tel cover (i).qxd 07/04/2009 09:34 Page ISSN 0264-0473 Volume 27 Number 2009 The Electronic Library The international journal for the application of technology in information environments Ubiquitous digital library and innovative community Guest Editors: Jin Chen and Jing Guo www.emeraldinsight.com The Electronic Library ISSN 0264-0473 Volume 27 Number 2009 Ubiquitous digital library and innovative community Guest Editors Jin Chen and Jing Guo Access this journal online _ 199 Editorial advisory board _ 200 Guest editorial 201 The unique approach to institutional repository: practice of National Taiwan University Kuang-hua Chen and Jieh Hsiang CONTENTS 204 A dynamic RSS information push service mechanism based on ontology of user information needs Chuanfu Chen, Zhiqiang Wu, Congjing Ran, Qiong Tang, Song Chen and Xiaojuan Zhang 222 Creating a bilingual library information environment for foreign users Fan Aihong 237 From information commons to knowledge commons: building a collaborative knowledge sharing environment for innovative communities Ren Shuhuai, Sheng Xingjun, Lin Haiqing and Cao Jialin _ 247 Innovation community: constructing a new service mode for academic libraries Lu Xiaobin and Guo Jing _ Access this journal electronically The current and past volumes of this journal are available at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm Find more articles from this journal and search through Emerald’s 200+ journals at: www.emeraldinsight.com See page following contents for full details of what your access includes 258 This journal is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics CONTENTS continued Building a virtual community platform for subject information services at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library Wei Pan and Xiaoyuan Lan _ 271 System architecture of Library 2.0 Xinya Yang, Qunyi Wei and Xiaodong Peng _ 283 Programming Library 2.0 that users need Qiaoying Zheng and Shaoping Wang _ 292 Surviving in the digital age by utilizing libraries’ distinctive advantages Suqing Liu, Sansan Liao and Jing Guo 298 Digital libraries in China: progress and prospects Leye Yao and Ping Zhao _ 308 Using RFID guiding systems to enhance user experience Hsien Tang Lin, Chia Feng Lin and Shyan Ming Yuan 319 Creating a virtual union catalog for Hong Kong dissertations and theses collections Irene S.M Wong and Yiu-On Li _ 331 Changing of library services under e-research environment Yajie Zhao _ 342 Book reviews 349 Scholarly Communication in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan Edited by Jingfeng Xia Reviewed by Ross MacDonald Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and beyond: From Production to Produsage Axel Bruns Reviewed by Philip Barker The Revolution with not be Downloaded: Dissent in the Digital Age Edited by Tara Brabazon Reviewed by John MacRitchie Learning Commons: Evolution and Collaborative Essentials Edited by Barbara Schader Reviewed by Susan Cleyle Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments Iris Xie Reviewed by Philip Calvert Marketing the Best Deal in Town: Your Library Where is your Purple Owl? Nancy Rossiter Reviewed by Madely du Preez A Short-cut to Marketing the Lbrary Zusana Helinskey Reviewed by Philip Calvert www.emeraldinsight.com/el.htm As a subscriber to this journal, you can benefit from instant, electronic access to this title via Emerald Management Xtra Your access includes a variety of features that increase the value of your journal subscription Structured abstracts Emerald structured abstracts provide consistent, clear and informative summaries of the content of the articles, allowing faster evaluation of papers How to access this journal electronically Additional complimentary services available To benefit from electronic access to this journal, please contact support@emeraldinsight.com A set of login details will then be provided to you Should you wish to access via IP, please provide these details in your e-mail Once registration is completed, your institution will have instant access to all articles through the journal’s Table of Contents page at 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www.emeraldinsight.com/connections Choice of access Electronic access to this journal is available via a number of channels Our web site www.emeraldinsight.com is the recommended means of electronic access, as it provides fully searchable and value added access to the complete content of the journal However, you can also access and search the article content of this journal through the following journal delivery services: EBSCOHost Electronic Journals Service ejournals.ebsco.com Informatics J-Gate www.j-gate.informindia.co.in Ingenta www.ingenta.com Minerva Electronic Online Services www.minerva.at OCLC FirstSearch www.oclc.org/firstsearch SilverLinker www.ovid.com SwetsWise www.swetswise.com Emerald Customer Support For customer support and technical help contact: E-mail support@emeraldinsight.com Web www.emeraldinsight.com/customercharter Tel +44 (0) 1274 785278 Fax +44 (0) 1274 785201 EL 27,2 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Dr Esharenana E Adomi Head of Department of Library and Information Science, Delta State University, Nigeria 200 Chris Armstrong Information Automation Limited, Wales, UK Stephen E Arnold Arnold Information Technology (AIT), USA Dr (Mrs) Asefeh Asemi Department of Library and Information Science, Isfahan University, Iran Philip Barker Professor of Applied Computing, University of Teesside, UK Marshall Breeding Director for Innovative Technologies and Research of the Vanderbilt University Library and Executive Director for the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, TN, USA Frank Cervone Director, Department of Library, Information and Media Studies, Chicago State University, USA Professor Ina Fourie Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa Dr Paul Genoni Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University of Technology, Australia Dr Donald T Hawkins Information Technology and Database Consultant, Information Today Inc., Medford, NJ, USA Nancy K Herther Librarian for Sociology & Anthropology, University of Minnesota Libraries, USA Monica Landoni Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK Anne Morris Reader in Information Processing and Director of Teaching, Department of Information Science, Loughborough University, UK Lesley Moyo Director for Library Research and Instructional Services, University Libraries, Virginia Tech, VA, USA Professor S.M Mutula Head of Department of Library and Information Studies, University of Botswana, Botswana The Electronic Library Vol 27 No 2, 2009 p 200 # Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0264-0473 Professor Zainab Awang Ngah Department of Information Science, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Malaysia David Reid Application Support Specialist, National Library of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand Loriene Roy Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA Eva Semertzaki Deputy Head of Library Section, Bank of Greece, Athens, Greece Dr Miguel-Angel Sicilia Associate Professor, Computer Science Department, University of Alcala´ Ctra Barcelona, Spain Professor (Mrs) Shashi P Singh Head, Department of Library & Information Science, University of Delhi, India Dr Mary M Somerville University Librarian and Director of the Auraria Library, University of Colorado, Colorado, USA Shiao-Feng Su Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of Library and Information Science, National Chung-Hsing University, Taiwan, ROC Professor Pieter A van Brakel Head: Postgraduate Programmes c/o e-Innovation Academy, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa Gunilla Wide´n-Wulff ˚ bo Akademi University, Information Studies, A Finland Hong Xu Head, East Asian Library, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA Professor Chyan Yang Institute of Business and Management & Institute of Information Management, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Associate Professor Songhui Zheng Director, Acquisitions & Cataloging Department of Overseas Journals Library, Medical College of Shantou University, Guangdong, China Guest editorial About the Guest Editors Jin Chen is Professor and PhD supervisor of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Director of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library and the Institute of Information Science & Technology (IIST) He has taken charge or taken part in more than 60 research projects, including