Microsoft Word - EducationLibrariesWinter2008DOC.doc Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 69 Resources on the Net – Current Issues in Digital Libraries Compiled by Chris Bober Survey Research Kenney, A., Entlich, R., Hirtle, B., McGovern, N., and Buckley, E. (2006, September). E-Journal archiving metes and bounds: A survey of the landscape. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from the Council on Library and Information Resources website: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub138/pub138.pdf The authors present the findings of a large scale survey that they conducted on 12 e-journal archiving programs. The survey grew out of academic libraries’ increasing awareness of the problems in e-journal archiving, although “ many are unclear on the dimensions of the problem, the alternatives for action, and what role they might play.” Academic libraries must support the development of viable, collaborative e-journal archiving initiatives in order to better service their respective user communities. The report includes a number of recommendations for academic libraries, for publishers, and for e- journal archiving programs. Markey, K., Rieh, S., St. Jean, B., Jihyun, K., and Yakel, E. (2007, February). Census of institutional repositories in the United States: MIRACLE project research findings. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from the Council on Library and Information Resources website: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub140/contents.html The authors report on the results of a nationwide census of institutional repositories in U.S. academic institutions. Institutional repositories developed out of the need to address the challenges posed by digital scholarship and its organization, accessibility, and preservation. Institutional repositories require considerable investment, and rather than work in isolation, the authors believe that “it would be helpful if academic institutions could learn from one another, sharing their experiences, building models, and formulating best practices.” Smith, K. (2008, Winter). Institutional repositories and e-journal archiving: What are we learning? Journal of Electronic Publishing. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3336451.0011.107 Smith provides a critical evaluation of the two above-mentioned surveys on e-journal archives and on institutional repositories. Both organizational models have their respective strengths and weaknesses. The surveys demonstrated that, regardless of the organizational model that is selected for digital archiving, they must have the active support and involvement of stakeholders if they are to evolve and succeed. Progress has been made but there are still challenges ahead “including those of refining missions, balancing stakeholder benefits, and building trust. Meeting these challenges is essential to the future of scholarly communication.” Selected National and International Initiatives Archive-It. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www.archive-it.org/ Archive-It was launched in 1996 by the Internet Archive in order to assist institutions which were exploring ways of archiving their Internet content. R e s o u r c e s o n t h e N e t Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 70 The Archive-It harvesting service uses Heretix, an Open Source web crawler to harvest sites from the surface Internet. Data-PASS. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2008, from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research website: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/DATAPASS/ The Data Preservation Alliance for the Social Sciences (Data-PASS) is “a broad-based partnership devoted to identifying, acquiring and preserving data at-risk of being lost to the social science research community.” It was established to preserve major social science research studies whose collections of data were at risk of being lost. The site includes a searchable catalog and many publicly accessible studies are downloadable. LOCKSS. (2008). Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://lockss.org/lockss/Home LOCKSS is a distributed e-journal archiving program that was developed at Stanford University in 1998. A number of major universities in North America and Europe are now part of the LOCKSS Alliance. Primarily intended for preservation, LOCKSS “provides libraries with digital preservation tools and support so that they can easily and inexpensively collect and preserve their own copies of authorized e-content.” Over 300 scholarly publishers have agreed to allow their content to be preserved by LOCKSS Alliance members. Current Issues in Creating and Managing Digital Libraries Brantley, P. (2008, March/April). Architectures for collaboration: Roles and expectations for digital libraries. Educause Review (Electronic version). 43 (2), 32, 34, 36-38. http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUS E+Review/ArchitecturesforCollabora/46313?ti me=1224452732 Brantley portrays current initiatives at building digital library collections as being piecemeal and ineffective. What is needed is a sea change in the role of libraries towards collaboration with their internal communities and with the information technology sector and scholarly publishers. Libraries success should be determined by “the extent that they can bridge communities and can leverage the diversity of the quest, the research, and the discovery. By building bridges among various sectors, libraries will be able to define themselves in the next generation.” OCLC. (2007, February). Trustworthy repositories audit & certification: Criteria and checklist. 1.0. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from the College and Research Libraries website: www.crl.edu/PDF/trac.pdf This document, co-produced by OCLC, the Center for Research Libraries, and the National Archives and Records Administration, provides a mechanism to evaluate the digital-preservation readiness of digital repositories. It is a self-assessment tool that can be used to “establish the documentation requirements, delineate a process for certification, and establish appropriate methodologies for determining the soundness and sustainability of digital repositories.” Pomerantz, J. (2008). Digital (library services) and (digital library) services. Journal of Digital Information. 9 (27). Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://journals.tdl.org/jodi Pomerantz defines and explores the notion of digital library services, both those provided by physical libraries, and those provided in virtual environments. Although there are many similarities in the services provided, traditional library services are user focused, while digital library services are primarily system focused. Both of these approaches add value, and in order for today’s libraries to flourish, they “must make use of technology to provide new digital services, and must explore users’ perceptions of value and methods of value creation.” Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 71 Digital Preservation Issues Cornell University Library. (2007). Digital preservation management: Implementing short- term strategies for long-term problems. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from the Inter- University Consortium for Political and Social Research website: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/dpm/dpm- eng/eng_index.html This is an online introductory tutorial that covers the organizational and technological infrastructure and dedicated resources necessary to prepare an institutional digital preservation program. Included are “definitions, key concepts, practical advice, exercises, and up-to-date references.” It can also be used be used as an introductory complement to the Digital Preservation Management workshop series, a five day workshop hosted by Cornell University. It is intended for managers who are contemplating or implementing digital preservation programs in libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions. Workshops are scheduled for October 2009, and May 2010. Rieger, O. (2008, February). CLIR reports: Preservation in the age of large-scale digitization: A white paper. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from the Council on Library and Information Resources website: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub141/contents.html This paper focuses on large-scale digitization initiatives (LSDIs) for research library collections of books, and the potential for long-term preservation of print and digital content. Particular attention is paid to “the large collections that are or may be digitized as a result of a partnership with Google, Microsoft, the Open Content Alliance (OCA), or similar agencies.” This paper looks at proponents of large scale initiatives, its critics, and those that occupy a middle ground approach. Large Scale Digital Initiatives American Memory. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from the Library of Congress Web site: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html American Memory Historical Collections provides free and open access to primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. Included are over 100 collections of written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music. Currently there are over nine million individual items in the collection. Cornell University Library. (2005). Registry of Digital Collections. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from the Cornell University Library website: http://rdc.library.cornell.edu/search/index.php? mode=browse&type=Collection The Cornell University Library Registry of Digital Collections offers a wide variety of digital repositories and collections that emanate from this institution and its immediate community. Featured collections of photographs, images, slides, and texts are available to the research community. Also included on this site is the Cornell University Library Windows on the Past, a selection of digital collections of historical value. Internet Archive. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www.archive.org/index.php The Internet Archive is a non-profit initiative that was established in 1996 to create an Internet Library of historical collections that exist in digital format. Its purpose is to offer permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars. Presently, the Internet Archive collections includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages. Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 72 National science digital library. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://nsdl.org/ Established by the National Science Foundation, the National Science Digital Library is an online library that provides access to digital resources in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and research. Its primary goal is to provide better access to science and mathematics content so these materials can be used effectively. Recognized nationally as a key curricular tool, it provides “opportunities to utilize virtual labs, real- time data, simulations, interactives, research reports, and journal articles, as well as materials addressing physical accessibility, bilingual content, and more.” California Digital Library. Online Archive of California. (2008). Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ The Online Archive of California is a “digital information resource that facilitates and provides access to materials such as manuscripts, photographs, and works of art held in libraries, museums, archives, and other institutions across California The collection now consists of over 120,000 images, 50,000 pages of documents, letters, and oral histories, and 8,000 guides to collections. The archive is available to students, teachers, and researchers at all levels. Curriculum Resources WGBH Educational Foundation. (2008). Teacher’s Domain. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://www.teachersdomain.org Teachers’ Domain is an online library of more than 1,000 free media resources, including “video and audio segments, Flash interactives, images, documents, lesson plans for teachers, and student- oriented activities. These resources are drawn from PBS television programs including NOVA, Frontline, Design Squad, and American Experience. There are three different versions of Teachers’ Domain available: Teachers’ Domain K-12 Edition, the College Edition for higher education institutions, and VITAL on Teachers’ Domain for New York State educators. Directories of Digital Libraries IFLA. (2008, April 09). DIGITAL LIBRARIES: Resources and projects. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://www.ifla.org/II/diglib.htm Discussion list on digital libraries (bibliography, list of electronic journals, programmes of conferences, inventory of American and European projects) set up by IFLA. dmoz Open Directory Project. (2008, August 27). Reference:libraries:digital. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Digital/ The dmoz Open Directory Project provides an annotated list of over 80 prominent initiatives created by universities and by municipal, state, and national governments. Compiler’s note: Text that is enclosed within quotations marks has been taken directly from the source document. Chris Bober is the Education Librarian at Concordia University Libraries. boberc@alcor.concordia.ca