LSC555 IS Webliography by Jeffrey Elliott

LSC 555 INFORMATION SYSTEMS Webliography: Digital Libraries
by
Jeffrey Elliott

Use and Usability
- Johns Hopkins University
  The purpose of this article is to formulate an agenda in which to study digital library users.
  The agenda is discussed in a detailed manner.
  The specific agenda may not be practical for all digital libraries.
- CLIR Publications and Resources
  This article provides detailed analysis and methodology used in conducting user surveys of library resources.
  A description of the various methods of gathering information is given.
  The article is very technical and not easily digestible to the layman.
- Comparing Digital Collections
  This article provides a comparison of five digital library collections.
  The article stresses that the needs of the end users must be met.
  The evaluation of digital libraries may be more helpful if a larger number of libraries were evaluated.
- Digital Librarian Article
  The author stresses the need for standards for all digital library collections.
  Since libraries are known for organizing information there should be no problem in extending these core values of librarianship to digital collections.
  The author needs to give examples of why there is no consistent user experience when using digital libraries in order for a solution to be found.
- Texas A&M University
  This is a good website describing the efforts being done to advance digital libraries.
  The site has an interface so that publications can be searched and read.
  Some of the links are useful, although several years old.
- Journal of Digital Information
  The entire issue of the Journal of Digital Information is devoted to digital libraries.
  The webpage offers hypertext links to other sources dealing with the same themes discussed here.
  The article is only a description of what is inside the special issue of the journal.
- New Roles for Libraries
  The author discusses the role that the traditional library must play in the emerging technology involved in the realm of the digital library.
  The author is of the opinion that the traditional library will never become obsolete.
  The author makes the assumption that all books will eventually be available in electronic form, while also stating that libraries are not able to afford digitization.
- Digital Library: Myths and Challenges
  The author attempts to dispel myths concerning digital libraries.
  The author claims that the services in traditional libraries will not change but the way in which the services are provided will change.
  The author takes a defensive role against the supporters of technology.
Conversion Standards
- Digital Imaging
  The aim of this website is to compile a source list of standards and practices to digitize items.
  The website is very comprehensive and detailed.
  Information could possibly be overlooked because of the amount of links listed on the main page.
- Digital Conversion
  The standardization of conversion attributes of meaningful documents is the key to digitization.
  The conversion of any object to digital form depends on the content and value of the item.
  A weakness of this theory is who will determine what will be valuable over any period of time.
- Text Encoding Initiative
  The article discusses the history of the Text Encoding Initiative.
  This encoding is used for digital objects.
  The article is very technical.
- Digital LIbrary Federation
  The website gives the standards for digitizing.
  The website provides several links to various documents dealing with the standardization process.
  The documents provided are not of much value to the layman.
- Architecture
  The article discusses the architectural design of the digital library at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
  The article gives a detailed description of how the experts designed their system to handle many users.
  The article is very technical in scope.
- Interoperability
  This article stresses the idea of interoperability between digital libraries.
  The article gives a history of digital libraries and explains that while progress has been made, there is much more to be done in this area.
  The article stresses the technical components involved in digitizing images.
- Digitization Pathfinder
  This website offers a detailed outline of the digitization process.
  The site is very in depth with many links to help describe the components necessary in digitizing items.
  This site is useful only if the user has a background in digitization.
Digital Librarians
- Do Digital Libraries need Librarians?
  The focus of this article is the changing environment in which librarians find themselves.
  Librarians and information technology staff have more in common then ever before.
  The article discusses digital libraries from the technological standpoint.
- How to Build a Digital Librarian
  This article describes the training necessary for digital librarians.
  The article describes the institute that was set up to provide training for digital librarians.
  The article may be a few years out of date in terms of technology used at the institute.
- Librarians in the Digital Library
  This article emphasizes the duties of the librarian as they relate to the traditional and digital library.
  The librarian must be involved in the design and implementation of the digital library.
  The article is general and brief.
Digital Rights Management

ALA
This link from the ALA website provides an overview of digital rights management.
There are links to legislation as well as a glossary.
The main page has much information and it is sometimes hard to scan.
Rights Issues
The article examines how copyright legislation may affect the long term availability of electronic resources in library collections.
The article examines how information in digital form may become obsolete over time.
The article is unable to give solutions to some aspects of this problem because the copyright laws are still evolving.
Reference Services

Real Time Digital Reference
This website provides a directory for many digital collections.
It provides categories to assist the user in searching.
All of the links listed are not available at this time.
Impact of Digital Reference
The article discusses the challenges of providing electronic reference service.
Librarians and users need additional training.
Although the article was written in 1998 the same principles can be applied today.
A Librarian's Top Digital Libraries
This website was compiled by a librarian to provide links to the digital resources that she finds to be the best.
Search categories are provided as well as a search box.
The website, although good, is subjective.
Collections

Academic Info
This website provides links to digital collections on various topics.
The topics are categorized for ease in searching.
The main page contains much information and takes a long time to scan, especially near the bottom.
Ready Reference
This website is a very comprehensive source for many aspects of digital libraries.
Links to technical papers and reports, as well as clearinghouses of digital collections are provided.
The main page is difficult to scan because there are many links.
Geospatial Collection
This site provides spatial data.
The website can show detailed maps of places from various heights, with the capability of zooming in for greater detail.
The site has three windows open simultaneously to assist the user in searching.
IFLA
This website provides information about international digitization efforts.
This site is international in scope and provides links to conferences and projects.
Links to international digital collections are provided, although all links are not working at this time.
African Online Digital Library
This site is the first digitization effort in Africa.
The goal is to utilize the best technology from America and use it in an African context.
The website is relatively new and does not contain a vast amount of digital collections.
ASIS&T
This page is from the ASIS&T Digital Libraries Special Interest Group.
It provides links to information about the group.
It is new and does not contain much information.
UNESCO Libraries Portal
This website is comprehensive in scope and is from UNESCO.
It provides many links including a search option for the digital collections.
There is too much information on the main page.