National Science & Technology Key Project, Shanghai Science & Technology Key Importance Project and International Cooperation Project, etc To date, he has published more than 240 papers and four books and taken the position of Guest Editor on three occasions He is now the editor and referee of many domestic and international journals Dr Jin Chen can be contacted at: Jinchen@sjtu.edu.cn Jing Guo is a Subject Librarian in Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library She is also undertaking a PhD in information science at the School of Information Resource Management in Renmin University of China Jing Guo can be contacted at: jguo@lib.sjtu.edu.cn Guest editorial 201 This special issue of The Electronic Library (TEL) focuses on the “Ubiquitous digital library and innovative community” The topic, as well as the papers contained herein, covers a broad range of the latest issues and developments in digital libraries, such as the applications of new information and communication technologies, user interfaces, networks, Web 2.0, innovative concepts and best practices within academic communities We thank The Electronic Library for producing this issue that allows us to report and review the latest research and ongoing developments in Chinese and oriental libraries with respect to their innovative practices and research into digital libraries So we are very happy to introduce this special publication which comprises selected important scholarly communications of the 2008 Digital Library Conference held in Shanghai and hosted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library (SJTUL) In this issue, Kuang-hua Chen and Jieh Hsiang present the practical and unique approach to construct an Institutional Repository at the National Taiwan University (NTU) The system design is based on DSpace, but they modified many functional modules of DSpace in order to fulfill the requirements of Chinese users In the ubiquitous computing environment, the challenge is how to formalize ontology models applicable to it to describe user information needs, especially explicit information needs The paper by Chuanfu Chen and colleagues proposes a technical solution for digital libraries to establish the information needs ontology based on a comprehensive understanding of personalized user information needs and offer information push service by Really Simple Syndication (RSS) The authors acknowledge the support of Dr David Raitt, Editor of The Electronic Library, during the whole process of putting this special issue together Gratitude is also expresed to all the referees involved, who reviewed all the papers and commented upon them: Miguel-Angel Sicilia, Marshall Breeding, Sun Wei, Yi Jin, Lin Xia, Qin Jian, Zeng Lei, Zhang Jia, Ye Ying, Chu Jingli, Fan Bingsi, Shen Guchao, Liu Wei, Jiang Airong, Yang Peichao, Xiao Dehong, Yan Jinwei, Xue Fangyu, Zhu Qiang, Huang Min, Lin Haoming, and Huang Yongli Finally, many thanks are due to the special issue team members for their hard work: Li Li, Xu Jing, Ding Xiaoying, Ma Chen, Ding Jianmin, Song Haiyan, etc The Electronic Library Vol 27 No 2, 2009 pp 201-203 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0264-0473 EL 27,2 202 The number of international students and overseas faculty in many universities, including China, has grown rapidly in recent years How to help foreign users overcome the language barrier and make a full use of the library is a realistic problem Aihong Fan describes the creation of a bilingual library information environment for foreign users and introduces the practical exploration of Tsinghua University Library and also gives some suggestions for the future Currently, Information Commons is a hot topic Many papers at the conference focused on this subject and proposed valuable research avenues The paper by Ren Shuhuai (Shanghai University Library) and his colleagues together with Lin Haiqing (University of Auckland Library, New Zealand) assimilates the theories of knowledge management, collaboration and Library 2.0, intended to integrate the digital library, physical resources, virtual resources and human resources into one whole entity Xiaobin Lu and Jing Guo put forward a completely new mode called “Innovation Community” especially suitable for academic libraries They present an IC2 practice case, aiming at supporting the cultivation of innovation ability, encouraging user participation, joint construction, interaction and communication On the other hand, Wei Pan and Xiaoyuan Lan propose the virtual communities platform which gives subject users a more convenient and more attractive environment to preserve their research results and share their experiences based on the next-generation discovery and delivery system (Primo) and the subject service virtual communities at SJTUL The paper by Yang Xinya and his co-workers puts forward the five-tier model of service oriented architecture (SOA) According to the architecture, three application systems are designed – LMS based on librarians, knowledge service system based on patrons, and a knowledge search engine The Library 2.0 system is constructed and applied in Chongqing University library The paper by Zheng Qiaoying and Wang Shaoping proposes the programming idea and performance of Library 2.0 and provides some of the major practices in SJTUL to illustrate Library 2.0 programming In the digital age, how can we make libraries adjust their traditional roles? Library user surveys were conducted and are discussed in the article by Suqing Liu, Sansan Liao and Jing Guo Through exploring the changing user needs and expectations, and utilizing the library’s distinctive advantages, then library resources can be much better used and library users can be better served Another useful survey is conducted by Leye Yao and Ping Zhao Their paper provides an overview of Chinese Digital Library (DL) projects as revealed by various library web sites and it also illustrates the current status of the DLs in China by offering insights into the digitization of resources, technologies and services Tackling a different subject, Hsien Tang Lin’s co-authored paper provides details of a guiding system to enhance user experiences in museums and art galleries by means of RFID and Blogs The system also builds a channel between creators of art works on display and other visitors With such functionalities, users have the opportunity to acquire information, using a mobile device, about a specific object in a context-aware manner Irene Wong and Yiu-On Li discuss the creation of a unique platform which is a free and valuable reference tool for scholars and researchers around the world to electronically cross-search the theses and dissertations of Hong Kong postgraduate students It also provides insights into how librarians can maximize the functionalities of library integration systems to enhance cross-searching on OPACs Such theses contain a wealth of research and Yajie Zhao explores the way in which the e-research is changing the nature between researchers and libraries, and suggests how librarians can become more engaged with professional research under the e-research environment The papers in this special issue provide a useful look at the increasing activity of the academic community and the ubiquitous digital library Although most of the papers are from China, we nevertheless believe that all the innovative research and practices detailed in the papers will be an enlightening experience for TEL readers throughout the world These papers were a source of interest in the 2009 Digital Library Conference and we trust that readers of this special issue will embrace the ideas contained within and help to replicate and spread them even further Jin Chen and Jing Guo Guest Editors Guest editorial 203 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm EL 27,2 The unique approach to institutional repository Practice of National Taiwan University 204 Kuang-hua Chen National Taiwan University Library, Taipei, Taiwan, and Department of Library and Information Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Received October 2008 Revised 20 November 2008 Accepted 30 November 2008 Jieh Hsiang National Taiwan University Library and Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the practical and unique approach to construct an institutional repository (IR) at the National Taiwan University (NTU) Design/methodology/approach – In general, IR systems are used to preserve the research outputs of academic organizations The preserved contents as a whole will demonstrate the achievements