Is DSpace the right platform for an institutional repository?

Developing an institutional repository presents not only benefits but also challenges. Using open source software can reduce the cost by not purchasing proprietary software. However, additional costs may arise depending on the project size by employing experienced staff and training it.

What makes DSpace the right software for an institutional repository is that is it is free, is reliable and has a strong reputation in the open source community. In addition, it has easy customizable user interface, an ample community support and is committed to preservation.

Library 2.0

Do Libraries Matter? The Rise of Library 2.0 by Chad and Miller, mentions that ‘Talis believes that Library 2.0 means harnessing this type of participation so that libraries can benefit from increasingly rich collaborative cataloging efforts, such as including contributions from partner libraries as well as adding rich enhancements, such as book jackets or movie files, to records from publishers and others. Participation has exploded lately on the Web with the appearance of blogs, discussion groups, wikis, RSS aggregators, and the article without doubt recommends using these Web 2.0 technologies in the proposed transformation which is Library 2.0.

Library 2.0 is a concept of a very different library service, geared towards the needs and expectations of today’s library users. In this vision, the library makes information available wherever and whenever the user requires it, and seeks to ensure that barriers to use and reuse are removed. Amazon, Google, eBay, Skype and the other darlings of the Information Revolution do not threaten the progressive library. Rather, they create whole new opportunities for us to engage with an empowered, interested, and skilled set of audiences (Miller, 2006). While some of the comparisons presented in the article are not very well chosen, the final conclusion is a wake up call for the whole industry and that is in a way what matters.

A World Without Romania

Romania - home of Nadia Comaneci, Dracula, History of Religions (Mircea Eliade), Brancusi, Voronet Blue, Brancovenesc style and the national sport - Oina (1364) and the birthplace of many inventions such as the fountain pen (Petrache Poenaru), modern cybernetics (Stefan Odobleja), insulin (Nicolae Paulescu) and the jet plane (Henry Coanda) among other things.

multumesc = thank you

Captology - The Study of Computers as Persuasive Technologies

Dr. B. J. Fogg, director of Stanford's Persuasive Technology Laboratories and the leading proponent of captology, defines persuasion as "an attempt to shape, reinforce, or change behaviors, feelings, or thoughts about an issue, object, or action."

This is a very interesting approach on what makes us believe that one source is more trustworthy than another. As a travel and tourism instructor I am more inclined to search a particular subject form an official website such as World Tourism Organization or International Air Transport Association. As a future librarian, I will face the same dilemma. Which online source is more credible than another?

Alarm Clocking

What is the future of the library?

Both libraries and travel and tourism agencies are experiencing a lot of changes nowadays. Many critics said that the travel agent would cease to exist due to implementation of new technologies. Do you think that this will apply to the future librarians?

Hello and welcome to my first blog

Everybody is more than welcome in my tiny virtual space: all librarians - new and experienced and travel agents altogether.
As the title of the blog says, I am pretty new in the field. I worked part-time for 7 months at the library of Cervantes Institute in Bucharest, Romania but basically my background is in the travel and tourism industry.