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Item Critical success factors for an African digital library(2014-12-18) Layton, RogerItem Towards the Digital Institution(2013-03-07) Layton, RogerWe are living at a unique point in history in which all memory institutions are being transformed from purely physical institutions towards the digital institution. This transformation could not occur in previous generations, since the technologies were not in place to support this change. This transformation should also be largely completed by the next generation in 20 years or so, with all institutions will have a digital structure which reflects and complements their physical structure. It is thus our generation’s responsibility, and perhaps ours alone in the long history of memory recording, to ensure that this transformation occurs properly, so that it benefits all future generations. 9 This transformation is a one-off event and it encompasses the entire institutional operation and is not confined merely to the capturing digital images and the creation of repositories. Rather, this transformation requires a total re-engineering of the institution, and requires a rapid catch-up in knowledge, capacity and technology within a sector which is largely populated with older specialists within insufficient knowledge of the digital world. This paper presents some key elements of this transformation with which we are currently engaged to help various institutions through this sea change. Our experience has been that few institutions have started to make significant moves into this digital transformation, although everyone has accepted its necessity, and we are now at the start of the real work which is needed throughout the entire sector. This has led me to identify three major areas of work to be done.Item PRINCIPLES OF THE DIGITAL HERITAGE PPT(2012-06-14) Layton, RogerItem PRINCIPLES OF THE DIGITAL HERITAGE(2012-06-14) Layton, RogerWe were commissioned in late 2009 to create the National Policy on Digitization for the Department of Arts and Culture. This policy was subjected to public participation in early 2011, receiving positive comment and critique, and has now moved onto the next stage in its life cycle. As the project leader for this policy development I can now look back and reflect on the processes that led to the formulation of the recommendations and in particular how I envisioned the future of digital repositories and libraries. I made a specific point in the policy that heritage has the longest agenda of any human activity, which could be seen as eternal, with our largest group of stakeholders being future generations. Whereas libraries have been in existence for thousands of years, these have always involved the management of physical books and related documents, and the manner in which libraries are managed and administered has changed very little in this time. Computers have only a 60-year history, and initial computerized systems were primarily used for library administration and indexing. It was only with the introduction of the first digital networks and the World Wide Web that it was possible to share and cross-reference electronic documents using digital networks . The Digitization Policy was the core output of our work with the Department of Arts and Culture, and provided the key policy statement on how to enable a long-term digital heritage that was preserved and was accessible, and for which the issues of intellectual property were clarified. However, there were many other outputs that derived from this policy, including a collection of best practices associated with the digital heritage in all of its forms. I called this the Digital Heritage Body of Knowledge (DHBOK) and this was structured into the core areas of Principles, People, Processes, and Practices. In this paper I focus on the Principles which form the basis on which key decisions can be made when confronted with the plethora of choices that do confront organisations during various processes within the digital heritage. I could not prescribe a single set of choices or priorities that would cover every situation and every context, but I did manage to formulate a general set of principles to guide decision-making. The outcome was a set of 15 such Principles, drawn from extensive research of the available literature, of current practices and standards, and from interviews with key local and international stakeholders. These are the key Principles that define the notion of “success” within any digital heritage project, no matter whether this is a digital library, digital archive or virtual museum.Item ABSTRACTS OF PRESENTATIONS(2012-06-14) Amollo, Beatrice Adera; Anyanwu, Professor John C.; Azubuike, Dr Abraham; Bennett, Richard; Buys, Matthew; Bwamkuu, Africa Jumanne; Cousins, Jill; Hamooya, Chrispin; Hillebrecht, Werner; Kaddu, Sarah; Kalule, Ezra; Kagoda-Batuwa, Sarah; Kahle, Brewster; Kujenga, A.; de Vries., R.; Larsen, David; Layton, Roger; Maeder, Anthony J.; Malan, Pierre; Molefe, Chedza; Morgos, Dr Rafaa A. Ghobrial; Myers, Glenda; Aloia, Danielle; Bekwa, Phindile; Namaganda, Agnes; Namande, Ben Wekalao; Ndayisaba, Jean Paul; Onyancha, Ms Irene; Saadallah, Mr Nabil; Salanje, Geoffrey Francis; Sigauke, Delight T.; Nengomasha, Dr C. T.; Tewolde, Azeb; Zaccaria, Massimo; Wilson, Deborah; Wordofa, Teklemichael T.Second International Conference on African Digital Libraries and Archives, abstracts of presentations