CLSC 555 IS Webliography Megan Nunemaker

CLSC 555 INFORMATION SYSTEMS WEBLIOGRAPHY: Digital Libaries
by
Megan Nunemaker

Online Digital Libraries
- ACM Digital Library, by the Association for Computing Machinery
  This site provides the full text of all ACM articles. The site supports both a basic and an advanced search feature. Unfortunately, the site is not free to all, and to receive all the full text articles, users must subscribe to the site.
- California Digital Library, by The Regents of the University of California
  The California Digital Library seeks to use technology to support scholarship for the patrons served by the University of California. Strengths of the site include the ability to search a collection of finding aids, complete with abstracts, about information held by the University of California, as well as a page that allows users to browse for images by topic. Unfortunately, a single power search feature to search the finding aids, images, and texts all at the same time does not exist.
- International Children's Digital Library - Read free children books online, by the University of Maryland
  This is a five-year, ongoing project to create a digital library of books for children and those who read with them, including librarians, parents, and other caregivers. Currently over 600 books are available from the site, and 4 search features exist to search for books, in addition to being able to browse all titles alphabetically. While the target audience is primarily children, children would probably have difficulty accessing the site and finding books without the assistance of an adult.
- The Online Books Page, by the University of Pennsylvania
  This site links users to over 20,000 books available for free on the Web, and seeks to increase the number of such books. The site allows users multiple ways to search for books, such as searching by author and title, or browsing by author, title, or subject. However, a major weakness is that subject searches are not possible.
- Perseus Digital Library, by Tufts University
  The Perseus Digital Library is a project of Tufts University to "bring a wide range of source materials to as large an audience as possible." The site also links to other digital library projects at other universities and institutions. While the site provides access to many interesting resources, the homepage does not make it clear exactly what the specialty of the collection is, and a power search would greatly increase the usefulness of the site.
- Questia - The Online Library of Books and Journals, by Questia Media America, Inc.
  Questia bills itself as the "world's largest online library," and provides access to books and journal articles around the clock. A major strength of the collection is that every word of every book and article is fully searchable. Users can annotate readings and get citation assistance. A major weakness of the site is that the current licensing agreements between Questia and the various publishers who information it provides access to prohibits Questia from selling access directly to libraries.
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Associations
- Digital Library Federation, by the Digital Library Federation
  "The Digital Library Federation (DLF) is a consortium of libraries and related agencies that are pioneering the use of electronic information technologies to extend collections and services." The DLF supports member institutions by providing leadership and information on digital library projects and topics of interest. The site provides information all the member organizations as well as some information about the projects undertaken by the DLF. Unfortunately, there are not many tools on the site that would be of use to librarians simply seeking digital reference materials or support.
- Digital Libraries Initiative Phase One, by the Digital Libraries Initiative
  The homepage of the Digital Libraries Initiative clearly states the Initiative's objective: "The Initiative's focus is to dramatically advance the means to collect, store, and organize information in digital forms, and make it available for searching, retrieval, and processing via communication networks -- all in user-friendly ways." This site is available in multiple languages, including Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish, thus enabling librarians from all over the world to view and use the resources available on the site. The site does not have a search feature and all the links posted to the site cannot be viewed at one time as the page is longer than just one screen.
- Digital Libraries Initiative Phase 2, by the Digital Libraries Initiative
  This website provides a wealth of information regarding ongoing projects that are part of the Digital Libraries Initiative. Strengths include the section that highlights projects that have recently been covered in the mainstream media, and the glossary of terms and agencies relating to digital libraries. A weakness of the site is the cluttered homepage; there is an overwhelming amount of information and hyperlinks on the site's main page.
- Digital Libraries: Resources and Projects, by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
  This Web site provides information on digital collections, current articles about digital libraries, information on past digital library conferences, links to other digital library sites, and more. The strengths of this site include the many valuable links provided in the various sections described. However, the page itself is very long, and when a user selects to view a specific section, such as the conferences section, there is no quick way to get back to the top of the page.
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Journals
- D-Lib Magazine, by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives
  D-Lib is a solely electronic magazine that provides readers with information regarding digital library research. A significant strength of this resource is that all issues, both current and back issues, are available free of charge online. The search feature of the site is its primary weakness. One can do a keyword search, or search separate back issue, author, and title indexes. No single "power search" is available.
- International Journal on Digital Libraries, by Springer
  This journal is published quarterly, and focuses on issues of interest to librarians seeking to improve technology in libraries, including online resources and digital libraries. The home page links users to conferences concerning digital library topics. Unfortunately, the actual journal articles are not available on the site.
- JoDI: Journal of Digital Information, by the IAM Research Group
  JoDI has been an online, peer-reviewed journal since 1997. One of the topics covered by JoDI is digital libraries. Strengths include being able to access the journal 24/7, and the low cost of access when compared to other digital and print based journals. While journal articles can be sorted by date, author, or title, a power search would be a worthwhile addition to the site.
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Companies Providing Digital Support
- eMotion Solutions, by eMotion, Inc.
  According to its home page, "eMotion provides the leading Web-based platform for automated distribution of marketing content." eMotion provides both for-profit and non-profit firms with tools to manage digital content. The strengths of the site include its summary of available content management tools and customer success stories. A primary weakness is the apparent lack of specific information showing has eMotion has helped other libraries manage digital content.
- Document Solutions delivers electronic publishing solutions and services | Scanning and imaging, by Document Solutions, Inc.
  Document Solutions provides an additional site specific to libraries. Strengths of this site include a listing and brief description of the services Document Solutions can provide libraries. These services include assistance with archiving and the ability to outsource some activities associated with digitizing information. Also included is a library-specific case studying involving the Academic Press. A weakness of the site is the lack of any sort of pricing information.
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