and influences of organizations The NTU Repository (NTUR) project is the action which is the response of NTU Library to the converging and emerging issues The system design of NTUR is based on a well-known open-source package, DSpace, but many of its functional modules are modified to fulfill the requirements of Chinese users The content acquisition of NTUR is carried out by a machine-aided manual approach, which quickly accumulates the volume of registered digital objects in NTUR Findings – With comparison to other IR systems, it is found that a content-rich system with the much friendlier user interface like NTUR could be constructed in an effective way The post-processing for search results – which is very unique feature of NTUR – could be also implemented effectively Practical implications – Many investigations point out that an open-access IR system can decrease the cost in dissemination of scholarly information and increase the impacts of research outputs Originality/value – The practical approach to the construction of an institutional repository at NTU has been proposed The approach can make NTUR quickly acquire a large volume of digital objects This makes NTUR a much more content-rich repository with comparison to other similar IR systems Keywords Generation and dissemination of Information, Digital storage, Academic libraries, Open systems, Taiwan Paper type Research paper The Electronic Library Vol 27 No 2, 2009 pp 204-221 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0264-0473 DOI 10.1108/02640470910947566 The authors thank the members of the NTUR developing team at National Taiwan University Library They are: Su Chuan Chang; Mei-lin Kuo; Se-liang Wu; Zhe-an Wu; Yu-ting Chiang; Ting-fai Ho; Cipher Kao; Chiu-chu Liu; Hsiao-ying Hung; Hou Ieong Ho; Shih-Li Chen; Feng-i Lin; Ya-tzu Liu; Hsin-Yi Yeh; Yi-chun Liu; Bai-hsuan Lee; Ren-shiang Liu; Yun-jung Young; Tsan-jiun Ho; Ya-fang Weng; Wen-chi Huang; Ying-fang Huang; Ying-lin Liu; Yu-Chieh, Lin; Feng-ju Chen; Ching-hua Liao; Li-yun Chiang; and Yi-ling Tu.<br>This work is partly supported by Ministry of Education, Taiwan under the grant numbers 95M1087, 96M1101, and 97M1069 This work is also partly supported by Excellent Research Projects of National Taiwan University Introduction Nowadays, it is mainstream to present various digital documents, videos, audios, and multimedia via WWW browsers, since the browser is regarded as the de facto common platform for Internet applications In addition, the line between users and authors of Web resources has been blurred and the roles of publishers have become less important than ever before The quick development of WWW is a challenge and also an opportunity to universities or research institutes, which may create alternative ways to publish, disseminate, and acquire scholarly information without the intervention of publishers and aggregators As a result, the cost derived from publication and acquisition of scholarly information will be reduced and the time of dissemination of scholarly information will be decreased as well The purpose of dissemination of information is to make information usable or citable Citation has been regarded as a good way to clarify the roles and positions of researchers in the whole research structure Although the reasons to cite other papers are multiple, it is well recognized that at least some connections exist among cited papers and citing papers Bibliographic couplings and co-citations are two obvious examples Citation also demonstrates a very special function, i.e the influence or impact of papers, researchers, and research institutes Academic evaluation has become an important topic, especially, the evaluation for universities or research institutes Citation, therefore, has been used as a way to evaluate academic performance To increase citation times of research outputs will be a plus for academic evaluation in research institutes And an Institutional repository (IR) seems to be one of the solutions to increase the citation times Although many definitions for IRs could be found in literature, the idea of an IR is very simple It is to deposit every part of researches from the very beginning to the final publication for universities or research institutes With the observation to publishing research results in recent years, many researchers prepare their papers or articles using word processors and submit them in digital form rather than printed form As a result, the volume of “born-in-digital” documents increases very quickly However, Lynch (2003) pointed out that we still have no good ways to preserve these research results in their digital form The idea of the IR may be a good turning point to rethink the model, mechanism, and means for the preservation and dissemination of scholarly information From the viewpoint of universities or research institutes, to encourage faculty to publish research outputs and to make dissemination of papers effective are the better means to increase the citation times of published papers and then to increase universities influences IR systems as academic portals of universities or research institutes, the preserved scholarly information as a whole will demonstrate the achievements and influences, and make accessing scholarly information much more convenient Deploying an IR system seems be the best way to share research results with other universities and institutes in the world The National Taiwan University (NTU), one of the important universities in Taiwan, has been making many significant achievements in researches and has been publishing a great deal of research results It is necessary for NTU to fulfill a good model to preserve and disseminate NTU’s research outputs NTU has initiated a task force for a National Taiwan University Repository (NTUR) project and has established an operational IR system which is also called NTUR In the meantime, the NTUR system contains 56,769 items of various types of scholarly information including The approach to institutional repository 205 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm EL 27,2 Changing of library services under e-research environment 342 Shanghai JiaoTong University Library, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China Yajie Zhao Received 21 September 2008 Revised 25 November 2008 Abstract Accepted December 2008 Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore the way in which e-research is changing the nature between researchers and libraries, and to suggest how librarians can become more engaged with professional research under an e-research environment Design/methodology/approach – This paper takes the example of research into ultrasonic motors to investigate what can be done in current library facilities with regard to collecting and sharing data, and what should be provided in future libraries to facilitate the research of ultrasonic motors under an e-research environment Findings – Current libraries can facilitate professional research through retrieval of digital resources such as diverse databases, in which researchers can get information on trends, hot topics, and the main problems in order to conduct further investigations To completely realize e-research of professional researches, it is suggested that more extended services such as infrastructures of remote laboratories and virtual research environments are needed in future libraries to facilitate the collaboration of different research groups in different places Originality/value – The paper provides methods for professional research into specific topics (such as ultrasonic motors in the present case) under the e-research environment, with a particular focus on collaboration in a universal infrastructure for sharing computing power and data storage, as well as data and research The result of this study should also be helpful in shaping future libraries Keywords Information research, Electronic media, Information services, Internet, Libraries, China Paper type Case study The Electronic Library Vol 27 No 2, 2009 pp 342-348 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0264-0473 DOI 10.1108/02640470910947683 Introduction Libraries have for centuries played an important role in supporting research into all subjects and disciplines But over the last couple of decades the research sector worldwide has been experiencing enormous changes driven by advances in information and communications technology (ICT) including the World Wide Web Furthermore, research is increasingly characterized by national and international multi-disciplinary