2. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University1 Research in digital libraries the big picture

3. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University2 Visionaries 7Vannevar Bush (1945) –“As we may think” Atlantic Monthly –machine Memex 7J.C.R. Licklider (1964) –Libraries in the future 7Both envisioned computers for storing, organizing, finding & retrieving human knowledge

4. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University3 Challenge –computers very effective dealing with well defined problems –dealing with human knowledge is not a well defined problem 7Needed: effective alliance between computers & human knowledge records –not easy at all –basic theme of all DL research

5. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University4 Estimation themes 7underestimated how much can be achieved by brute computer power & cheap computing 7overestimated the power of artificial intelligence, improvements in computer methods & natural language processing to deal with human knowledge records

6. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University5 the Web –computers in libraries long before the Web –but the Web enabled digital libraries provides a convenient way to distribute information over Internet 7spurred both practical developments & applied research –INDEPENDENT of each other

7. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University6 Technical problems Substantial, larger & more complex than anticipated: –representing, storing & retrieving of library objects particularly if originally designed to be printed & then digitized –operationally managing large collections - issues of scale –dealing with diverse & distributed collections

8. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University7 Research issues –understanding objects in DL representing in many formats non-textual materials –metadata, cataloging, indexing –conversion, digitization –organizing large collections –managing collections, scaling –preservation, archiving –interoperability, standardization

9. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University8 Research issues... –user interfaces & human- computer interaction –information discovery search, retrieval, browsing –natural language processing –reliability, robustness –performance, evaluation –social, legal & economic issues –impact on scholarship, education & other areas

10. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University9 Digital Library Initiatives (DLI) 7Research consortia under National Science Foundation –DLI 1: 1994-98, 3 agencies, $24M, six large projects –DLI 2: 1999-2006, 8 agencies, $60+M, 77 large & small projects in various categories 7‘digital library’ not defined to cover many topics & stretch ideas –not constrained by practice

11. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University10 Projects in DLI 1 “Informedia Digital Video Library” - images in DL; continued in DLI 2 Carnegie Mellon U “Environmental Planning and Geographic Information Systems” - environmental information U of California at Berkeley; continued in DLI 2 “Spatially-referenced map information” - geospacial sources U of California at Santa Barbara; continued in DLI 2

12. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University11 Projects in DLI 1 (cont.) “Federating repositories of scientific literature” - interoperability U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign “Intelligent agents for information location” - interfaces for providers, mediation & users Michigan U “Interoperation mechanisms among heterogeneous services” - Infobus Stanford U; continued in DLI 2

13. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University12 Results? Mixed bag –original hoopla high –no overall evaluation, so difficult to gauge what really accomplished –some characteristics: 5 of 6 Principal Investigators from comp science four projects continue in DLI 2 four have established testbeds two have links with the university library 7Is digital library research a province of computer science?

14. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University13 Projects in DLI 2 7Larger number & diversity –reflects more agencies & fields –computer scientists still dominant –but others joined in many projects still almost no librarians 7A number of projects have definite operational goals 7Some projects toward education

15. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University14 Sample of DLI2 projects Re-inventing Scholarly Information Dissemination & Use U of California - Berkeley High Performance Digital Library Classification Systems U of Arizona Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative U of California at Los Angeles Data Provenance U of Pennsylvania

16. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University15 Alexandria Digital Library Earth Prototype U of California Santa Barbara Project Prism: Information Integrity in Digital Libraries Cornell University Digital Analysis and Recognition of Whale Images on a Network Eckerd College An Operational Social Science Digital Data Library Harvard

17. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University16 Creating the Digital Music Library Indiana U Techniques for restoring, searching, & editing humanities collections University of Kentucky National Gallery of the Spoken Word Michigan State U Automatic Reference Librarians for the World Wide Web U of Washington Digital Libraries for Children U of Maryland

18. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University17 DLI2: Results so far… 728 projects in the main part: –orientation: 18 (64%) domain, 1o technology - in DLI1 33% domain –53% PIs from comp sc -in DLI1 83% –5 include practical dl in their domain –9 show demos of work –but the amount & quality of results vary greatly from site to site

19. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University18 DL projects in practice 7Assoc of Res Libraries (ARL) db: –427 dl projects in 13 countries –374 in the US 51% in universities; 24% fed govmt; 9% hist societies; 6% regional … 84% are explicitly retrospective; 16% technological 1 listed from DLI (Illinois) no connection with DLI projects

20. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University19 Agenda in ARL listed projects –providing access to specialized materials and collections from an institution (s) that are otherwise not accessible –covering in an integral way a topic with a range of sources –providing technological support for specific functions in digital libraries

21. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University20 Internationally: UK 7UK Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) –UKOLN: The UK Office for Library and Information Networking –oriented toward practice & development not research directly –a number of innovative projects –considerable funding –heavy library involvement

22. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University21 European Union 7DELOS Network of Excelence on Digital Libraries –many projects throughout European Union heavily technological –many meetings, workshops –resembles DLIs in the US –well funded, long range

23. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University22 Agendas 7Most dl research agenda is set from top down –from funding agencies to projects –imprint of the computer science community's interest & vision 7Most dl practice agendas are set from bottom up –from institutions, incl. many libraries –imprint of institutional missions, interests & vision

24. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University23 Connections 7 dl research &dl practice presently are conducted –mostly independent of each other, –minimally informing each other, –& having slight, or no connection 7Parallel universes with little connections & interaction

25. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University24 Conclusions 7Most DLI research concentrated on technical, infrastructure issues –Positive: essential for innovation –Negative: research & library communities totally separated 7Problems harder than thought, results less than expected –normal for research in general –how will this be translated?

26. © Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University25