September issue now online at ITAL Web site

The index and linked articles for the September issue are at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/lita/ital/282009/2803sep/toc.cfm.

Delivering Information to Students 24/7 with Camtasia, by Kathleen Carlson

This  article  examines  the  selection process  for  and  use  of  Camtasia Studio  software,  a  screen  video  capture  program  created  by  TechSmith. The Camtasia Studio software allows the author to create streaming videos which gives students 24 hour access on any topics including how to order books through interlibrary loan.

The Efficient Storage of Text Documents in Digital Libraries, by Przemysław Skibiński, et al

In  this  paper  we  investigate  the  possibility  of  improving  the  efficiency  of  data  compression,  and  thus  reducing  storage  requirements,  for  seven  widely  used  text document  formats.  We  propose  an  open-source  text compression  software  library,  featuring  an  advanced word-substitution  scheme  with  static  and  semidynamic word dictionaries. The empirical results show an average storage space reduction as high as 78 percent compared to uncompressed documents, and as high as 30 percent compared to documents compressed with the free compression software gzip.

Gender, Technology, and Libraries, by Melissa Lamont

Information technology (IT) is vitally important to many organizations, including libraries. Yet a review of employment statistics and a citation analysis show that men make up the majority of the IT workforce, in libraries and in the broader  workforce.  Research  from  sociology,  psychology, and  women’s  studies  highlights  the  organizational  and social  issues  that  inhibit  women.  Understanding  why women are less evident in library IT positions will help inform measures to remedy the gender disparity.

Success Factors and Strategic Planning: Rebuilding an Academic Library Digitization Program, by Cory Lampert, et al

This paper discusses a dual approach of case study and research  survey  to  investigate  the  complex  factors  in sustaining academic library digitization programs. The case study involves the background of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries’ digitization program and elaborates on the authors’ efforts to gain staff support for this program. A related survey was administered  to  all  Association  of  Research  Libraries  (ARL) members, seeking to collect baseline data on their digital collections,  understand  their  respective  administrative frameworks,  and  to  gather  feedback  on  both  negative obstacles  and  positive  inputs  affecting  their  success. Results  from  the  survey,  combined  with  the  authors’ local  experience,  point  to  several  potential  success  factors  including  staff  skill  sets,  funding,  and  strategic planning.

Employing Virtualization in Library Computing: Use Cases and Lessons Learned, by Arwen Hutt, et al

This  paper  provides  a  broad  overview  of  virtualization technology  and  describes  several  examples  of  its  use at  the  University  of  California,  San  Diego  Libraries. Libraries  can  leverage  virtualization  to  address  many long-standing library computing challenges, but careful planning is needed to determine if this technology is the right solution for a specific need. This paper outlines both technical  and  usability  considerations,  and  concludes with a discussion of potential enterprise impacts on the library infrastructure.