collaboration – due in no small part to the availability of rapid communication This new development has also brought about a significant change in the relationships between researchers and libraries Technological developments and online information resources have changed, not only how research is done, but also who it is done by, as well as the services provided by libraries To highlight these changes, we take the research into ultrasonic motors as an example The reason for this is that ultrasonic motors offer multi-disciplinary research possibilities and have multi-field applications Their research relates mechanical engineering, material science, and electronics and their applications are suitable to any aspect where small motors are needed It will be very hard to conduct sound research into ultrasonic motors without modern information and communications technologies E-research is a practical guide for both novice and experienced researchers using the internet to enhance their research program (Anderson and Kanuka, 2002) Ultrasonic motor research under an e-research environment can be shaped by two ways: traditional laboratory research and e-research, which has enhanced the information sharing capabilities of the cyber-infrastructure An additional challenge for researching ultrasonic motors via electronic resources is the increased opportunity for collaboration and sharing data and research through computer networks This article begins by introducing the development of e-research, and then the approaches of ultrasonic motor research under e-research environments are discussed We also review the changing of library and information services in e-research, in which librarians can promote themselves as a component of e-research literature and obtain the skills required to develop and manage the internet (Genoni et al., 2006) The development of e-research The rapid development of ICT provides a new paradigm for e-research access to social and economic trends and recent initiatives that respond to such trends The development of the internet and the web has marked an important milestone in the ability of researchers and others to access and share information on a large scale Furthermore communication costs using computer technologies for sharing information are much lower than they used to be (Paterson and Lindsay, 2007) One important change that Web 2.0 has brought is described as a “new web platform which increased new applications and phenomena such as blogs, wikis and tagging” (Paterson and Lindsay, 2007) It is a transition of web sites from isolated information silos to sources of content and functionality, characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority and freedom to share and re-use Cyber-infrastructure is an emerging computing model which uses resources of many separate computers connected by a network (Answers.com, 2006) Cyber-infrastructure also increases efficiency, quality, and reliability by capturing commonalities among application needs, and facilitates the efficient sharing of equipment and services (Atkins and Droegemeier, 2003) This model should obtain higher levels of computational power and data processing The most important aspect of cyber-infrastructure has been the development of middleware, “a communication layer that allows applications to interact across hardware and network environments” (DMReview, 2006) In this environment, e-research has arisen which can be described as “research activities that use a spectrum of advanced ICT capabilities and embraces new research methodologies” (Australia Department of Education, Science and Training, 2005) E-research enhances the research process for users, and allows them to manage their data and information in a more easily accessible global collaboration and cyber-infrastructure environment Ultrasonic motors under e-research environment An ultrasonic motor is a type of electric motor formed from the ultrasonic vibration of one component against another (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasonic_motor) The potential of e-research to advance understanding of ultrasonic motor research is immense, and it is likely that e-research will decisively shape the nature of ultrasonic motor research Yet as any researcher who has attempted to use e –research to obtain data will have discovered, a host of methodological issues require consideration Changing of library services 343 EL 27,2 344 because of differences between traditional laboratory research and e-research concerning research methodology This is now explained more fully Hard copy material Many important publications are in printed-paper form, which includes handbooks, textbooks, and journals Traditionally, researchers need to be in the library for reading relevant materials, which are located on different bookshelves or perhaps even in departmental libraries And in some cases, the researcher may not find them because they may already be out on loan or because of limited knowledge about the categories of book (Brown and Swan, 2007) This is especially true for ultrasonic motors because they are associated with many different fields such as physics, material science, power electronics, and mechanical design For example, piezoelectric ceramics for generating ultrasound are material issues; vibrators for driving rotors belong to mechanical engineering, and the control aspects are related to electronic engineering Therefore it would be very difficult for researcher to find related reference materials if there are no information technology Use of digital resources Under an e-research environment, the hard (print) copies of publications have been digitized and subsequently stored in databases Researchers’ use of digital information resources is now habitual, and they appreciate very much the efforts that libraries have made in this direction They recognize that utilizing the contents of journals in electronic form is now much easier than it used to be, and there is potential for a similar leap in utility with digital monographs and research texts (Brown and Swan, 2007) Usually, every database has its own search engine Researchers thus need to search databases one by one, and sometimes they are hindered by the number of other researchers using the same database To overcome these inconveniences, one-stop search engines are now being developed, in which the system is responsible for carrying out the search on every database, and researcher can get the complete literature picture without any missing references For example, to search for some papers on “piezoelectric ceramics” and “ultrasonic motor” in the Academic Information Resource Access platform of ten databases in Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library, the researcher obtains a set of numbers for the keywords “piezoelectric ceramics” and “ultrasonic motor” as shown in Table I If we look further through the search of Web of Knowledge databases, development of ultrasonic motors is presented Under the elements of the Author, Country/Territory, Databases Table I Retrieving results of “ultrasonic motors” and “piezoelectric ceramics” within ten databases Scitation þ SPIN EBSCO Engineering village ScienceDirect IngentaConnect IEEE Xplore ISI Web of Knowledge OCLC electronic collection online SPIE digital library SpringerLink Numbers 16 53 213 29 209 227 58 Institution Name, and Publication Year, we can get the information who, when, and what progresses has been made Under the elements of Title, and Subject Category, we get the information in which fields the ultrasonic motors are interesting (Zhao Ya-jie, 2008) Then we move onto next database, and more information is obtained In this way, the researcher can get comprehensive information such as trends, hot topics, new applications, and main problems to conduct further investigations for ultrasonic motors in a very short time More benefits are possible such as reduction of costs, and focus on the most important problems and so on Large-scale collaborative research and its impact The “long distance” research has seen a rapid growth in collaborative, cross-institutional, research projects Libraries have faced challenges as “big science” takes root, involving very large collaborative projects with a global spread (Brown and Swan, 2007) Commonly, the members of collaborative teams are spread out in different places – possibly all over the world – and often virtual, digital technologies were used in data storage and communication of experimental data within the team Since ultrasonic motors are lightweight