LSC 555 Information Systems Webliography: Digital Libraries
by
Sam Schmitt

 

Initiatives | Organizations | Metaresources

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• Digital Library Initiatives
  • Digital Libraries Initiative - Phase 2 (DLI2)
    by the Directorate for Computer and Information Science Engineering (CISE)
    This site serves as a clearinghouse of information and news about the digital libraries universe. It includes links to projects, workshops, and conferences worldwide, particularly those funded by DLI2, a consortium of US government entities including the National Science Foundation and the Library of Congress.

     

  • Open Archives Initiative
    by the Open Archives Initiative (OAI)
    The major project sponsored by OAI is the Protocol for Metadata Harvesting, a tool for searching the "deep web" and currently utilized by the metasearch engine OAIster (see below). The site is remarkably friendly to the first-time visitor, and includes an OAI for Beginniers which includes a tutorial and glossary of terms.

     

  • OCLC Digital and Preservation Services Outreach Center
    by Online Computer Library Center (OCLC)
    Designed for the digital librarian, this site contains resources on copyright, digitization, grants assistance, and preservation, drawn from OCLC reports as well as outside sources. A strength of the site is its "Spotlight" section, summarizing the digital projects of libraries throughout the US.

     

  • IEEE Technical Committee on Digital libraries (TCDL)
    by the Computer Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
    This site concentrates on the technical issues surrounding the creation and maintenance of digital libraries, including content delivery, information retrieval, and storage. The site includes the TCDL Bulletin and valuable links to conferences on digital libraries worldwide. Judging from some of the links, the content has not been updated since late 2003.

     

  • National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program
    by the Library of Congress
    Created by an act of Congress in 1998, the mission of the Digital Preservation Program is to "develop a national strategy to collect, archive and preserve the burgeoning amounts of digital content, especially materials that are created only in digital formats, for current and future generations.” The program makes grants and partners with universities in seeking solutions to the problems involving the preservation of digital collections. From the meager scope of the website, it appears that the work of the progam has been quite limited, although from the government agencies involved and the large initial appropriation by Congress (almost $100 million), this wil prove to be an important project for digital libraries.

     

  • Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries
    by the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries
    Founded in 1997, the CIDL serves to facilitate the development of digital libraries in Canada and works to ensure their viability and access to users. The site contains links to member libraries and their digital resources, as well as digital projects throughout Canada. An excellent resource for information on digital libraries in Canada.

   

• Organizations Supporting Digital Libraries
  • Center for the Study of Digital Libraries
    by the Center for the Study of Digital Libraries at Texas A&M University
    In response to a "National Challenge" issued by U.S. High Performance Computing and Communications Program, CSDL sponsors comprehensive research designed to maximize the development of digital libraries. Information about the projects sponsored by the organization is very limited; however, the website offers links to conferences dating from 1994, as well as a searchable database of its online publications.

     

  • Coalition for Networked Information
    by the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI)
    CNI seeks to expand access to scholarly and government information through technology. The website offers information on CNI activities and projects, including participation in conferences and collaboration with libraries and educational institutions. Besides links to conferences, the site offers few links to outside resources.

     

  • Digital Library Federation
    by the Digital Library Federation
    DLF concentrates on the recognition of "best practices" and standards for digital libraries in the US and UK. Its membership includes some of the largest and most prestigious libraries in the English-speaking world, including the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the British Library, as well as numerous university libraries. The website features helpful pages on the development, use, and preservation of digital collections. It also includes two valuable searchable databases: one of the digital collections in member libraries, the other of policies, standards, and technical papers relating to the development of digital libraries. One of the most informative and easy-to-navigate sites I have encountered.

     

  • Digital Preservation Coalition
    by the Digital Preservation Coalition
    Based in Britain, the stated purpose of the DPC is "to secure the preservation of digital resources in the UK and to work with others internationally to secure our global digital memory and knowledge base.” Its membership includes most of the major libraries in the UK. A major feature of the site is the "Handbook.” Although it naturally reflects procedures and policies prevalent in the UK, many of its practical guidelines would be helpful to librarians in the US.

   

• Metaresources of Digital Libraries
  • Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web
    by Smithsonian Institution Libraries
    A comprehensive database of links to 3000 online exhibits sponsored by libraries and museums throughout the world. It is searchable by exhibition name, institution, and subject.

     

  • OAIster
    by University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service
    OAIster uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) to search academic digital libraries on the "deep web" inaccessible to ordinary web search engines such as Google. This site currently boasts "3,701,820 records from 363 institutions." Unfortunately, the search engine was down when I tried to access it.

     

  • IFLANET Digital Library Resources
    by International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
    A collection of links to journals, articles, and policies on issues involving digital libraries. The resource for cataloging and classification were quite extensive and practical; links in other categories were not as numerous and could easily be found elsewhere.

     

  • Digital Librarian
    by Margaret Vail Anderson, Librarian for Archives and Web Resources, Tomkins Cortland Community College, Cortland, New York
    One of the most comprehensive listings of digital library collections on the web. The lists cannot be searched, but are simply given according to approximately 100 subject areas, each category containing hundreds of links in alphabetical order. I noticed that the site had not been updated since May 2004.

     

  • ARL Digital Initiatives Database
    by the Association of Research Libraries
    A browsable and searchable database of "digital initiatives" (a term intended to be broader than "digital libraries") undertaken by libraries. One significant drawback to the database was the fact that both the search and browse functions were designed for a user searching for a known project; they did not lend themselves well either to browsing or finding projects in a particular discipline. The keyword field in the search mode was limited to choices in a dropdown menu. One could browse only according to predetermined parameters (alphabetically by project and institution).