CLSC 555 Information Systems Webliography: Digital Libraries
by
Christine Carlson

 

| Examples and Backgrounds | Research and Current Topics | Organizations and Initiatives |

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• Examples and Background
  • The British Library Online Newspaper Archive
    by The British Library
    A good example of a digitized library collection for historians, librarians and looking to explore and familiarize themselves with the digital libraries. Users can search old newspapers and other written material that report historic events (such as end of World War I). A good example of the difficulties of digitizing older print. It is well organized and fun to explore. However, the quality of digitized material is not always great as it is sometimes blurred and difficult to read (most likely due to the age of the originals).

   

  • Library of Congress National Digital Library Program
    by The Library of Congress
    An excellent example of a strong digital library - perhaps one of the best. Begun in 1995, after a five-year pilot program, this is a good place to begin learning about digital libraries. It features a clear site map and a section on the challenges they met during its creation. It appears to be aimed at larger libraries and may be too technical for people new to the topic.

   

  • The Mutopia Project
    maintained by Chris Sawer and David Chan
    A digital library site for music librarians or any musician, it collects and freely distributes sheet music for composers whose work is now in the public domain (no longer under copyright). An interesting place to see how music can be digitized, as you can not only download and print good quality sheet music, but can download and hear it through midifiles. One downside from a musician's standpoint is that the music files (upon hearing them) are certainly not as good as the original (too mechanical/digitized sounding).

     

  • Project Gutenberg
    founder, Michael Hart
    Created many years before the term, "digital library" this site contains more than 15,000 ebooks in many different languages. Any reader and anyone interested in digital librarianship would want to explore this grandfather of digital libraries, where the first free ebooks were made available. It includes fascinating links to its history and downloading books is quick and painless. However, the welcome page and site map are rather uninteresting and could use more graphics.

     

  • The Scope of the Digital Library
    by Barry M. Leiner and DLib Working Group on Digital Library Metrics
    October 1998
    This article contains a great overview and analysis of the term, "digital library." It is a good introduction to what this field encompasses, including the defining characteristics of digital libraries. Written for the library science field, it is also a good tool for those familiarizing themselves with digital libraries. The article is well laid out and does not contain an overwhelming amount of technical jargon, but it does have a fair amount of library terms.

     

  • Strategies for Building Digitized Collections
    by Abby Smith
    September 2001, DLF and Council of Libraries and Information Resources
    An excellent review and analysis of the best ways in which to select materials for a digital collection. Looks at digital libraries that have been around for a while, and those that are just getting started. A good background informational tool for those who are looking to begin their digital library. The author has much experience in library collections, as she worked on collections in Russia and for the Library of Congress. The writing is sometimes a little too detailed and there are perhaps too many different topics covered.
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• Research and Current Topics
  • Ariadne
    published by UKOLN (UK Office for Library and Information Networking)
    An online journal focused on current issues in the information technology field, in regards to digital libraries. Aimed at informational professionals in the field of higher education, or others in that field, as well as any other people interested in digital libraries. It is written with a focus on the UK, but is read worldwide. Its articles are very current and applicable to the digital library field. The setup of the site is fairly basic, with few graphics or appealing pictures, and the articles can be overwhelming for someone without a technical background.

   

  • International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions- DIGLIB
    by IFLA
    An excellent mailing list/ discussion for informational professionals on the topic of digital libraries. The directions on how to join and participate are clear and concise. Upon viewing the archives of the list, the green font and buttons are not attractive nor easy on the eyes.

   

  • Linked Active Content for Digital Libraries for Education
    published in the Journal of Digital Information by David Yaron, D. Jeff Milton, and Rea Freeland
    An article appropriate for those interested in the more technical details of digital libraries, the paper focuses on the use of a product called CreateStudio in order to create interactive components for educational digital libraries. The idea of making programming capabilities available to teachers for digital libraries is very interesting and an excellent advancement. However, the article is still written with programmer's jargon and may be difficult for non-programmers to read.
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• Organizations and Initiatives
  • Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Digital Initiative Database
    by The Association of Research Libraries
    This site provides a list of current projects in the digital library field, intended as a sharing and learning medium for librarians and professionals in digital libraries. Contains an outstanding number of digital library projects from around the world, with links, details about their progress and contact people. Good examples but some links are not fresh, or you are re-routed.

     

  • CDLI- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative
    A project of the University of California in Los Angelos and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
    An extraordinary site that shows excellent digital replicas of cuneiform tablets from digital libraries throughout the world. Aimed at historians and digital librarians, it demonstrates the difficulties and techniques involved in digitizing delicate artifacts. Each library provides its own collections, which contain digital photos of cuneiform (the earliest evidence of human writing to preserve knowledge), along with descriptions about its size, origin, and translation. Interesting for historians and digital librarians but not detailed enough for the layperson.

   

  • Digital Library Federation
    by The Digital Library Federation
    The Digital Library Federation's web site describing its work with digital libraries. Specifically, it is aimed at creating new collections and sustaining and advancing the procedures for doing so. The site includes a list of 33 partner libraries and several allies, including the OCLC, with useful links to each one. Very focused on the work its own agency has done, so it is narrow in scope.

   

  • DLI (Digital Libraries Initiative) Publications
    by The National Science Foundation
    This site provides links to the six universities that participated in the Digital Libraries Initiative, Phase One. These six projects lead to the formation of DLI Phase 2. The links to each university then provide links to the publications that came out of (and are still published from) the digital library projects at each school. Good for academics in the digital library field who want to research these projects and the scholarly work that developed from them. Not all of the links to the universities worked, nor were there links to all of the publications.

     

  • Digital Libraries Initiative-Phase Two
    by The National Science Foundation
    This site details the work of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in creating, sustaining, and improving the field of digital libraries. A good site for those wishing to improve a digital library and keep updated. Good arrangement of links and graphics in a newsletter style, bringing user to articles about recent advancements or workshop announcements. It is difficult to find details and the history of the DLI-II at this site.

     

  • International Children's Digital Library
    A project of the University of Maryland
    Funded in part by the NSF, this digital library is attempting to amass a large number of children’s books in many languages, making them available in full-text and with pictures. Children, teachers, parents, and anyone interested in digital librarianship for youth would have lots of fun with this beautiful web site. They are also researching several things, including how children can participate in technological developments. Great layout of search page, with child-like graphics and buttons. Difficulties were found in reading small text (it was blurry) and in getting books in a particular language (there were options for many other languages, but the books kept coming up in English).
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© Christine Carlson 2005