Tîrziman, Elena. Internet Resources and Information Practices. Bucharest:

University of Bucharest Publishing House, 2011. ISBN 978-606-0038-0.

The paper “Internet Resources and Information Practices” aims to address from a general perspective, the issue of the information and communication network so that it will allow the user to understand the nature of Internet, its architecture, what services does it provide, how does it work and how it is used. The paper also deals with issues of World Wide Web within global networks, general procedures for processing digital content, the specific standards and formats for web digital content, processing and communication of digital resources, typology of digital content. There are some specific issues concerning information and documentation techniques, methods and criteria for evaluation of digital resources, information and documentation systems and websites as well as web archiving and legal deposit of digital implementation.

The volume is divided into seven chapters that encompass several broad issues surrounding the Internet from library perspective: digital resources, online digital content, information retrieval, specific intellectual techniques and information competencies, evaluation of digital content, web archiving and digital legal deposit.

Computers and communication infrastructures have gathered worldwide people, activities, scientific and professional communities, businesses, public and administrative institutions. Information and communication technologies (ICT) enable, at a low price, the exchange, sharing, processing and handling of information in many forms and from various utilities. Internet operates with two types of technology: communication technologies and information technologies.

Processing of digital resources is a very complex activity that involves creation of digital resources according to specific standards and appropriate formats; cataloguing, meaning using metadata - data elements and values for resource description and discovery (access, retrieval) that connect users to information resources in a structured, controlled way - that award for its identification and integration of digital resources in a context of information and communication (i.e. type database); automated indexing or using indexing languages to ensure retrieval of digital resources, communication and web publishing in accordance to the rules, specific standards and protocols. Therefore, digital processing and communication resources implies knowledge and use of many types of standards and formats for these types of documents, knowledge of indexing and cataloguing concepts of multilingualism and representation of resources on the Web, knowledge and use of standards and protocols publication and communication in the digital environment. The author provides a comprehensive structure of digital content using as criteria, “its specific functions or categories of digital content connected to specific applications”.

Internet environment is characterized by the disparity of digital objects contained, by the multitude of formats and applications used. Why the need of all these rules and formats? According to Elena Tîrziman, when we speak about documentary typology “we must refer to certain rules and formats required for the creation, publication and use of each digital document or digital object”. Every item must meet specific criteria regarding its structure, size, processing, editing, printing, downloading, publication, format change, compatibility with an application, etc. Therefore, for each type of document or digital object there is a correspondent format and the characteristics of each part require a specific particular format to be chosen. The best format is the one that best matches the specific requirements of a digital document.

Online information retrieval is the area of study concerned with searching for documents, for information within documents, for metadata about documents, as well as that of searching relational databases and the World Wide Web andcorroborates the user’s information need to the resource that matches the user’s query. An information retrieval process begins when a user enters a query into the system. Queries are formal statements of information needs. Online information retrieval involves the problems that arise for user-oriented tasks where the meaning as well as the explicit content of the data is of interest, specific competencies, information skills they need. Because information sources and information-seeking tools are constantly and rapidly transforming, “it is necessary to update one’s information-seeking skills every once in a while”.

Evaluation is the activity that can determine and establish the usefulness, reliability, importance, effectiveness of a product or information service whether or not it is the case of simple digital resources, collections, databases, information systems or complex websites. Evaluation is based on criteria, methods, standards that can determine specific quantitative and qualitative performance of any type of information product and it can be achieved by users, information product administrators or specialized institutional assessment activities. In terms of management, the author consider “the evaluation is of particular importance as providing data and important information for decision making on digital content management: information can determine whether the product is effective in terms of economic, technological or user needs, is there any need for improvement, or it requires additional investment, etc”.

Responsible for archiving digital resources are creators, suppliers, owners who have a responsibility for the initial archiving as well as for their preservation. These institutions can transfer this responsibility (signing digitisation agreements) to other entitites or archiving systems that take over the entire process. Cultural entities like libraries, archives and museums can take responsibility for archiving as they can provide access and use of informations. The national libraries have a perpetual responsibility for their materials and a commitment to archive their digital materials.

In terms of digital archiving, the author conisers that “legal framework is missing or underdeveloped in most states”. We can only speak about “good practice patterns, private initiatives, projects and scientific researches in this field, standards and technical rules concerning the issue”. The cultural entities draw up specific procedures, workflows, rules and approaches on archiving digital content as they are the generators in producing and managing the cultural and scientific heritage.

The emergence of electronic documents and their publication on the Internet lead to the extension of legal deposit to digital environment. Due to the fast changes in the technological world, we face a potential risk of losing our digital published heritage, unless we preserve the same. The specific characteristics of digital documents and digital environment creates some major problems for the application of digital legal deposit: technical problems (such as editing control and collection, processing, preservation, access to digital documents); protecting copyright and related rights; long-term archiving; the national legal framework i.e. digital legal deposit (including penalties).

Web archiving and digital legal deposit are two specific activities, even if their common features are preservation and conservation of digital content. The digital legal deposit is the expression of a national heritage feature, it is achieved by national libraries according to an appropriate legal framework and besides the technical archiving solution it also requires specific tasks of cataloguing, indexing, development of reference tools.

The Web has revolutionized our access to information, but Web publications are fragile, and ready access to Web resources cannot be taken for granted. Elena Tîrziman’s book addresses to professionals and practitioners, specialists in information and documentation sciences as well as all people interested in the evolution of the Internet phenomenon, World Wide Web space which apeals specific intellectual techniques and infrastructure communications who gather in a planetary context - information and communication, individuals, activities, scientific and professional communities, institutions.