2010 Heather Lea Moulaison ALL RIGHTS RESERVED A FRAMEWORK FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE DIGITAL LIBRARIES IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD: ACCESS TO NON-TEXTUAL INFORMATION FOR NON-LITERATE PEOPLE IN MOROCCO By HEATHER LEA MOULAISON A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Communication, Information and Library Studies written under the direction of Michael E. Lesk, Ph.D. and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey January, 2010 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION A Framework for Cultural Heritage Digital Libraries in the Developing World: Access to Non-Textual Information for Non-Literate People in Morocco By HEATHER LEA MOULAISON Dissertation Director: Michael E. Lesk The purpose of this study is to investigate the role that Digital Libraries (DLs) can play in the transmission of information for non-literate people in the developing world. People from oral cultures are well-positioned to exploit DLs as a way of accessing audio- visual (A/V) documents if the DL is properly adapted. Cultural heritage documents created by researchers during fieldwork may be audio, video, or images that can be sources of national pride for non-literate citizens; these documents could be stored in a cultural heritage DL (CHDL) for online access by non-literate citizens. The primary methodology employed in this study is a review of relevant literature. National culture and universal usability contribute to cultural usability, the human aspects of DL use being explored. Machine aspects of DLs are investigated within the Library and Information Science (LIS) framework, with an emphasis on theories of organization of information and information retrieval, and a complementary discussion of the read/write Web. The concept of DL interface as intermediary between humans and machines is explored in the ii context of the developing world. Supplementary methodologies for approaching the problem of access for non-literate users in the developing world include ethnographically-based reflections on daily life, opportunistic conversations with colleagues in Morocco during a 10-month Fulbright teaching grant, and a content analysis of Moroccan Web sites. The resulting framework considers the differences between Western and non-Western cultures in terms of system structure and interface design in light of the “mental programming” of non-literate users. Contributions of this study include recommendations for ways to meet needs of non-literate citizens, with an emphasis on the role of the community instead of the individual. This study recommends that each national culture be studied in order for a successful CHDL to be created. It also outlines a paradigm shift in library services in the developing world to consider the provision of access to A/V materials for non-literate citizens through DLs. Suggested future work includes the creation of a CHDL with read/write functionalities supporting contributions by non-literate citizens to democratize information creation along with access. iii Acknowledgment The first person that I would like to acknowledge is my advisor, Dr. Michael Lesk. As I look through my email archives, I count over 150 email threads from him starting from the time I left for my Fulbright in September 2008. This does not include multiple emails he sent in response to a single thread, and does not include emails from the time before I left, phone calls from Morocco and Ohio over Skype, and in-office visits I paid him over the past few years. I could not have asked for a more knowledgeable, supportive, and responsive advisor. I am also extremely grateful to the members of my committee for giving of their time so generously, and am pleased to acknowledge Dr. Daniel O‟Connor, Dr. Nina Wacholder, and Dr. Michèle Cloonan. Lastly, this study would not have been possible without the receipt of a Fulbright Senior Scholar grant from the U.S. Department of State to teach at the Ecole des Sciences de l‟Information (ESI) in Rabat, Morocco from 2008-2009; I am grateful to the Fulbright Commission and to the administration at ESI for permitting me that once in a lifetime opportunity. On a more personal note, I would also like to acknowledge Eric Childress for believing in me enough to support me during the final six months of writing, permitting the timely conclusion of this study. He is one in a million. Melissa Hofmann and Sheryl Shupel also opened their home (and their kitchen) to me during the final months of work and are friends in the truest sense of the term. Dr. Aleksandra Sarcevic kindly permitted me to use the Word templates that she had created when writing her own dissertation; in doing so, she exemplified the ideals of openness and a collaborative spirit. I also would like to acknowledge family and friends in St. Louis who have always been there for me, iv even when I was very far away, and I would like to acknowledge the many friends, colleagues, and instructors at SC&I who have been nothing short of an inspiration during this journey. It is also in line to acknowledge individuals who helped me develop a scholarly curiosity in library and information science. Dr. Terry Weech of UIUC GSLIS has been a great mentor and friend over the years; I never would have considered applying for a Fulbright Scholar award were it not for his good counsel. I am grateful to M. Alli for being a colleague and a friend during my time in Morocco, and would like to thank M. Lemallem and M. Benjelloun, directors at ESI, for welcoming me into their establishment. Librarians at my places of work have also contributed to my scholarly growth. Edward Corrado, currently at Binghamton University Library, has been a first- rate collaborator, proof-reader, and sounding board for new ideas. Several colleagues from Missouri State University library have also contributed to my development as a librarian and as a scholar, including Marilyn McCroskey, Dr. J. B. Petty, Cherri Jones, Karen Horny, Charlotte Dugan, and others. Parts of this dissertation were previously published; content was taken from these other publications and reworked to fit with the study at hand. Moulaison, H. L. (2008). Exploring access in the developing world: People, libraries, and information technology in Morocco. Library Hi Tech, 26(4), 586-597. doi: 10.1108/07378830810920914 Moulaison, H. L. (2008). Social tagging in the Web 2.0 environment: Author vs. user tagging. Journal of Library Metadata, 8(2), 101-111. doi: 10.1080/10911360802087325 v Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to Nadia. vi Table of Contents ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT ..............................................................................................................................iv DEDICATION ..............................................................................................................................................vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY...................................................................................................... 1 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS................................................................................................................ 2 1.4. GOALS AND JUSTIFICATION ......................................................................................................... 3 1.4.1. Perceived benefits .......................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...................................................................................... 7 2.1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 7 2.2. DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS ................................................................................................... 7 2.2.1. Literacy .......................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.2. Culture ........................................................................................................................... 9 2.2.3. Cultural heritage .......................................................................................................... 12 2.2.4. Digital libraries ............................................................................................................ 12 2.3. CULTURAL USABILITY FRAMEWORKS FOR DL CREATION ........................................................ 15 2.3.1. Applicability of Hofstede‟s