Educom Review

Challenges of the Digital Library

By Joan K. Lippincott

Sequence: Volume 32, Number 3

Release Date: May/June 1997

For many, the term digital library conjures up an image of a sprawling

universe of information available through the Internet and accessible via home or office workstations, fulfilling the promise to provide information at any time, to any place, and for any user.

Many consider the World Wide Web to be "the" digital library. This vast information conglomeration is too volatile to be called a storehouse, however; but thinking of digital libraries merely as vast repositories of materials is also too limited. To be genuinely useful, a digital library must have a number of characteristics, enumerated below, in addition to being a collection of digitized materials.

COHERENCE - Digital libraries should have a coherent, organizing principle, sorting materials by topic or by type of material, for instance. Subject experts in each area can assemble the collections, which will then be combined to form large digital libraries maintained by institutions for their clientele and the global Internet community. Ideally, different institutions will take responsibility for building digital collections of various types and then share those collections with others, thus optimizing the advantages of the distributed nature of the Internet.

ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE - Although currently, many Internet sites are open, free of charge, an increasing number of sites are limiting access to subscribers or to those who pay a fee. Some digital library projects that have been developed in academic institutions now are searching for continued funding and are considering licensing arrangements or user fees. Electronic commerce in the digital environment is still in the early stages of development. SEARCHABILITY - The ability to find and use materials on the Internet is a major challenge for most users. While rudimentary tools are available, they often yield disappointing results. Many researchers and companies are working on accessibility issues from several vantage points. Developing more sophisticated search engines is one approach; another is developing filtering devices based on individual profiles and "knowbots" that search the Internet on the user's behalf. In addition, researchers and practitioners are looking at the information that needs to be imbedded or attached to networked information in order for the search systems to be most effective. If a document or Web site has information about itself built into it in a standard format (metadata), that will allow the search engines to retrieve information more efficiently.

PRESERVATION - By definition, libraries collect information for both current and future needs of users. However, there are few systematic efforts in place to ensure continued access to the digital collections on the Internet. Information on the Internet is, in many cases, ephemeral and presents considerable challenges for archiving. Preservation must also ensure that information resources remain intact; unauthorized tampering with the content of electronic resources could have grave implications for its continued value. Security technologists will aid in preservation by preventing corruption or destruction of information resources and ensuring their authenticity.

SERVICE - Many Internet users operate in a self-service mode, but not necessarily out of choice. Few digital libraries have built services into their offerings of collections. Users of a data set from the Bureau of the Census might need assistance with interpretation or manipulation of the information or a user might need assistance with the best way to use existing Internet search engines. Digital libraries can build in services where users can ask questions (see the Internet Public Library at http://ipl.sils.umich.edu/), use frames to provide guidance and instruction, and can develop FAQ (frequently asked questions) files to assist users.

OPPORTUNITIES - Digital libraries offer new opportunities to enhance the value of collections to users. The Library of Congress's National Digital Library Program's "American Memory" project includes a "Learning Page" that helps K-12 teachers and students to use materials related to the topics of their collection (see http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/). The digital library, GALEN II, being developed at the University of California, San Francisco, plans to provide its users with the tools they need to create, disseminate, and organize information as well as just find it (see http://www.library.ucsf.edu). Digital libraries are offering a wealth of information to a large community of users and will become an increasingly valuable part of the Internet as they are developed in a coherent and imaginative way.

Joan K. Lippincott is interim executive director of the Coalition for

Networked Information. joan@cni.org