1. T.Sharon-A.Frank 1 Internet Resources Discovery (IRD) Views on Digital Libraries Thanks to Hadas Weinberger

2. 2 T.Sharon-A.Frank Electronic Library Virtual Library Digital Library Portals - Almost all, lately?! Almost all, lately?! Names of the New Paradigm

3. 3 T.Sharon-A.Frank Virtual Library (1) A "library without walls" in which the collection does not exist on paper, microform, or in any tangible form, but is accessible electronically. Such libraries exist only on a very small scale, but in many traditional libraries, current and retrospective periodicals and some reference works are being converted to digital format.

4. 4 T.Sharon-A.Frank The term digital library is more appropriate because the term virtual (borrowed from virtual reality) suggests that the experience of using such a library is not the same as the real thing, when in fact, reading or viewing a document on a computer screen may be qualitatively different from reading a printed book or periodical, but the information or knowledge imparted is the same regardless of format. http://www.wcsu.edu/library/odlis.html#virtuallibrary Virtual Library (2)

5. 5 T.Sharon-A.Frank What is a Digital library A library in which a significant proportion of the resources are available in digital (machine-readable) format, as opposed to print or microform. The process of digitization began with indexes and abstracting services, then moved to periodicals and reference books, and is now entering the field of book publication. Compare with virtual library. http://www.wcsu.edu/library/odlis.html#D

6. 6 T.Sharon-A.Frank DL Services: Example University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Remote reference services. Video-based reference services with e-mail based reference services. “ We play a cultural role in the sense that librarians have traditionally applied a broader range of knowledge to pieces of information. I think it’s high tech and high touch. Bring in high tech, but give it a human face. And that face is the face of a librarian.”

7. 7 T.Sharon-A.Frank Advantages of a Digital Library (1) The concept "library" has been refined over several centuries. It would be injudicious to depart from what people expect merely because a digital service is replacing a material one. Except where explicit reasons suggest animprovement that is easily explained to ordinary users (e.g., in query services), library services should implement a familiar model. Many potential advantages of a digital library over a paper library are similar to those of any digital database over its paper counterpart.

8. 8 T.Sharon-A.Frank Faster addition to the collection Better quality control Improved search functionality Faster access to information found More freedom Reduced bureaucracy for individual users. Achieving these advantages depends not only on efforts traditionally undertaken by computer scientists, but also on the highest quality engineering for human usability. Advantages of a Digital Library (2)

9. 9 T.Sharon-A.Frank Retry - What is a Digital Library? A managed collection of information, with associated services, where the information is stored in digital formats and accessible over a network. Arms, William, Y., Digital Libraries, MIT press, Cambridge, 2000.

10. 10 T.Sharon-A.Frank So the Digital Library is: The collection of services that supports users in: – creating, dealing and sharing information. – organization and presentation of information objects. The collection of information objects: –Available directly or indirectly for access via electronic/digital means.

11. 11 T.Sharon-A.Frank The Ten Dimensions The Ten Dimensions for exploring the potential differences between Traditional libraries and Digital libraries.

12. 12 T.Sharon-A.Frank Differences between Traditional and Digital libraries 1.Evolution Dynamics - Traditional libraries are stable and slowly evolving; digital libraries are highly dynamic, ephemeral and versioned. 2.Object Structure - Traditional libraries hold atomic objects of mostly print in big crisp chunks; digital libraries hold inter-linked, multimedia objects which are multi-size, fractal, and ill-defined.

13. 13 T.Sharon-A.Frank Differences between Traditional and Digital libraries 3. Structure - Traditional libraries hold objects with largely flat structure and minimal context and meta information; digital libraries support documents with significant internal scaffold structure and significant context/meta information which might be automatically extracted.

14. 14 T.Sharon-A.Frank 4. Origin - Traditional (academic) libraries hold objects which are scholar-authored and pre-credentialled through a ponderous publishing stream; digital libraries allow anyone to publish in a lightweight way, and can support pre-credentialling or credentially through use. Differences between Traditional and Digital libraries

15. 15 T.Sharon-A.Frank 5. Access Control - Traditional libraries are based upon centralized control and relatively few access locations; digital libraries can be distributed and ubiquitous. 6. Object Structure - In traditional libraries the objects are physically & logically co-controlled; in digital libraries the physical and logical organizations can be separated (allows virtual collections). Differences between Traditional and Digital libraries

16. 16 T.Sharon-A.Frank 7. Free Access - The tradition of public libraries is universal access and free; digital libraries could be similar in this regard, or digital libraries could support rich layers of access control and management of terms and conditions. 8. Interaction - Traditional libraries support one-way, loosely coupled (slow) interaction; digital libraries support two-way communication with tight, fast interaction. Differences between Traditional and Digital libraries

17. 17 T.Sharon-A.Frank 9. Simple Search - Traditional libraries are based upon a model of one-way search (a consumer looking for an object); digital libraries support symmetric search (consumer looking for an object an producer of the object looking for a consumer). 10. Interactive Complex Search - In traditional libraries structured text queries (and some browsing) are used to aid intellectual access; in digital libraries complex interactions of query, navigation/browsing, and social filtering can be used. Differences between Traditional and Digital libraries