LIS654 lecture 1 Introduction Thomas Krichel

introduction This lecture is to introduce the topic of digital libraries. Some of it is based on Bill Arms’ book, from its introductory chapter.

contents digital libraries digital librarianship a course on digital libraries with the aim of training digital librarians

digital libraries Generally, we can think about digital libraries are – information stored on a computer – delivered via a network – mimics existing libraries As Arms puts it “a managed collection of information, with associated services, where the information is stored in digital formats and accessible over a network”.

prospects We are at the start of digital libraries. The problem is that the technology is still expensive, the cost is still coming down. The opportunity is that we can build pioneering systems now, that will have a lasting social impact.

example ISI journal citation report is based on two years of data of citations to journals. When Eugene Garfield founded it, he published the report in the second year of getting data. For the next issue, he chose the same horizon of data. Citation rankings of journals still use 2 years, almost 50 years after.

benefits: availability Digital libraries bring the information closer to the user than physical libraries can – physically – temporarily Even when you are in the physical library you still get faster access to digital library items.

benefits: findability Information can be more easily found in digital than in print. Some non-textual information is still only findable via metadata. But computer scientists are working on that.

benefits: sharing Information can be shared. Items can not be damaged. Items can not be stolen.

benefits: updating Information can be kept up-to-date more easily. To update a book, you have to reprint all copies, and replace them.

benefits: new media Information can be created and manipulated in completely new ways. For example location information can be mixed up with subject information.

issue: costs The cost of storing print information is very high. It is a multiple of acquisition costs. Digital storage devices decline in price. But digital information manipulation requires skills that are not easy to procure. The overall cost comparison is difficult to assess.

drawback: preservation Preserving information is easy on paper. Preserving digital information looks very hard. We will look at this issue in the course.

drawbacks: monopoly dangers Since the information only needs to be kept in one copy, and others can access it, there are inherent dangers of the build-up of monopolies. One example is Google search engine.

drawbacks: free information Since the information is more easy to copy it is harder to police illegal sharing. Some creators and intermediaries are feeling the pinch. The newspaper industry is one. Physical libraries are one potential victim.

drawbacks: professional upheaval Digital librarianship is as yet, largely undefined. This leads me to the next topic.

digital librarianship Librarianship has always been a bicephal occupation. Libraries always have a collection and service aspect them. Digital libraries are no different.

collection aspect The collection has to be managed and organized. The organizers deal with dead matter, documents. This organization is a scientific activity. Librarianship is a natural science. The librarian is a cataloger in a corner.

service aspect Users have to be shown how the library works. Librarians have to understand users’ needs to build services users want. All these are social activities. Librarianship is a social science. The librarian is a people service person.

digital information was hard to use Computers had to be driven by esoteric commands. Screens were hard to read from. Telephone lines where hard to get to work to transmit information Access costs to digital information was high. The service aspect was important.

digital information is becoming easier Computers are more and more easy to use. Digital information providers tend to communicate directly with customers, bypassing libraries. Subject literacy becomes relatively more important than information literacy. The service aspect is being reduced over time.

an important caveat Most items in the modern (19 th, 20 th century) are mass-produced. There is no mass production or mass storage in the digital library. The difference between publishers, archives and libraries become very blurred.

a course on digital libraries? My initial thought is that a course on digital libraries is nonsensical. In the recent future, all libraries will be digital.

digital libraries course Literacy and use of digital media. The idea is to look at what digital libraries exist and how to use them. This is really already done in LIS511. The course has the “building” theme to it.

building aspect Building a digital library can basically take three for – electronic resource management – repository building – cross-repository services

electronic resource management Libraries license digital contents from providers and make them available. There are some minor technical issue – authentication – integration with ILS legal issues with the licensing minor training issues with users

repository building Libraries are building repositories of local digital or digitized contents. This is firmly on the technical side. It is the main focus of the LIS654 course as it has been developed in the past. We cover digitization as part of repository building.

cross-repository services I think of repositories as publishers, rather than libraries. Digital libraries are cross-repository datasets and services attached to them. This is where I have done almost all my work. It can not be done without custom computer programming.

course syllabus It draws heavily on Brian Hoffman’s syllabus in Manhattan, Spring It is sharply non-technical. It draws a line at web interfaces. One can argue that without computer programming, one can not be a digital librarian. But most digital libraries fail because of non- technical issues.

my expertise My main expertise is in setting up completely new open-access digital library services and collections. In non-technical terms, I can discuss how to set up these service and how they run. But I am reluctant to appear like a self- promoting pompous git.

Please shutdown the computers when you are done. Thank you for your attention!