and compact, researchers may, for instance, initiate a scheme to pool research from different institutions for some medical applications For example, using ultrasonic motors to develop a healthcare robot may be associated with customers including medical experts or patients, and engineers and researchers on materials, mechanical engineering, and control who are responsible for the development of the robots Research teams working on this project will usually be located at two or more institutions at significant distances To complete the project, sharing information and discussing the questions occurring in the development process are necessary Thanks to the advances in information and communications technology, all the different specialists involved can cooperate conveniently Such big projects are already feasible and as these groups create their data in electronic form, sharing results is simple The immediate impacts are that the project can be completed with less time and cost because all the diverse and dispersed research groups can share information and thus avoid misunderstandings and also, importantly, use all potential resources within the different institutions involved More important, the healthcare robots can be more easily manipulated by medical staff and patients because the requirements for patients can actually be considered and taken into account during the design and manufacturing processes Remote experiments Every research group has its own strengths, so in collaborative, cross-institutional research projects, coordinated experimentation is necessary For example, a novel control procedure is needed to test for different ultrasonic motors Traditionally, researchers would gather at the same lab, and this involves travel as well as the adjustment of equipment Under an e-research environment, the program can be tested via real controllers based on the internet at different labs, different cities, or even different countries This will facilitate the research cooperation, and make the progress quicker This is especially valuable for student research One main aspect within the e-research environment is to implement for ultrasonic motor a way that allows students ubiquitous online access to physical workshops and laboratory facilities from remote places Accordingly, there is a growing need for Changing of library services 345 EL 27,2 346 innovative research concepts, capable of supporting the necessary research platforms E-research environments extending to real labs or even to the workplace are able to contribute significantly to a successful outcome of this research process (Muller and Ferreira, 2006) For example, if one student has an idea to control the ultrasonic motor and wishes to prove it, s/he could some experiments via a network with the assistances of e-research equipment So s/he can experiments at any time, and many students can carry out tests and learn from one e-research equipment, thus increasing the efficacy of the equipment In other words, one investment under e-research infrastructures can make more progress and achieve high efficiencies Virtual research environments and virtual research communities Virtual research environments (VREs) have been changing library service methods to provide frameworks of resources to support subject research in virtual research communities (VRCs), and satisfy needs with resources appropriate in the different research groups VREs are becoming important in libraries that drive subject research and accelerate the research process For example, researchers on material, mechanical engineering, and control need to discuss questions with medical experts about the development of ultrasonic motors for healthcare robots in different cities even in different countries With the help of e-research through video or audio conferencing, medical experts can make clear what are the bottom-lines for requirements of patients, and consequently engineers and researchers can make more practical choices for what they should That is, they can discuss questions regarding the development and make decisions for the next steps via networks, just as they can in traditional face-to-face meetings In this way, new ideas are generated from cross discussion of different research fields; time is saved due to less traveling and waiting for coordination of different research groups; costs are minimized for fewer iterated processes; and misunderstanding is avoided due to on-the-spot clarifications This could not happen in the traditional way Changing of library and information services in e-research With the assistance of a multi-disciplinary research example, the benefits under e-research environment are identified In responding to the needs of researchers under e-research environment, libraries should provide synthesis and integration with source services, information services, and knowledge services Some main points concerning how services are changing are discussed next Library-based provision of skills development for researchers Librarians have been identified as important for the skills and career development of researchers especially under e-research environment because a novice or even an experienced researcher in non-information research fields may not be familiar with the new information technologies In this respect, considerable efforts and resources have gone into developing sophisticated courses and programs, with seminar series, video-on-demand and other on-line learning resources available from libraries (Brown and Swan, 2007) In part, these have been designed to satisfy the needs of researchers working remotely, but they also serve the needs of local researchers who wish to enjoy skills training at their own pace or at times to suit themselves Keeping contact with researcher In every kind of research and teaching, the library is a necessary component because the researcher, teacher and students all need it to provide services in acquiring, storing and retrieving necessary information, monographs and textbooks Although the library does its best to provide all kinds of reference materials to the teachers, students and researchers, there is a clear sense that the needs of researchers are not sufficiently recognized in the configuration of information resources and services provided to them The reason may be that the researches are usually at the frontier of knowledge, and the publications in a certain field cannot always be recognized as relevant by ordinary librarians Therefore as a librarian, it is necessary to keep in contact with the researchers, and the librarian who can provide the related collections for the researcher in certain research fields (such as ultrasonic motors in this case) is highly appreciated Drivers for new development in library services There are a number of key factors that are causing researchers and librarians to re-evaluate the roles libraries play To again use the example of research into ultrasonic motors, the relative importance of four key drivers can be noted: (1) the increasing availability of scholarly information in digital form; (2) changes in research practice; (3) the growth of virtual research communities; and (4) moves towards larger-scale research projects Libraries themselves are also busy in digitizing information previously available only in hard copy Researchers appreciate this hugely as it makes information resources easier to find, access, and utilize The library as a laboratory Libraries make more personal visits and use print-based resources more heavily but, for many of them, the library is the equivalent of the scientists’ laboratories (Brown and Swan, 2007) In other words, libraries often house the objects of scientists’ research, especially for the research mainly focusing on the literature research For many of them, study of publications and archival documents is core in their research Although obvious, it should still be noted here that these documents may not always be text-based: sometimes they are images, films or audio materials and may exist in only one copy or in just a few copies globally Another aspect of the library as a laboratory is that if an advanced cyber-infrastructure is available in libraries, many remote experiments can be fulfilled in the libraries themselves In this way, some students or even researchers can test their ideas or experiment design through the internet They can acquire first hand experience without equipment investment This is especially helpful for the research group when they have no experience for what they plan to Conclusions