Microsoft Word - ital_december_gerrity_final.docx


	
  

Editor’s Comments Bob Gerrity 
	
  

	
  

INFORMATION	
  TECHNOLOGIES	
  AND	
  LIBRARIES	
  |	
  SEPTEMBER	
  2013	
   3	
  
	
  

This	
  Month’s	
  Issue	
  

We	
  have	
  an	
  eclectic	
  mix	
  of	
  content	
  in	
  this	
  issue	
  of	
  Information	
  Technology	
  and	
  Libraries.	
  

LITA	
  President	
  Cindi	
  Trainor	
  provides	
  highlights	
  of	
  the	
  recent	
  LITA	
  Forum	
  in	
  Louisville	
  and	
  
planned	
  LITA	
  events	
  for	
  the	
  upcoming	
  ALA	
  Midwinter	
  Meeting	
  in	
  Philadelphia,	
  including	
  the	
  LITA	
  
Town	
  Meeting,	
  the	
  always-­‐popular	
  Top	
  Tech	
  Trends	
  panel,	
  and	
  the	
  Association’s	
  popular	
  
“networking	
  event”	
  on	
  Sunday	
  evening.	
  	
  

ITAL	
  Editorial	
  Board	
  member	
  Jerome	
  Yavarkosky	
  describes	
  the	
  significant	
  benefits	
  that	
  
immersive	
  technologies	
  can	
  offer	
  higher	
  education.	
  The	
  advent	
  of	
  Massive	
  Open	
  Online	
  Courses	
  
(MOOCs)	
  would	
  seem	
  to	
  present	
  an	
  ideal	
  framework	
  for	
  the	
  development	
  of	
  immersive	
  library	
  
services	
  to	
  support	
  learners	
  who	
  may	
  otherwise	
  lack	
  access	
  to	
  quality	
  library	
  resources	
  and	
  
services.	
  

Responsive	
  web	
  design	
  is	
  the	
  topic	
  of	
  a	
  timely	
  article	
  by	
  Hannah	
  Gascho	
  Rempel	
  and	
  Laurie	
  M.	
  
Bridges,	
  who	
  examine	
  what	
  tasks	
  library	
  users	
  actually	
  carry	
  out	
  on	
  a	
  library	
  mobile	
  website	
  and	
  
how	
  this	
  has	
  informed	
  Oregon	
  State	
  University	
  Libraries’	
  adoption	
  of	
  a	
  responsive	
  design	
  
approach	
  for	
  their	
  website.	
  

Piotr	
  Praczyk,	
  Javier	
  Nogueras-­‐Iso,	
  and	
  Salvatore	
  Mele	
  present	
  a	
  method	
  for	
  automatically	
  	
  
extracting	
  and	
  processing	
  graphical	
  content	
  from	
  scholarly	
  articles	
  in	
  PDF	
  format	
  in	
  the	
  field	
  of	
  
high-­‐energy	
  physics.	
  The	
  method	
  offers	
  potential	
  for	
  enhancing	
  access	
  and	
  search	
  services	
  and	
  
bridging	
  the	
  semantic	
  gap	
  between	
  textual	
  and	
  graphical	
  content.	
  

Elizabeth	
  Thorne	
  Wallington	
  describes	
  the	
  use	
  of	
  mapping	
  and	
  graphical	
  information	
  systems	
  
(GIS)	
  to	
  study	
  the	
  relationship	
  between	
  public	
  library	
  locations	
  in	
  the	
  St.	
  Louis	
  area	
  and	
  the	
  
socioeconomic	
  attributes	
  of	
  the	
  populations	
  they	
  serve.	
  The	
  paper	
  raises	
  interesting	
  questions	
  
about	
  how	
  libraries	
  are	
  geographically	
  distributed	
  and	
  whether	
  they	
  truly	
  provide	
  universal	
  and	
  
equal	
  access.	
  	
  

Vadim	
  Gureyev	
  and	
  Nikolai	
  Mazov	
  present	
  a	
  method	
  for	
  using	
  bibliometric	
  analysis	
  of	
  the	
  
publication	
  output	
  of	
  two	
  research	
  institutes	
  as	
  a	
  collection-­‐development	
  tool,	
  to	
  identify	
  journals	
  
most	
  important	
  for	
  researchers	
  at	
  the	
  institutes.	
  	
  

	
  

Bob	
  Gerrity	
  (r.gerrity@uq.edu.au)	
  is	
  University	
  Librarian,	
  University	
  of	
  Queensland,	
  Australia.	
  

	
  

	
  



Editor’s Comments Bob Gerrity 
	
  

EDITOR’S	
  COMMENTS	
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