Digital Library Programs For Libraries And Archives

Planning and managing a self-contained digitization project is one thing, but how do you transition to a digital library program? Or better yet, how do you start a program from scratch? In this book Purcell, a well-respected expert in both archives and digital libraries, combines theory and best practices with practical application, showing how to approach digital projects as an ongoing effort. He not only guides librarians and archivists in transitioning from project-level initiatives to a sustainable program but also provides clear step-by-step instructions for building a digital library program from the bottom up, even for organizations with limited staff. Approachable and easy to follow, this book traces the historical growth of digital libraries and the importance of those digital foundations; summarizes current technological challenges that affect the planning of digital libraries, and how librarians and archivists are adapting to the changing information landscape; uses examples to lay out the core priorities of leading successful digital programs; covers the essentials of getting started, from vision and mission building to identifying resources and partnerships; emphasizes the importance of digitizing original unique materials found in library and archives collections, and suggests approaches to the selection process; addresses metadata and key technical standards; discusses management and daily operations, including assessment, enhancement, sustainability, and long-term preservation planning; provides guidance for marketing, promotion, and outreach, plus how to take into account such considerations as access points, intended audiences, and educational and instructional components; and includes exercises designed to help readers define their own digital projects and create a real-world digital program plan. Equally valuable for LIS students just learning about the digital landscape, information professionals taking their first steps to create digital content, and organizations who already have well-established digital credentials, Purcell's book outlines methods applicable and scalable to many different types and sizes of libraries and archives.

This new edition of Digital Preservation in Libraries, Archives, and Museums is the most current, complete guide to digital preservation available today. For administrators and practitioners alike, the information in this book is presented readably, focusing on management issues and best practices. Although this book addresses technology, it is not solely focused on technology. After all, technology changes and digital preservation is aimed for the long term. This is not a how-to book giving step-by-step processes for certain materials in a given kind of system. Instead, it addresses a broad group of resources that could be housed in any number of digital preservation systems. Finally, this book is about “things (not technology; not how-to; not theory) I wish I knew before I got started.” Digital preservation is concerned with the life cycle of the digital object in a robust and all-inclusive way. Many Europeans and some North Americans may refer to digital curation to mean the same thing, taking digital preservation to be the very limited steps and processes needed to insure access over the long term. The authors take digital preservation in the broadest sense of the term: looking at all aspects of curating and preserving digital content for long term access. The book is divided into four part: 1.Situating Digital Preservation, 2.Management Aspects, 3.Technology Aspects, and 4.Content-Related Aspects. Digital Preservation will answer questions that you might not have even known you had, leading to more successful digital preservation initiatives.

Equally valuable for LIS students just learning about the digital landscape, information professionals taking their first steps to create digital content, and organizations who already have well-established digital credentials, Purcell’s book outlines methods applicable and scalable to many different types and sizes of libraries and archives.

Digital Libraries: Policy, Planning and Practice brings together a wealth of international experience in the planning and implementation of digital and hybrid library projects, providing a stimulating and informative handbook and reference for library staff and information managers. It consists of chapters contributed by leading specialists from Europe, North America, South Africa and the Middle East, who offer their insight into the decision-making processes that have shaped a variety of different digitization programmes. Beginning with introductory overviews of the digital library context, the US Digital Library Program and the UK e-lib and hybrid library programmes, Digital Libraries then divides into two main sections on policy and planning, and implementation and practice. The first explores concerns such as financial and resource planning, digitized compared to born-digital content and related service issues, open access to scholarly research archives, policies for and against preservation and their justification, and evaluating electronic information services. The second section is based on case studies on major European and North American digital library projects, including the Glasgow Digital Library, UCEEL (University of Central England Electronic Library), the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (discussed in the context of five international projects), the Indiana University music Variations and Variations2 Project, and the beginnings of the Library of Congress digital program and its integration into core library services. The concluding chapter discusses the way forward for digital libraries in the context of experiences at Tilburg University library, and possible enabling or limiting factors in the future. The result of drawing together these varied and illuminating experiences is a book that offers useful information and comparisons for all digital library project staff, institutional administrators, educators and developers of learning technology. It also provides useful pointers for researchers and project staff involved in archive and museum projects, as well as introducing students to the key ingredients of successful digital libraries.