Under e-research environment library service changes are discussed with identification of e-research benefits of a multi-disciplinary research example Through identification, it shows that current library capabilities to support e-research can be partially achieved through retrieving digital resources To completely realize e-research of professional research, more extended services such as remote infrastructures and more training course are required The main conclusions to be drawn are that digital Changing of library services 347 EL 27,2 348 resources under an e-research environment are highly valued by researchers because technological developments and online information resources are accelerating research processes with less cost and time Increases in the scale of research and the growth of collaborative and interdisciplinary research projects present challenges to libraries in seeking to provide effective services and advanced information and communications technologies Finally, the main library service changes are skill training, partnership with researchers, equipment management, and drivers of new information technologies References Anderson, T and Kanuka, H (2002), “E-research methods, strategies and issues”, available at: www.e-research.ca/ (accessed 30 September 2008) Answers.com (2006), “Grid computing – wikipedia definition”, available at: www.answers.com/ main/ntquery?method ¼ 4&dsid ẳ 2222&dekey ẳ Grid ỵ computing&gwp ẳ 8& curtab ¼ 2222_1&linktext ¼ Grid%20Computing (accessed 30 September 2008) Atkins, D and Droegemeier, K (2003), “Appendix A: more about ‘what is cyber infrastructure?’ Revolutionizing Science and Engineering through Cyber Infrastructure: Report of the National Science Foundation Blue-Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyber Infrastructure, January, available at: www.nsf.gov/cise/sci/reports/atkins.pdf (accessed 30 September 2008) Australia Department of Education, Science and Training (2005), “e-Research”, available at: www.dest.gov.au/sectors/research_sector/policies_issues_reviews/key_issues/e_ research_consult/default.htm (accessed 30 September 2008) Brown, S and Swan, A (2007), “Researchers’ use of academic libraries and their services: a report commissioned by the Research Information Network and the Consortium of Research libraries”, available at: http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/13868/ (accessed 30 September 2008) DMReview (2006), “Glossary”, available at: www.dmreview.com/resources/glossary cfm?keywordId? M (accessed 30 September 2008) Genoni, P., Merrick, H and Willson, M (2006), “Scholarly communities, e-research literacy and the academic librarian”, The Electronic Library, Vol 24 No 6, pp 734-46 Paterson, M and Lindsay, D (2007), “DART: a new missile in Australia’s e-research strategy”, Online Information Review, Vol 31 No 2, pp 116-34, available at: www.emeraldinsight com/1468-4527.htm (accessed 30 September, 2008) Muller, D and Ferreira, J.M (2006), “Online labs an the MARVEL experience”, iJOE International Journal on Online Engineering, pp 1-5, available at: www.i-joe.org (accessed 25 November 2008) Zhao, Y.-J (2008), “Research of ultrasonic motor in SCI-E electron database”, Micromotors, Vol 41 No 2, pp 60-4 (in Chinese) About the author Yajie Zhao is a librarian at the Library of Shanghai Jiao Tong University From 2006-2008, she participated in literature researches of ultrasonic motors as part of a project within the China High Technology Scheme Yajie Zhao can be contacted at: yjzhao@lib.sjtu.edu.cn To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints Book reviews Scholarly Communication in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan Edited by Jingfeng Xia Chandos Oxford 2008 171 pp £59.95 (hard cover) ISBN 978-1-843340322-6 Keywords China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Communication, History Review DOI 10.1108/026404709 At some level, all stories are about conflict This is amply illustrated in Scholarly Communication in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, which relates the scholarly development of five Asian nations and shows how divergent scholarly traditions have wrestled with governmental change, economic shift, external influences, and technological innovations to assume remarkably different forms today Anthropologist-turned-library scientist Jingfeng Xia has brought together an excellent collection of essays detailing many aspects of intellectual life in Asia Each chapter describes the scholarly milieu of one country, beginning with an account of the historical influences that have acted on local scholarly development, including Confucianism in ancient China, Japanese colonisation in South Korea, fascination with Western civilisation in nineteenth century Japan, and the dramatic political and technological changes since World War II China’s long-lived civilisation repeatedly emerges as an influence in the intellectual heritage of the other countries studied The local responses to this have been varied: in ancient Korea, a rational alphabet (Hangul) was created to address the poor fit of Chinese writing to the Korean language, while in Japan Chinese philosophies and literature slowly morphed into uniquely local styles Informed by these historical summaries, the analysis of the current scholarly communication system in each country includes descriptions of higher education (universities and colleges – numbers, student numbers, funding, the state of various disciplines, the role of mentorship), publishing (general and scholarly, monographs and journals, the role of university presses), libraries (numbers, varieties, roles), linguistics, copyright, and digital communications The resultant pictures are complex and illuminating For example, the majority of journal publishing in Japanese humanities and social sciences is a sort of grey literature consisting of typically un-reviewed, irregularly published kiyo¯ journals Elsewhere we learn that South Korea is perhaps the most wired country in the world and, through its national “informatization” project, aims to create the first “ubiquitous society” with information available anywhere anytime; in contrast, Japan lags in adopting electronic scholarly communication, partly Book reviews 349 The Electronic Library Vol 27 No 2, 2009 pp 349-356 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0264-0473 EL 27,2 350 because of the popularity of cell phones for viewing online content China’s influence continues in a variety of ways, as illustrated by the effects of reunification on Hong Kong, or the surprisingly free and plentiful scholarly exchange between mainland China and Taiwan While there is much scholarly exchange, there are also problems of isolation: translation into or out of English is a perpetual issue for all five nations; humanities scholars are often uninterested with communicating with scholars from other countries due to the local nature of their studies; and the chapter on South Korea contains a single wistful paragraph on North Korea The entries are largely positive, but there is some criticism, as when Stephen Luk questions the quality of university education in Hong Kong Most authors indicate areas that need improvement, noting for instance the plight of humanities disciplines that struggle for funding while science, technology, and medicine are promoted in the interest of technological progress This book ably describes the history, developments, and opportunities in scholarly communication in its nominated countries, and leaves the reader eager to know more about the Asian countries not included Ross MacDonald University of Auckland, New Zealand Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and beyond: From Production to Produsage Axel Bruns Peter Lang New York, NY 2008 418 pp SFR42.00 (or US$34.95) (soft cover) ISBN 978-0-8204-8866-0 Keywords Worldwide web, Internet Review DOI 10.1108/02640470910947700 This publication makes up Volume 45 in the publisher’s Digital Formations series It describes the impact that social software, and the concepts that are embedded in Web 2.0 technologies, are having on the creation of new products, knowledge and culture The book introduces two “new” terms in order to describe these effects: “produsage” and “produser” These are words that the author employs to describe, respectively: the processes involved in, and the outcomes from, the communal and collaborative creation of artefacts (such as Wikipedia) based on the use of an information commons; and the people involved in creating these artefacts The