The techniques of data mining are designed to recommend the services of a digital library based on the search history and user’s profile. It means that users are categorized according to their search behavior and profiles. Afterward, there is the use of predictive classification for the appropriate service recommendation. It helps identify the users in the same cluster, who have a very high accepting similar service probability. Scientists find that data mining techniques help a machine acquire knowledge from previous records (Witten & Frank, 1999; Hand et al., 2001).
Digital Libraries (DLs) are usually defined as the information collections that provide similar services to users through a number of technologies (Callan et al., 2003). According to Gonzalves and Fox (2002), the information collections can be found in personal or business data or presented in a form of video, digital text, image, etc. As a rule, the DLs users access information through the interface presented by a computer which is connected to the Internet.
As a result, current digital libraries are constantly becoming more complex due to multimodal, mixed-mode, and multimedia information. They are widely used by people with diverse backgrounds, needs, desires, and preferences. Moreover, such libraries provide access to information through both the Internet and Intranet (Gonzalves & Fox, 2002).
Resource Description and Access (RDA) is defined as a cataloging standard that provides guidelines and instructions concerning the formulating data for a certain resource description. There is an idea that RDA makes a substantial contribution to digital libraries by data mining. Nowadays, libraries try to do their best to use online resources in their traditional library catalog. However, these new technologies have disregarded the classification system of a traditional library catalog.
The first Saudi Digital Library (SDL) was established in 2010. Its primary aim was to support the educational process and meet the needs and requirements of modern students, researchers, professionals, etc. Currently, it has over 24, 000 e-books on various scientific topics and has subscribed to nearly 300 international, local, and regional publishers (MOHE, 2010; Saudi Digital Library, 2011). The significance is related to the electronic projects and data mining techniques used to ease system implementation.
The development of a digital library in Australia began in the 2000s (Velasquez & Campbell-Meier, 2015). The digital library instills great promises in the economic, social, technical, and scholarly spheres as it provides substantial advantages to the information industry. Despite the fact that such a library exists for more than 10 years in the country, there is a need to investigate the use of data mining as its influence on the library’s work remains unclear. In addition, many issues still remain unresolved, they cover security, privacy, intellectual property right, international and national implications, and many others (Iannella, 1996).
Thus, both Saudi Arabia and Australia have digital libraries. It is evident that the rapid pace of globalization has made them implement data mining techniques to improve the level of services provided. Therefore, the study aims at comparing the influence of data mining techniques on the digital libraries of Australia and Saudi Arabia.
The research objectives are as follows:
- to investigate the use of data mining techniques in digital libraries of Saudi Arabia;
- to study the implementation of these techniques in Australia’s digital libraries;
- to investigate the influence of the above-mentioned techniques on the digital libraries in Australia and Saudi Arabia;
- to provide a comparative analysis of the influences of data mining techniques on the digital libraries of both countries;
- to investigate how data mining helps digital libraries improve the sources;
- to analyze the Resource Description and Access (RDA) and its contribution to the digital libraries by data mining.
Research Questions
To meet the research aims and objectives, the study will answer the following questions:
- How do digital libraries in Saudi Arabia implement data mining techniques?
- How do digital libraries in Australia implement data mining techniques?
- How do data mining techniques influence digital libraries in Australia and Saudi Arabia?
- How does the RDA contribute to the digital libraries by data mining?
Methodology
A study may use either qualitative or quantitative research methods. However, it is possible to use a combination of both methods (Robson, 2002). It is important to choose a suitable research method and be aware of all the drawbacks and obstacles of the chosen approach (Morgan, 1998). In addition, it is essential to address reliability and validity considerations. Blaxter, Hughes, and Tight (2006) found that research is a process that should include a problem definition and suggested solution through summary, collection, analysis, and evaluation of research data.
The current study will be conducted with the help of a qualitative research method as it focuses on gaining a deeper research insight into the investigated problem. In addition, it helps collect detailed information and clearly answer research questions. However, this method requires the use of observations, surveys, interviews, case studies, etc.
The research methods implemented in the current study will help to optimize the data regarding the impact of data mining in the digital libraries of Saudi Arabia and Australia. Silverman (2001) claimed that the main benefit of qualitative research is that the data collected may be applied in other researches. Other benefits of qualitative research include the ability to get a deep picture of the investigated topic, adjust different methods of data collection, as well as use numerous tools and concepts (Royse, 1999; Creswell, 2003).
The research will use both primary and secondary data. Primary data presupposes the use of information from observations, interviews, etc., while secondary data is the information collected from books, journals, articles, web sources, etc. (Shaw, 2008). It is evident that the use of primary data requires more effort, but it is considered to be more reliable and trustworthy than the secondary one. Hence, the researcher will conduct a semi-structured interview to collect the primary data. The researcher will thoroughly analyze the material collected for this research. Thus, the collected information will cover the issue of using data mining and its influence on the digital libraries of Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Qualitative interviewing will assist the researcher in answering essential questions as it is very useful and flexible (Silverman, 2010). In addition, it provides an opportunity to have two-way communication with the library representatives. The interview will consist of 10 questions and will not require much time to answer them. It will be designed to cover all research questions and meet the research objectives. In addition, qualitative interviewing enables a researcher to change the order of questions if it is necessary.
Thus, the chosen research method will help the researcher to determine the techniques implemented and their influence on digital libraries in the investigated countries. The researcher will monitor, analyze, observe, and investigate all related issues.
Literature Review
The research field of digital libraries is usually referred to as a union of different subfields from a variety of domains. The domains are combined with new research issues and aim at realizing their full potential (Nuernberg et al., 1995). Chen (1998) and Liu (2002) stated that the digital library presents a set of complex and complicated research issues. The same idea was followed by Lagoze and Sompel (2001a) and Lagoze and Sompel (2001b). However, Chen (2003) found that digital libraries experience the issue of digital copyright/rights management. Many users tend to overcome problems related to the information overload caused by the use of new information technologies (Kim et al., 2003). Therefore, the researcher began to investigate the use of data mining techniques and their influence on digital libraries (Borgman, 1996; Witten and Frank, 1999; Costabile, Esposito, Semeraro, and Fanizzi, 1999; Han and Kamber, 2000, and many others).
The usability and popularity of digital libraries are closely related to the satisfaction and experiences of people while using a digital library. Usability is considered to be essential as it encourages the use of a system by those who are connected to the Internet. The establishment and work of the digital library in Saudi Arabia are disused in MOHE (2010). The digital libraries of Australia have shown increased activity in recent years. It has been found that the techniques of data mining are suitable for the evaluation of digital libraries. The use of data mining in the digital libraries was investigated by Han and Kamber (2000), Dushay (2002), Kim, Choo, and Chen (2003), Cullen (2005), Kovacevic, Devedzic, and Pocajt (2010), and others.
Thus, literature analysis has shown that the use of data mining techniques in the digital libraries of Saudi Arabia and Australia is poorly researched. The use of data mining techniques in the libraries of Saudi Arabia is not mentioned in the literature analyzed. In addition, not much has been known about the influence of data mining on the libraries in Australia. Therefore, further research is needed to provide a deeper insight into the topic.