitation of this approach is that it works only to find the journal itself, not the individual articles.

DELIVERING ACCESS TO USERS E-Journal Locator Resources: Many libraries maintain an electronic finding aid that consists of lists of electronic databases and e-journals on their Web site apart from the main online catalog. These e-journal locaters work as good navigational tools for researchers that want a quick way to get to an e-journal without the complexities of the online catalog. These lists of e-journals may in fact be database-driven applications that also offer significant information about each e-journal, including the dates of coverage and a description of the types of material available, in addition to the title and URL. Like the online catalog, this approach takes the researcher to the e-journal itself, and not to individual articles.

DELIVERING ACCESS TO USERS Linking to Full Text: Library users, however, might not care about finding an e-journal, but might want to read the full text of articles on their research topics. This process typically involves searching a resource that yields lists of citations of the articles that contain the information. Finding good ways to link the user from that citation to the full text is one of the key challenges in the development of a library's information environment.

DELIVERING ACCESS TO USERS Federated Search: Another major area of interest is in applications that allow users to search multiple sources simultaneously so they don't have to decide which resource might have the information they need. This approach goes by various names: federated searching, cross searching, or meta search. A number of products with differing technological underpinnings are available in this category. The products are based on a mechanism that knows how to send a query to each individual resource behind the scenes, and then receive the results.

FEDERATED SEARCH cont. When the user enters a search request, the system translates it into the form needed by each of the selected targets, gathers and collates results as they are returned, and then presents the orderly results. These meta search applications typically involve presenting a set of broad subjects or disciplines, removing from the user the burden of knowing what kind of information is contained within each of the brand-name resources. 20/09/2018

ORGANIZATION OF E-RESOURCES In any Library Information System, organization of resources is also one of the important and crucial works to function smoothly the library services. As such, the system manager should have good professional skills to organize the available resources effectively. In a modern digital library information system, the professional should have skills like computing, database management, networking, and other management skills relating to IT environment.

CHALLENGES FACED WITH E-RESOURCES Preservation- Though the e-resources are enabling information to be created, manipulated, disseminated and located with increasing ease, preserving access to this information posses a great challenge. Unless, preservation of digital information is actively taken, the information will become inaccessible due to changing technology platform and media instability. Lack of professional skills- Due to lack of management and technical skills, the library professionals is not able to handle the e-resources. The professional staffs are required to constantly update their own knowledge and skill base so as to work in today’s rapidly changing digital environment.

CHALLENGES FACED WITH E-RESOURCES Inadequate library fund- Most of the libraries have inadequate fund for acquiring e-resources and so the users do not get their needy information at the right time. Libraries are at a disadvantage when acting alone in this environment and there is need for cooperative purchasing through library consortia. Technical infrastructure- In a digital information service system, infrastructure such as software, hardware, internet facilities and other physical equipments are required to provide easier, faster and comprehensive access to information. Therefore, libraries in the digital age need to enhance and upgrade current technical architecture to accommodate e-resources.

CONCLUSION With the rapid advancement in computer technology along with information technology, libraries and information centers have been blessed with electronic materials and therefore libraries are gradually shifting towards the electronic libraries with electronic resources. As such, libraries therefore are now increasingly involved in creating and acquiring e-resources. The availability of IT based electronic resources has exerted ever-increasing pressures on libraries and there is no doubt that e-resources are expanding rapidly.

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