Digital Library Education Lab

This paper discusses how a digital library education laboratory should be built to improve digital library education. A digital lab is defined as a Web-based collaboratory space where students can learn and conduct research with real data and real digital libraries. The goal of the digital library education lab is to foster active and collaborative learning. As an example, this paper describes efforts in building a digital lab based on the Internet Public Library and introduces various class activities the lab currently supports. Keywords: Digital libraries, collaborative learning, class activities, digital lab, Internet Public Library Digital Library Education Since digital libraries emerged as an interdisciplinary field of study in the early 1990s, many LIS schools have added courses on digital libraries to their curricula. Several research reports have provided results of surveys on how the area of digital libraries was taught in various schools. Spink and Cool (1999) discussed the content of courses offered by 20 different schools and suggested a curriculum model for LIS schools. A survey by Saracevic and Dalbello (2001) indicated that more than 89% of ALA-accredited programs have various forms of digital library courses or content. Saracevic and Dalbello used a broad definition of digital libraries and reviewed course titles, course descriptions and course syllabi. More recently, Pomerantz, Oh, Yang, Fox, and Wildemuth (2006) identified a core set of content for digital library education through the analysis of readings from the syllabi of more than 40 digital libraries courses. Pomerantz et al. found that 52% of accredited LIS programs offer courses with the phrase "digital library" or "digital libraries" in the title. The definition of the term digital library will influence the results of an analysis of this nature, but clearly the majority of LIS programs cover digital libraries in the curriculum. Data for all three research projects listed above were collected through surveys and analysis of course descriptions, syllabi and readings, so their results were focused on course content. There were also discussions and debates in the literature of what should be covered in digital library education (Brancolini & Mostafa, 2006). The general conclusion is that digital library (DL) education should no longer be considered a special topic but an integrated part of LIS education. Discussions of DL education need to go beyond content and examine its goals and methodologies. Like LIS classes in other areas of the curriculum, DL classes must provide a balance of theory and practice with opportunities for hands-on practice. A needed objective of DL courses is to improve the ability of students to learn and master new technologies and services in the ever-changing digital environment, or the "computational sense" as described by Twidale and Nichols (2009). The most familiar laboratory for hands-on practice in LIS programs is the cataloging laboratory, where students apply cataloging theory while gaining cataloging experience. Romero (1995, p. 1 1) noted this, particularly linking cataloging laboratories to active learning and emphasizing that the laboratory environment allows instructors and students to share the responsibility of learning. In a laboratory environment, instructors can set the objectives and goals and design practice projects that are as real as possible. Some LIS schools have or had, within the school, a library dedicated to LIS education. Such libraries are often used as a laboratory to let LIS students practice all aspects of library operations, from staffing the circulation desk to cataloging and providing reference service. It is an excellent environment for students to practice what they learn in class. Due to budgeting and management issues, such libraries have become increasingly difficult to operate in the physical world. The development of digital libraries might be seen as a new opportunity to set up a similar environment for students to learn and practice their knowledge. …