Design and Usability of Digital Libraries: Case Studies in the Asia Pacific

Citation

Pymm, B. (2006), "Design and Usability of Digital Libraries: Case Studies in the Asia Pacific", Online Information Review, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 197-198. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520610659238

This collection of around 20 papers covers a diverse range of material relevant to digital libraries. In their introduction the authors note that the collection is aimed at academics, practitioners and students interested in digital library design and development, with a focus on the Asia‐Pacific region. This is a broad canvas, and the end result is a very wide range of papers with little in the way of a continuous theme, despite the editors having organised the papers around six topics: digital library development, history and landscape; design architecture and systems; implementation issues and challenges; use and impact; users and usability and future trends. This wide‐ranging mix of papers means that there is probably something for everyone here, but at the same time there may be much that will be of limited relevance to the target audience.

The strong point of this collection is its focus on the region. There are contributions from India, South Africa, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, the USA, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia and New Zealand (strangely enough no Australian, despite the high level of work being undertaken here). Reading about the initiatives and challenges faced by the region provides valuable insight into developments outside of the usual US/UK/Australian arena and offers much food for thought. Just looking at the map of Indonesia and then reading the article on establishing their digital library network helps brings home the difficulties caused by geography alone. Some of the stand‐out contributions that seem to meet the editors' aims of appealing to a wide‐ranging audience include the challenges of establishing a digital library focusing on Maori culture, a couple of quantitative and qualitative studies on usability, a review of “where to now?” for the Asia‐Pacific, the automatic extraction of key phrases, and a number of case studies reviewing the establishment of digital collections and the provision of online access. In addition there are several contributions that delve heavily into specialised software solutions that will be a challenging read for anyone not closely involved in the area.

That this is a significant contribution to the literature on digital libraries is beyond doubt. By focusing on activities within the Asia‐Pacific region the editors have raised recognition and understanding of what is being done and what still needs to be done in the area. Whether it is a book for everyone though, is doubtful. However, for those specialists with existing knowledge and a desire to gain a broader picture of what is underway beyond their doorsteps, this will be a valuable addition to their collections.