Abstract
Technological advancement is gradually shifting the paradigm of how network records and transactions are processed and secured without third-party intervention. The importance of blockchain technology in performing these roles cannot be overstated. This technology has a wide application in the health, banking, insurance, real estate, media, and transportation sectors. Nevertheless, the role of blockchain technology in the distributed management of digital research library resources has received limited attention. This chapter discusses the distributed management of digital research library resources through blockchain technology. It explains the meaning, features, and components of blockchain technology. Concepts such as distributed library management and digital research library were clarified. The digital research library materials were highlighted along with how they can be managed. The chapter thus argues that blockchain technology can be used in the distributed management of digital research library resources.
TopIntroduction
Blockchain technology emerged as an attempt to offer a solution to the long-lasting problem of third-party involvement in the management, exchange, and sharing of information and tenders among people involved in a transaction. Bitcoin has successfully applied this user-to-user data sharing or exchange model to allow free movement and exchange of digital currencies and information across different local and international locations. This end-to-end technological advancement can also be a feasible mechanism for fully implementing a distributed library management system. Although Cabello et al. (2017) proposed this model, it appears to be deficient in tackling issues of multiple library database registrations among library patrons in the global research community. Thus, this chapter was designed to explain how blockchain technology can be used to enhance the effective implementation of distributed management of research library resources and correct issues of multiple user identities in research libraries. The reader should be able to do the following after reading this chapter:
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explain the concept of blockchain technology
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state the uses of blockchain technology
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define a digital research library
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describe distributed management of research libraries
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discuss the application of blockchain in distributed management of digital research library resources
TopBlockchain Technology
Blockchain is a highly secured and dependable transactional and information database that has received global recognition as a global record-keeping mechanism and has been found effective in managing big data (Muheidat et al., 2022). It is an integrative and decentralised database developed to record, validate, maintain, make public and distribute records of transactions among clients on the same network (Kondor et al., 2014; Sarmah, 2018; Yli-Huumo et al., 2016). It applies cryptography as a security mechanism in which every individual record, transaction, and message is cryptographically signed, thereby reducing the incidence of network hacking, data mutilation, and data compromise (Kawaguchi, 2019).
Blockchain technology is made up of blocks that allow everyone on the network to access the activities of other users in the same network. With this structure in place, it becomes more difficult for a single central block to exert influence over the network. Customers may see their transaction records without the participation of a third party, which is a vital goal of the system's architecture. The idea behind the concept of blockchain technology was to remove all barriers to the free flow of digital currency among clients in a block network across the globe through cryptography. Thus, the domain of this technological innovation originally was currency cryptography (Chen et al., 2018). Blockchain is tied to Satoshi Nakamoto, the man who formally applied the technology to operationalise the cryptocurrency called Bitcoin in 2008.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Research Records: These are source documents or files for verification of research information on a network.
Database System: Database system is a warehouse that manages information.
Digital Research Library: This is an online database that hosts diverse researcher materials that can be inter-operated or remotely accessed by different users on the internet.
Peer-to-Peer System: This a network system involving two nodes without a server.
Technology: This refers to the application of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems.
Library User: This is any individual that uses the library.
Data Mining: Data mining is a process of extracting and verifying data or information on a network.
Network: A network is a collection of computers that allow for data sharing.
Blockchain: A blockchain is a network system that execute transactions among connected nodes using high level security.
Management: Management is the process of planning, organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling human and material resource to achieve a goal.