Multimedia and electronic resources

Citation

(1999), "Multimedia and electronic resources", Asian Libraries, Vol. 8 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1999.17308ead.001

Multimedia and electronic resources

Multimedia and electronic resources

Distance Education in a Print and Electronic World: Emerging Roles for Libraries: OCLC Symposium at ALA Midwinter '98, Friday, January 9, 1998, New Orleans, LA. By the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Dublin, OH, OCLC, 1998. 2 video tapes (2hrs 53mins), no charge, text also accessible via the WWW at http://www.oclc.org/oclc/man/10256dis/print.htm

This three-hour video contains four papers delivered at the OCLC Symposium on Distance Education, held at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in New Orleans, in February 1998. The speakers, all experienced in various facets of distance learning, are Maryhelen Jones, of Central Michigan University, Dr Stephen Ehrmann, of the Flashlight Project at the American Association for Higher Education, Dr Richard Madaus, of the Florida Distance Learning Library Initiative, and Dr Henry Stewart of Troy State University.

The first speaker comments on how widespread distance learning is becoming and issues five challenges for librarians servicing distance programmes. These include meeting student expectations for online full-text delivery, devising flexibly delivered information literacy training packages, and the exigencies of copyright law for online materials. The second speaker gives the administrator's view of the impact on tertiary institutes of the knowledge explosion and the "digital treadmill", including resulting pressures on budgets. The third speaker starts by emphasising the continuing importance of the book, and the fact that any major library holds a high proportion of unique and out-of-print material, noting that the constantly expanding range of electronic resources is in addition to, not replacements for, an ever-increasing supply of printed matter. He stresses the customer's perspective and the need for speedy delivery and telephone help desks for reference and IT support, such as help connecting to online sources. He also describes the cooperative agreements among public, community college and university libraries in Florida. The final paper details the growth of the Troy State University worldwide network of regional library services that meets the needs of its distance learners, mainly through agreements with local libraries.

Together these four papers give a useful overview of the current situation in tertiary distance learning in the USA and highlight some challenges shared by distance librarians worldwide. The viewer gains a sense of involvement that is missing from the text version of the proceedings and is able to share the ad lib anecdotes. However, as a visual presentation, there are some shortcomings: some overheads are hard to read and badly timed, and the editing is adequate but unimaginative. This is probably a useful acquisition for those involved in distance education library services, but not essential viewing. Reading the text version (which includes references) may well be an acceptable substitute for most.

Lucy Marsden and Rae GendallMassey University

International Dunhuang Project

http://idp.bl.uk/idp/idpintro.html

In 1900, a cave was discovered near the Silk Road oasis of Dunhuang, on the edge of the Gobi Desert. When it was opened, explorers found the cave contained the world's oldest archive of paper documents, including a copy of the Diamond Sutra, the world's oldest printed book from ad868.

The British Library's International Dunhuang Project has started a new Web site that is an attempt to create a "virtual Buddhist library cave" in interactive form. The first page is an introduction that describes the project and gives its objectives, organisation and contact details, and gives access to a free newsletter. It also lists the project's publications, plus giving a select bibliography on Dunhuang manuscripts.

It is when the user selects the database link that things become more interesting. The database is a catalogue of 20,000 manuscripts in Chinese, Tibetan and other Central Asian languages. Each record has fields for site number, expedition, site where found, language, ms or printed, form, size, microfilm and microfilm number. It is possible to search this database by any or all of the following four ways: by languages and scripts, by document form, by site, or by subject. Options are already chosen, so it is just a matter of clicking on the chosen search. It is also possible to make a specific search by the British Library's manuscript number of the unique site number. It took me a while to work out how to deselect a search I had entered, but eventually I realised that pressing the Search button on the top line reset the search options to blank.

The visual impact of the site comes from the 1,000 colour images of Dunhuang documents already online. Unfortunately, this is still a long way off full imaging of the collection, so you will not necessarily find an image for the document you seek. To try out the images, select Astana as the site and then search.

The site is pleasant aesthetically. It remains a pilot site, and comments are welcome. Access is free of charge, though new users benefit by setting up a username and password, as this facilitates recalling previous searches. There is also a Virtual Dunhuang Art Cave at http://www.egd.igd.fhg.de/~dunhuang/ though this is not yet open for "legal reasons".

Philip CalvertVictoria University of Wellington