2/7/2001 Presentation at the University of Kansas Digital Libraries – Meeting the Challenges Beth Forrest Warner

Digital Library Challenges Are … … not just Digital Library challenges They are many of the same challenges facing libraries and scholarly communication in general With some unique additions…

What Are These Challenges? Landscape Definition / Purpose Operational Policy

Landscape Challenges Technology / Research blurred boundaries Publishing / Content dynamic, linked, licensed ownership / use Higher Education new learning contexts In short, change … … leading to new organizational structures

Challenges of Definition and Purpose What are Digital Libraries?? What’s their purpose??

A Digital Library Is: Selected and managed digital collections Schema for organizing and access Supporting infrastructure and architecture Systems, not projects “archetypes” not “prototypes” Sustainable Closely tied to the academic mission and built in collaboration with scholarship A commitment of resources on a scale consistent with the mission

Evolving Requirements Today, digital libraries are facing the challenge of moving beyond the phase of individual autonomous projects (‘prototypes’) to that of providing a structured framework of systems (‘archetypes’) that give context and synergy to the collections of available resources. In addition, these resources are expanding beyond the ‘traditional’ resources offered by digital libraries to place an additional emphasis on providing support for managing, preserving, and providing access to the intellectual property created by the University community.

Digital Libraries …are more than simply network-accessible collections of information They provide a mechanism for collecting and organizing the information that faculty and students need for their work regaining control of scholarly information

Content and users, then, are the two fundamentals that drive digital library development. As we consider the purpose of digital libraries, we should keep foremost in mind the people who will be using the technological systems we design, and the content to be held within those systems. Digital Library Fundamentals

Technology Content Users

Operational Challenges Diversity of content Evolving standards Integration (print, electronic, services) Granularity Interoperability Scalability Preservation / migration Robust infrastructure needs Collaborations – campus, state, national, international, intergalactic … Rights management / copyright / licensing Economics

Policy Challenges Rights management / copyright / licensing Evolving standards Preservation / migration Collaborations – campus, state, national, international … Economics Institutional policy development

Meeting the Challenges ‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' `That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.

Meeting the Challenges Provide focus for Digital Library efforts Set directions and goals Build from a solid base of knowledge Technical Library concepts Scholarly communications issues Be pragmatic Balance theory with reality Manage expectations Collaborative efforts / Community-building Help shape the vision – beyond the immediate local needs

KU Digital Library – Meeting the Challenges

Digital Libraries – Meeting the Challenges Questions?