Questions of digital text management in library environment

Abstract

Digital text management is one of the most popular computer-related activities, downgraded as word processing or using word processors. Despite its popularity, previously conducted studies proved that the effectiveness of creating and modifying natural language digital documents can be extremely low. Consequently, these activities generate huge losses considering both human and machine resources. The aims of the present study are (1) to detect problem-solving strategies and end-user activities applied to erroneous and properly edited and formatted texts and (2) to measure the effectiveness of the documents. A testing process was carried out in one of the county libraries of Hungary with 74 participants with various levels of digital competencies but at least basic knowledge in document creation. The output of the testing consists of four Word documents modified by the participants and two log files recorded during the testing process. The results prove that the modification of erroneous documents requires much more time and information than their correct correspondence. It is also found that participants cannot read the graphical interface offered by the program and carry out a significantly higher number of keyboard and mouse actions than required by the tasks. In general, we can conclude that handling digital text should be reconsidered to reduce/eliminate waste which would support sustainable data management and education should pay more attention on developing end-users’ digital skills.

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