South Pacific Library and ICT Specialists Trained in Use of Digital Library Software
01-12-2003 ()
“This has been a remarkable workshop”, Marie-Jose Quintard of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) exclaimed at the end of a three-day long sub-regional training on the Greenstone Digital Library Software held recently at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji.
Fifteen Pacific library and ICT specialists from three regional organizations and five libraries of UNESCO’s Member States participated in the workshop.
Greenstone provides a new way of organizing digital information and publishing it on the Internet or on CD-ROM. “A tool like Greenstone is very useful for libraries when funds are limited and the demand of information is big”, said Christine Tuitubou of SPC library in Suva, which serves 22 Member States including agricultural, maritime, fisheries and forestry collections.
Both SPC participants were determined to “start using Greenstone from tomorrow”. The software will help them to build specialized digital collections and distribute them to the Member States on CD-ROMS. The cost is a fraction of the same on paper.
"Greenstone is relatively simple, but not too simple", one of the participants said. It requires a good understanding of electronic documents, web sites, HTML page creation, word processing, Internet searches and database.
The software has been produced by the New Zealand Digital Library Project at the University of Waikato, and developed and distributed in co-operation with UNESCO and the Human Info NGO.
The aim of the software is to help users, particularly universities, libraries and other public service institutions, to build their own digital libraries. A wide variety of digital collections have been developed using this package, including historical, educational, and cultural collections in several languages.
UNESCO is promoting GDLS with the goal of providing wider public access and sharing of information.
The content for the Suva workshop was designed by the team of the Waikato University which has developed the software, led by Ian Witten. The workshop was organized by UNESCO in collaboration with the regional University of the South Pacific (USP).
Greenstone provides a new way of organizing digital information and publishing it on the Internet or on CD-ROM. “A tool like Greenstone is very useful for libraries when funds are limited and the demand of information is big”, said Christine Tuitubou of SPC library in Suva, which serves 22 Member States including agricultural, maritime, fisheries and forestry collections.
Both SPC participants were determined to “start using Greenstone from tomorrow”. The software will help them to build specialized digital collections and distribute them to the Member States on CD-ROMS. The cost is a fraction of the same on paper.
"Greenstone is relatively simple, but not too simple", one of the participants said. It requires a good understanding of electronic documents, web sites, HTML page creation, word processing, Internet searches and database.
The software has been produced by the New Zealand Digital Library Project at the University of Waikato, and developed and distributed in co-operation with UNESCO and the Human Info NGO.
The aim of the software is to help users, particularly universities, libraries and other public service institutions, to build their own digital libraries. A wide variety of digital collections have been developed using this package, including historical, educational, and cultural collections in several languages.
UNESCO is promoting GDLS with the goal of providing wider public access and sharing of information.
The content for the Suva workshop was designed by the team of the Waikato University which has developed the software, led by Ian Witten. The workshop was organized by UNESCO in collaboration with the regional University of the South Pacific (USP).
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