material contained in the book is organised into 15 chapters and a bibliography – no index is provided The opening (introductory) chapter sets the scene for subsequent ones by defining and explaining the significance of the terms (produsage and produser) in relation to the concept of user-led content creation based upon the collective intelligence and knowledge of all participants (the author refers to this as a “hive”) Chapter describes the key principles and characteristics of produsage (as an alternative model to production – see www.produsage.com) and explicates, in more detail, its underlying rationale – based upon a hive community of produsers A produser is defined as someone who both produces and uses resources based upon an underlying information/knowledge/media base In Chapter the author discusses open source software development; he cites this as being “one of the earliest examples of produsage in action” (p 37) Within this chapter the author critically compares the similarities between produsage and open source development projects - using the Linux computer operating system as an example The next four chapters in the book illustrate some typical examples of produsage In Chapter the author discusses weblogs and their uses – his particular orientation being towards “news blogs” and citizen journalism Chapters and are devoted to Wikipedia (as an example of a wiki) while Chapter considers folksonomies In these chapters the author shows how the underlying principles of produsage can be successfully applied to the various knowledge artefacts involved While weblogs and wikis are used to illustrate the application of produsage principles to information and knowledge, folksonomies are used to demonstrate their utility in relation to metadata generation through the techniques of tagging, linking and browsing – referred to by the author as “the produsage of knowledge structures” (p 172) Some of the subsequent chapters in the book consider the produsage of other forms of content – such as music, games, TV and films The content presented in the second half of the book covers a range of topics related to the philosophy, application and support infrastructures for developing and promoting produsage Building on the expert, amateur and professional/amateur (Pro/Am) classification of produsers that was introduced earlier in the book, Chapter goes on to discuss the “Pro/Am divide” and what it might lead to in terms of creating, structuring and classifying knowledge – the “expert paradigm” versus the “folksonomic paradigm” Chapter then goes on to discuss “the art of produsage” by considering distributed creativity in relation to creative writing, photo-sharing, video-sharing and music-sharing sites and facilities This chapter also considers the impact of produsage on the media industries (music, publishing, film and TV); this issue is also further discussed in greater depth in the following chapter In Chapter 11, the author turns his attention to the produsage of computer games (using The Sims, Trainz and EverQuest as examples) and sophisticated multi-user virtual environments such as Second Life This leads on to a discussion of the produsage of social structures and sociality; Chapter 12 (“Social produsage”) addresses some of the issues involved through a discussion of merit, reputation and trust The educational implications of the produsage model (and the produsage of education itself) are considered in Chapter 13 while the impact of this phenomenon on politics and democracy is “mulled over” in Chapter 14 In the final chapter, the author debates produsage futures and the “fate” of humanity – which will undoubtedly depend critically on the ability of societies to generate, share and use global knowledge (and the skill-sets that are necessary to achieve this) in a way that is not constrained by geography, ethnic or religious boundaries Book reviews 351 EL 27,2 352 Overall, I found this book quite interesting; it is well written and provides a comprehensive treatment of online participatory culture and the growing use of collaborative content creation in a range of different contexts In my view, the major shortcoming of this book is the absence of an index This means, of course, that it is practically impossible to find those parts of the book wherein particular topics – such as “wikilove” (pages 115 and 142) or “karma scores” (pages 85, 150, 315, 324 and 333) are discussed Maybe the author expects his readers to produce their own indexes – thereby becoming produsers of his book! Philip Barker University of Teesside, United Kingdom The Revolution will not be Downloaded: Dissent in the Digital Age Edited by Tara Brabazon Chandos Oxford 2008 235 pp £39.95 (soft cover) ISBN 978-1-84334-459-9 Keywords Worldwide web, Internet, Communication technologies Review DOI 10.1108/02640470910947719 As the web grows ever more complex, spawning applications such as Facebook, Flickr, interactive games and dating sites, those without access are becoming more and more excluded from its goodies It is readily assumed by government agencies that everyone has access now But there is no equality of access, and this book looks at those who are excluded, and at what they are missing It is unusual to find writing so engaged with those marginalized from the web, so this aspect of Brabazon’s book is refreshing The essays in the book, often with an Australian flavour, originate from contributors to Brabazon’s Popular Culture Collective, and are grouped in four parts The first part looks at those who are disadvantaged; the second part focuses on music on the web; the third part looks at aspects of the online experience such as dating sites, eBay, travel blogs, suicide sites; and the final part examines the shortcomings of the web – unreliable information, censorship of citizen resistance sites, and cyber-terrorism Potentially the most useful section, the first part, is regrettably the most unsatisfactory Kathryn Locke says that online access is all very well but what really matters is having citizens who can make a difference regardless of what means they use; and Sonia Bellhouse reminds us that those “offscreen” are disadvantaged The letdown is Brabazon’s overlong article, which is short on data, and which looks at the “analogue isolation” of older people One way to open up the discussion is to write in a way people can understand The essays in part two are more readable: Mike Kent notes that as the recorded music industry convulses, there are more opportunities than ever before for musicians to share with a global audience; Carley Smith looks at peer-to-peer sharing of music, and Felicity Cull suggests that the survivors in the industry will be those who take an alternative path Of the essays in part three, Joel Matthews’ look at the Japanese internet suicide subculture is the most intriguing, and suggests that netto-shinjuu results from the state’s failure to create a stable community However, the case-studies in this section not add much to the overall thesis of inequality, and it is left to the final three short pieces, by Valentin Fyrst, Garan Lewis and Christina Lee to add some perspective, particularly Lewis’ article on the Internet’s role in promoting alternative viewpoints in the democratic discussion, which was the only article in the book I wished had been longer John MacRitchie Manly Library, NSW, Australia Learning Commons: Evolution and Collaborative Essentials Edited by Barbara Schader Chandos Oxford 2008 437 pp £39.95 (soft cover) ISBN 978-1-84334-312-7 Keywords Libraries, Learning, Library users Review DOI 10.1108/02640470910947728 This excellent and interesting book is the direct result of a workshop organized in 2005 by the editor It is a collection of 11 articles written by 15 contributors covering a wide range of Learning Commons implementations Contributions are from libraries all over the world including Scotland, Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia The authors are clearly engaged in their topics and are real champions of what a learning commons can for a library and its service to a new generation of users who want to have a more holistic academic experience in their library There is much to be gathered from this book for any library that may be considering a learning or information commons The experiences and advice are practical For libraries that already have a Learning or Information Commons, this collection of articles will provide insight into some of the unique aspects of other establishments that might improve existing services Each article