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Digital libraries are considered a type of library that operates within the digital realm and uses digital technologies to serve users in the digital age. They serve diverse user communities and offer access to a wide range of scholarly and educational resources. Digital libraries can be viewed as extensions of traditional libraries, prioritize user-centered and personalized services, aim to provide equitable access to information, and function as a global knowledge network. They also embrace open access and open knowledge principles. This article explores various definitions and visions of digital libraries and highlights their role in facilitating access to information, promoting knowledge creation, and advancing research, education, and cultural enrichment in the digital age. The article also includes examples of the digital transformation taking place in digital libraries, such as improving accessibility for users with disabilities, integrating multimedia books into airline services, and adopting immersive technologies. It also discusses the adoption of big data analytics, the management of libraries in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the use of social media platforms like Twitter by libraries. The article concludes with an interview on cyber security for digital libraries. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: This study aims to examine the awareness and perception of the relevance of blockchain technology in the management of libraries and archives in the fourth industrial revolution in a developing country, Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: Ten system librarians selected from five different libraries and ten archivists selected from five different archives in the Southwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria represent the sample for the study. The study adopted a purely qualitative approach where data was collected through an open-ended questionnaire mailed to the participants to guide against physical contact and maintained social distancing to observe COVID-19 protocol. Findings: The results reveal that both the librarians and archivists are aware of blockchain technology, its adoption and use in libraries and archives. There is a positive perception about blockchain technology believing that it can assist libraries and archives in storing information in a distributed settings through gathering, preserving and sharing authoritative information, and supports archivists in creating a unique verifiable record that can be accessed by anyone in archives. Implementation, maintenance cost and difficulty in sustainability are identified as the challenges of blockchain adoption. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to one geopolitical zone of Nigeria which necessitates the need for further research on the similar subject matter in other geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Practical implications: The findings of the study have identified the need for librarians and archivists to increase their awareness and develop a positive perception toward blockchain technologies. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to research the relevance of blockchain technology in Nigerian libraries and archives. This paper reported the benefits libraries and archives could derive from the adoption of blockchain, and how such can improve effective services delivery to the satisfaction of the users of archives and libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that Web 2.0 provides an exciting set of tools for librarians to help their students become more information-literate. Design/methodology/approach - Recently, information overload and Web 2.0 have led librarians to adopt practices labelled as Library 2.0. Information literacy can be the key to affecting the learning attitudes and characteristics adopted by the users, caricatured as the "Web generation". Web 2.0 tools provide new, interactive ways to engage them. The literature is reviewed to provide examples of librarians using Web 2.0 tools to improve the information literacy of their users. Findings - Librarians are embracing Web 2.0 as it becomes more mainstream and experimenting with the tools to supplement their information literacy interventions. Many of these are being well received but their quantity and measures of their impact on learning have yet to be assessed. Originality/value - The link between information literacy and Web 2.0 is novel, encourages constructive learning and enables respected educational methods (e.g. reflection) to be used in different ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - There are two main purposes in this paper. The first is to explore possible relationships between adoption of management tools in a broad sense, the organisational culture and the character of leadership in libraries. This is a very important area because management tools are diffused, interpreted, translated and implemented in many other ways than intended. The second purpose is to present some major findings of nation-wide studies done on these topics to raise awareness about the complex relationships and context that influence chance processes in libraries. Connected to these purposes is also the intention to introduce elements of some institutional theories that have been rather neglected in the more rationalistic literature on, for example, performance measurement. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based primarily on a comprehensive leadership survey conducted in Denmark in 2007 and on a qualitative study based on extensive interviewing of directors and staff members from 24 public libraries. Some supporting material from earlier leadership surveys is included. The theoretical frame for this paper is theories of isomorphism, management standards and recipes together with a model of organisational culture. Findings - The main findings supports some of the newer theoretical literature concerned with isomorphism, translation and diffusion of standards and recipes, namely that the variation is great and that some of the processes are heavily influenced by the organisational culture in which leadership plays an important role. It is also important that the paper emphasises that management tools, whether performance measurement instruments or technological devices, possess both a technical and a symbolic aspect. Research limitations/implications - The paper reports findings from both a survey and extensive interview research. This implies that only few of the results could be analysed and that the analytical level at some places takes the character of an analysis of tendencies. Originality/value - The paper reports on several leadership surveys conducted since 2001 in Denmark and the UK. The paper also reports qualitative interview research with 24 library directors and 75 staff members. This research is the first of its kind in Scandinavia and the theoretical perspectives make it also of interest to researchers and professionals outside Scandinavia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to discuss the relationship between the concepts of social capital and organisational effectiveness in a library setting. Design/methodology/approach - The concepts are discussed in relation to two studies of information behaviour. One of the studies is a local public library study and the second is a nationwide survey into high school students' information behaviour. Findings - The data indicate a discrepancy between the development of (especially) public library services and the perceptions of a library in the mind of both users and non-users. Research limitations/implications - It has only been possible to raise a few questions on the basis of the two surveys. However, these questions relate to the theoretical concepts introduced in the beginning of this paper. Originality/value - The paper highlights discrepancies that need to be remedied if the trust that is so important for public institutions is to continue to be at a high level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To show that many of the old ways in which people think about libraries are not based on fact, but rather on fiction. Many ideas that library managers hold to be truths are, in fact, baseless assumptions about library operations. Design/methodology/approach - Uses six examples of how library management often applies old approaches to the detriment of the library's future. After describing these examples, the truth about them is revealed as each one is examined and their fallacies are laid out. Findings - There are many assumptions that play in managing a library. Some of these are not based on fact and, as such, need to be discarded. Originality/value - Challenges managers to seek out the facts rather than base library policy on assumed truths. Even paradigms that may have once been true are not necessarily valid in today's library environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the collaborative nature of collection development. She claimed that the collaborative relationship between libraries and users have led to a distinct change in library administration. She revealed that collaboration is still developing among public libraries. The author also mentions that collection development collaboration is present in school media centers and special libraries.