Collaborative Ownership in Cross-Cultural Educational Digital Library Design

Abstract

This paper details research into building a Collaborative Educational Resource Design model by investigating two contrasting Kenyan / UK design case-studies and an evaluation of end-users and designers’ perceptions of digital libraries and their usage patterns. The two case-studies compared are; case study 1 based on formal learning in an African university digital library. Case study 2 is centered on informal learning in an ongoing rural community digital library system which has a collaborative design model that is being designed, developed and reviewed within the UK and Africa. A small scale in-depth evaluation was done with 21 participants in case-study 1 but related to and with implications for the second case-study. In-depth user issues of access, ownership, control and collaboration are detailed and reviewed in relation to design implications. Adams & Blandford’s ‘information journey’ framework is used to evaluate high-level design effects on usage patterns. Digital library design support roles and cultural issues are discussed further.