is well written, edited and represented with figures and tables These additions give context to the writings and allow the reader to envision a Commons in “their” space A very useful index is provided This book is highly recommended for all academic libraries Susan Cleyle Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Book reviews 353 EL 27,2 354 Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments Iris Xie IGI Publishing Hershey, PA 2008 376 pp US$ 99.95 (hard cover) ISBN 978-1-59904-240-4 Keywords Information retrieval, Internet, Catalogues Review DOI 10.1108/02640470910947746 The internet has opened new avenues for the development of digital information systems and allows people to use a variety of electronic information retrieval systems The internet has also brought about changes to existing information retrieval systems, such as library catalogues and full-text databases The users of these systems invariably find using them challenging since each system has its own interface, focuses on a different collection and might not necessarily present them with documents that match their personal needs These and many other aspects make information retrieval a rather complex and difficult task The objective of Xie’s (2008) new book Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments is to develop a theoretical framework for information retrieval (IR) interaction The book also aims at discussing the implications of such a framework in the design and evaluation of information retrieval systems in the digital age A comprehensive literature review on information retrieval theory and practice provides the foundation for new research on interactive information retrieval and can also serve as part of the curriculum for courses related to information retrieval and IR system design Designers of IR systems and other professionals will find some guidance on the design and evaluation of new interactive IR systems for the general public as well as for specific user groups from these discussions The book is divided into four sections The first section provides an overview and foundation for the book The preface places the book in context and explains why it is needed Chapter is a discussion on the divide between system-oriented approaches This chapter also presents a variety of user-oriented approaches that are essential for understanding interactive information retrieval Chapters II to V form the second section These chapters offer an overview of various information retrieval environments and a comprehensive review of empirical studies of interactive information retrieval in these environments The third section (Chapters VII to IX) highlights the development of the interactive information retrieval framework while the fourth section discusses the implications of the framework for design and evaluation in interactive information retrieval systems Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments builds on the Xie’s award-winning dissertation titled “Planned and situated aspects in interactive IR: patterns of user interactive intentions and information seeking strategies” The book is therefore the product of her research in library and information science and reflects contributions from many researchers in the field The intended audience for Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments is researchers, designers, teachers, graduate and undergraduate students, and professionals interested in interactive information retrieval, IR system design, and IR system evaluation in digital environments In fact, it is essential for every professional interested in interactive information retrieval The book is an easy read and includes references at the end of each chapter It also includes a small but useful index Philip Calvert Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand Marketing the Best Deal in Town: Your Library Where is your Purple Owl? Nancy Rossiter Chandos Oxford 2008 218 pp £39.95 (soft cover) ISBN 978-1-84334 305 Keywords Libraries, Marketing theory, Library services, Branding, Market research Review DOI 10.1108/02640470910947755 There have been few good books on this topic since the publication of the second edition of De Saez’s Marketing Concepts for Libraries and Information Services (Facet, 2002) This new title from Chandos is an excellent addition to the literature Unlike many other books that claim to be on marketing, but really only discuss practical methods of promotion, this book includes the theory that underpins the actions The emphasis is on the traditional marketing mix (the four Ps) and there does not seem to be a mention of relationship marketing, but no matter, the important point is that this is truly about marketing as a whole rather than just a part of it The purple owl in the title is a reference to Seth Godin’s book Purple Cow (Penguin, 2003) in which he argues that a business is transformed when it does something “remarkable” Rossiter interprets this as a need for innovation in our libraries Librarians need to create new and exciting products and services to keep the customers hooked, she says Creating products that customers want is part of marketing, of course, rather than the product being the object of the marketing One of the most useful chapters in this book is on market research; a topic in its own right, to be sure, but covered more than adequately by Rossiter One lesson is not forget the potential of the telephone interview The book also includes a brief but accurate summary of branding, which is again a topic for a whole book, but this chapter is good enough to blow away some of the misconceptions held by all too many librarians about creating and maintaining a brand Perhaps what is missing is more about using new technologies for marketing We must think more about how to use Facebook, Flick’r and other social networking sites as a means of marketing – and yes, I mean marketing, not just promoting – the Book reviews 355 EL 27,2 356 library If that is where many potential customers can be found then we have to find out what they want the library to for them and how to deliver it This does not read like a normal textbook but it could well serve as one, because it has a logical structure and additions such as case studies, exercises and suggestions for further reading This reviewer has already drawn on the contents for use in a short workshop Madely du Preez University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa A Short-cut to Marketing the Library Zuzana Helinsky Chandos Oxford 2008 98 pp £25.00 (soft cover) ISBN 978-1-84334-425-0 Keywords Libraries, Marketing services, Marketing theory, Branding Review DOI 10.1108/02640470910947737 In the introduction to this slim volume the author describes it as “a simple one-hour handbook” (p 2) on the subject of marketing libraries If you feel you need a very basic primer on marketing your library, then this could a good place to start For those with rather more knowledge then the contents found here will offer little What this book can is burst a few bubbles surrounding the marketing of libraries, and perhaps convince some doubters of its necessity and its value It explains in a very clear way why librarians must market their services and products and why using some traditional marketing ideas is a good way to start Marketing theories are described very briefly, and key concepts such as branding are also mentioned though in a similar concise way I like the references to new technologies and how they can be used in library marketing, but the content remains at a very basic level There are no practical examples or case studies of libraries actually marketing This is an introduction to the subject but not a text book This book may struggle to find a readership If you want to read a new book on library marketing then turn instead to Rossiter’s Marketing the Best Deal in Town: Your Library (Chandos, 2008) Same publisher; better value Philip Calvert Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand ...The Electronic Library ISSN 0264-0473 Volume 27 Number 2009 Ubiquitous digital library and innovative community Guest Editors Jin Chen and Jing... jguo@lib.sjtu.edu.cn Guest editorial 201 This special issue of The Electronic Library (TEL) focuses on the Ubiquitous digital library and innovative community” The topic, as well as the papers contained... the accuracy and integrity of information push service of digital library, and is also beneficial for the research on u -library Keywords Digital libraries, Information services, Customer satisfaction,