Special libraries are facing increasing challenges today. The bigfgest challenge before them is how to demonstrate that they are the best source of specialized information despite reliance on the web for information. Special libraries therefore need to change in terms of their collections, roles, services and evolve strategies for managing the change. Preservation refers to the set of activities that aims to prolong the life of a record and relevant metadata, or enhance its value, or improve access to it through noninterventive means. This includes actions taken to influence records creators prior to selection and acquisition. The purpose of preservation is to ensure protection of information of enduring value for access by present and future generations. Libraries and archives have served as the central institutional focus for preservation, and both types of institutions include preservation as one of their core functions. In recent decades, many major libraries and archives have established formal preservation programs for traditional materials which include regular allocation of resources for preservation, preventive measures to arrest deterioration of materials, remedial measures to restore the usability of selected materials, and the incorporation of preservation needs and requirements into overall program planning. This book attempts to provide all basic aspects of digital library in an authentic but simple style. It describes the revolutionary changes brought out by digital libraries in the entire concept of library organisation, managements and operations. It also discusses the challenges emerging due to the adoption of newer technologies.

This easy-to-follow guide to digitization fundamentals will ensure that readers gain a solid grasp of the knowledge and resources available for getting started on their own digital collection projects.

Technological advances and innovative perspectives constantly evolve the notion of what makes up a digital library. Archives and the Digital Library provides an insightful snapshot of the current state of archiving in the digital realm. Respected experts in library and information science present the latest research results and illuminating case studies to provide a comprehensive glimpse at the theory, technological advances, and unique approaches to digital information management as it now stands. The book focuses on digitally reformatted surrogates of non-digital textual and graphic materials from archival collections, exploring the roles archivists can play in broadening the scope of digitization efforts through creatively developing policies, procedures, and tools to effectively manage digital content. Many of the important advances in digitization of materials have little to do with the efforts of archivists. Archives and the Digital Library concentrates specifically on the developments in the world of archives and the digitization of the unique content of information resources archivists deal with on a constant basis. This resource reviews the current issues and challenges, effective user assessment techniques, various digital resources projects, collaboration strategies, and helpful best practices. The book is extensively referenced and includes helpful illustrative figures. Topics in Archives and the Digital Library include: a case study of LSTA-grant funded California Local History Digital Resources Project expanding the scope of traditional archival digitations projects beyond the limits of a single institution a case study of the California Cultures Project the top ten themes in usability issues case studies of usability studies, focus groups, interviews, ethnographic studies, and web log analysis developing a reciprocal partnership with a digital library the technical challenges in harvesting and managing Web archives metadata strategies to provide descriptive, technical, and preservation related information about archived Web sites long-term preservation of digital materials building a trusted digital repository collaboration in developing and supporting the technical and organizational infrastructure for sustainability in both academic and state government the Archivists’ Toolkit software application Archives and the Digital Library is timely, important reading for archivists, librarians, library administrators, library information educators, archival educators, and students.

Have changes such as cloud computing, search engines, the Semantic Web, and mobile applications rendered such long-standing academic library services and functions as special collections, interlibrary loans, physical processing, and even library buildings unnecessary? Can the academic library effectively reconceive itself as a virtual institution? Stielow, who led the library program of the online university American Public University System, argues most emphatically that it can. His comprehensive look at web-based academic libraries synthesizes the changes wrought by the Web revolution into a visionary new model, grounded in history as well as personal experience. He demonstrates how existing functions like cataloging, circulation, collection development, reference, and serials management can be transformed by entrepreneurship, human face/electronic communicator relations, web apps, and other innovations. Online education can ensure that libraries remain strong information and knowledge hubs, and his timely book Shows how the origins and history of the academic library have laid the foundation for our current period of flux Identifies practices rooted in print-based storage to consider for elimination, and legacy services ready to be adapted to virtual operations Discusses tools and concepts libraries will embrace in a networked world, including new opportunities for library relevance in bookstore/textbook operations, compliance, library/archival/museum functions, e-publishing, and tutorial services Offers a thorough examination of the virtual library infrastructure crucial for an online learning program, with a special look at the particular needs and responsibilities of online librarians Looks at the evolving relationship between higher education and copyright, and posits how educational technology will bring further changes Bursting with stimulating ideas and wisdom gleaned from first-hand experience, Stielow’s book presents a model for offering outstanding higher education library services in an increasingly online environment.