“Old Style” Libraries,Digital Libraries:

Convergences,

Divergences,

And the Troubles in Between

What is a

“Digital Library?”

Physical Libraries :

• Bound to the medium of the book

• Embodiment of the “sedimented” values & practices of print culture, including– Fixity of the print artifact / manufactured

object– Finite set of well-known paths to items– Built-in structures of legitimation & authority– Importance of local repositories

“Library Function”

• Identify, acquire, organize, support, and preserve cultural and intellectual expression in its recorded forms

• Core values:– Unfettered availability of all materials to meet

educational, cultural, intellectual, civic, and personal needs

– Commitment to standard methods & practices in service of resource sharing & open access

– Preserve the cllection, i.e. keep it permanently accessible

“Library Function,” cont’d

• Libraries as cultural heritage institutions• Libraries as embedded in larger social

systems:– Communities (cities, towns)– Colleges & universities– Corporations & similar organizations

• Library as social / physical / virtual nexus for the cultural & intellectual record

Repository & Service Roles

• All true libraries are defined by coherent and carefully assembled collections keyed to specific domains, with services supporting associated user needs. For example:– Public Libraries – general readers– College Libraries – undergraduate learning– University Libraries – advanced learning & research– Special Libraries – corporate or organizational

research

Browsing & Serendipity

• Physical libraries, through their classified grouping of related items in open book-stacks, have long supported two key aspects of learning & intellectual inquiry:– Browsing of related items– Serendipitous encounters with unexpected or

previously unknown ideas & materials

“Deep Access”Indexical and Research Aids

• Libraries incorporate structured tools for analytical access to “buried” information, including indexes & abstracts, reference compendia, bibliographies & finding aids, and experienced intelligent human agents, also known as “reference librarians.”

Libraries as Filtering Systems

• Libraries are (medium independent) complex and layered filtering and access systems – for aggregating cultural and intellectual

materials– for providing efficient routes into the specific

content of those materials

Evolutionary Models:From Physical to Digital

• Library Web Sites as “Digital Gateways:”– Villanova Library Web site

• Entry point to content & resources accessible elsewhere• Delivery medium for new digital services• Provides “information architecture” for wide array of

heterogeneous items (databases, journals, e-books, research aids, etc.)

– "Internet Public Library“• More generic approach for general Web users

– Online Books Page (UPenn)

Libraries as Content Creators:Phase I

• Convert physical items for digital access• Describe items for access in online

environment– From “cataloging” to “metadata”

• Provide enhanced searchability• Make unique local resources universally

available• Sustain commitment to ideal of “coherent

collections”

Library Content Creators:Some Examples

• Making of America (Mellon cooperative)

• Electronic Text Center (UVa)

• Perseus Project (Tufts)

• Digital Bridges (Lehigh)

• Irish Press -- (Villanova) [Netscape view]

• Irish Press (Villanova) [IE View]

Digital Conversion:Project Challenges

• Lack of standards

• Lack of robust, fully-functional software

• Metadata requirements– Descriptive– Structural

• Need to replicate some aspects of physical artifact

• Lack of integration with other services

Some Broader Projects

• California Digital Library (CDL@UC)

• National Science Digital Library (NSF)

• Association for Computing Machinery

The Realities of the Information Age

(David Lankes, Syracuse University)• Information (and Knowledge) has Escaped

the Confines of Text– A Digit is a Digit

• The Computer Science Community is Unprepared– Digital Preservation, Digital Libraries without

Name Authority, the Hidden Web

• Librarians at the mercy of the Computer Scientists

The Cultural Shift(Lankes, again)

• Librarianship as a Technical Skill

• Librarians as the Knowledge the Guides the Information Age– Conscience of the Computer Scientist

• Partners

• Active and Advocate for Those We Serve– Entice our Partners to Solve our Problems– Solve our Own Problems…

• And benefit from the solutions

Convergence of Traditional & Digital:Mature Library Technology Environment

• Portals & personalization• “Federated searching” / Meta-searching / XML gateways• SRW / SRU• “Virtual reference”• Course Management software resource integration• Desktop delivery of shared / converted documents• Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition• Institutional Repositories• Technology-mediated research skills training• Push toward digitization of Special Collections and other

unique materials• Digital Rights Management

Key “Digital Library” Initiatives

• Google “print” (U of Michigan, Stanford, NYPL, Harvard, BL, etc.)

• Million books project• Open Archives Initiative• Metadata Harvesting• Networked Digital Library of Electronic Theses &

Dissertations• Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resource

Coalition• Digital Library Federation standards• Fedora project

Questions?