LSC555 IS Webliography by Linda Hasman

LSC 555 INFORMATION SYSTEMS Webliography: Digital Libraries
by
Linda Hasman

Background and History
- American Library Association
  Provides background on libraries in the digital age. It lists innovative digital projects libraries are undertaking around the country. Links to the libraries are not provided.
- Digital Libraries Initiative, National Science Foundation
  The driving force behind many digital library projects, provides overview, background and current project information on the digital libraries initiative. The site provides a lot of information on digital libraries, including upcoming events, newsletters and magazines, and even a glossary of terms. Unfortunately, all this information becomes a liability as the site is rather cluttered.
- International Conference on Digital Libraries
  Provides general information for the International Conference on Digital Libraries. It includes PDFs of the report from the conference and recommendations. Unfortunately, there is no background information, or an “about us” section.
- NSF Post Digital Library Futures Workshop
  Provides links to numerous papers that cover the background and scope of digital libraries. The links are live and provide useful information for anyone researching digital libraries. The site could be strengthened by providing short paragraphs to summarize the papers listed.
- Social Aspects of Digital Libraries
  A recap of a forum held on the social aspects of digital libraries at UCLA. Provides a description of the workshop and links to participant papers. One weakness of the site is its general blandness.
Research
- Center for Research & Development of Digital Libraries (CRADLE)
  Provides an overview of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill’s CRADLE project, which is interested in migration, management, and accessibility of digital information. The links are clearly laid out in categories on the homepage, making the site user friendly. One weakness of the site is that they do not provide abstracts of the articles listed that do not have links.
- Digital Libraries Research at Cornell
  Provides an overview of digital libraries research at Cornell University as well as current research projects, related work, and information about the research group. The information on this site is comprehensive and easy to understand, with relevant links. The site itself is dull, there are no interesting graphics or eye-catching material.
- Digital Libraries Research Laboratory of Virginia Tech
  Provides information and links for products, research initiatives, resources, publications and reports of the research laboratory. There is comprehensive and informative material provided about the project. The lay out of the site is unbalanced and uneven – it doesn’t seem as if a lot of thought went into design.
- Grainger Engineering Library Information Center Digital Library Research Projects
  Provides a bibliography of projects and search tools and resources for digital library development at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Interesting content some pretty inventive projects that the University is conducting. The site could be strengthened by providing some general background information.
- Informedia
  Sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University, provides information about the Informedia initiatives. Provides extensive information about the current state of research about digital libraries, the site also provides links for past research and publications. The site is slightly overwhelming due the extensive amount of information on the homepage.
- University of Michigan Digital Library Project
  Provides an overview and background of the projects. The information given is comprehensive and easy to follow. The site could be strengthened by providing an example of their work, rather than just an overview.
Periodicals
- D-Lib Magazine (Digital Library Magazine)
  An electronic publication that covers digital libraries research and development. The magazine provides free access to all of its materials. The home page is rather cluttered.
- National Digital Library Program, Library of Congress
  A collection of periodic reports from the Library of Congress’ National Digital Library. Clearly indicates the issue and date, with links to HTML and PDF versions. A weakness is that the latest update is from 1997.
- RLG DigiNews
  RLG DigiNews is a bimonthly Web-based newsletter focused on issues of vital interest to managers of digital initiatives, it is a publication of Cornell University. The site offers visitors the opportunity to browse through current issues and back issues, to search by author or title and the ability to search the site. One problem is that one of their search links is not active.
Organizations
- Center for the Study of Digital Libraries
  This Website is designed to provide an overview of the activities of the Center for the Study of Digital Libraries at Texas A&M University. The site is easy to use, with clear subjects on the navigation bar. The site could be better if they indicated on the homepage the purpose of their Center.
- Digital Library Federation
  This site provides general information about how the DLF operates, what services it provides, its initiatives, and its members. The site is easy to navigate, clearly laid out, uncluttered, and offers interesting information about preservation. There are no search options.
- OCLC Digital Libraries Research Group
  The purpose of this site is to provide updates to the public about the activities of OCLC’s digital libraries research group. The site is current, with an agenda, meeting summary and presentations on the Web site. The site could be strengthened by providing links to the Members’ organization’s Web pages.
Projects
- ACM Digital Library
  A digital library for the Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) articles, among their many journals. The site offers a comprehensive homepage, laying out the exact purpose of the site. The homepage is cluttered.
- Adams Family Papers
  An electronic archive of selections of digital images of the letters exchanged between John and Abigail Adams, John Adams's diary, and John Adams's autobiography, hosted by the Massachusetts Historical Society. The site contains incredible historical information, it’s easy to navigate with a nice presentation. The search tool is slow and cumbersome.
- American Memory
  A collection of materials regarding American history and culture from the Library of Congress. The site features an interesting “today in history” link and a link to a Turn of the Century exhibit. The “what’s new” portion of the site cold be more clearly laid out.
- Berkeley Digital Library
  The Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE builds digital collections and services and provides information and support to digital library developers around the globe. The site has links to numerous useful catalogues and indexes. The bibliographies section is rather weak.
- Columbia Information Services
  A selection of Columbia University’s Information Services digital projects and initiatives. The site provides links to its own resources as well as other university libraries and public libraries. The homepage is too cluttered.
- Digital Library of Georgia
  Provides a gateway to Georgia's history and culture. An extensive collection of materials regarding the history of Georgia, the collection includes, digitized books, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, audio and video. There is no way to search the site.
- Everglades Digital Library
  A library of information resources relating to the south Florida environment and the Everglades. The site provides comprehensive information, with an extensive search mechanism and authoritative collection. The site could be made more attractive with pictures of the Everglades.
- International Children's Digital Library
  A digital library of international children's books, a project of the University of Maryland/College Park (UMCP) and the Internet Archive. This site is colorful, inviting, and very comprehensive. The site may be too complicated for the young audience in which it’s intended.
- Kids Web
  Kids Web is digital library for K-12 students maintained by Syracuse University. This is a great site for kids, it’s easy to navigate and use, it has subject information that can be helpful for kids’ schoolwork. While the site offers five links for other digital libraries, three of them are broken.
- New York Public Library
  The digital library collection of the New York Public Library. A very attractive and Web site, with links numerous digital collections. A weakness of the site is that there is no general search option.
- Online Books Page
  The Online Books Page is a digital library with more than 20,000 free books on the Web. The site is easy to navigate and user-friendly. This page is very dull, not at all graphically interesting.
- Perseus Digital Library
  Perseus is a digital library of the classics department of Tufts University, its primary goal is to bring a wide range of source materials to as large an audience as possible. There are two very interesting digital exhibits on the home page. The subject area of this digital library is not immediately recognizable.
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collection
  Includes collections from the University of Washington Libraries, University of Washington Faculty and Departments, and with partnering organizations. The site is welcoming, with an attractive layout, it’s easy to use and navigate, and searching can be conducted within one, or within any combination of collections. More links to outside sources could be offered.