Digital Libraries Lillian N. Cassel

First class I am sorry that I am unable to be with you for our first class. I was asked to be one of the keynote speakers at a conference in Southampton, England. It connects closely with work I am doing to produce an ontology of all of computing. I will tell you more about that during the semester. I am very grateful to Mary Malone, a recent graduate of our MS program who took this course last Fall. She has agreed to tell you about the computing resources available for this class and, most importantly, about the particularly fine project done by her team. I hope it will give you ideas for what you would like to do in producing a digital library during this class.

A digital library An informal definition of a digital library is a managed collection of information, with associated services, where the information is stored in digital formats and accessible over a network. -- Wm Arms, Digital Libraries, 1999 A focused collection of digital objects, including text, video, and audio, along with methods for access and retrieval, and for selection, organization, and maintenance of the collection. -- Witten and Bainbridge, How to Build a Digital Library 2003

Overview of this course This course is about presentation of information on the Web, with special attention to Digital Libraries. Required coursework will include –Readings, discussion (in class and online), and projects. There will be no examinations, unless circumstances indicate a need for one. Find course materials in WebCT

Goals for Class 1 Introduce the concept of a digital library Introductions: Who are we and what do we want to achieve in this class? Review the course structure –Look at WebCT –Describe assignments, projects to be expected –Look at the calendar Introduce some tools -- cmap

Some tools - concept maps Concept Maps –A graphical representation of concepts, ideas, topics, entities and relationships among them. –A useful tool: cmap from IHMC See Explore the cmap page, including a concept map about concept maps Do a pencil & paper concept map on a subject of interest to your group -- a sport, a season of the year, a career interest, whatever. Use at least 20 nodes. We will look at a selection of these and offer suggestions.

Some tools: Furl Frame URL -- a tool to archive any page you find and might want to remember and search. Allows you to create a “personal archive.” Provides the ability to search in your archive, share it with others Let’s furl some web pages in a category.

What is a library? An active exercise to explore what we know about, and think about, traditional libraries. How do we translate these characteristics to the digital world? –Is that the right model? Are we unnecessarily constraining the digital environment? Are there things that do not translate?

Class 1 summary Course plan described and discussed Class members surveyed Tools -- cmap and furl -- introduced Concept mapping practiced The idea of a library, and of a digital library, explored.

Next week: Check the calendar –Readings and an assignment due The 5 S model for digital libraries (and other information retrieval systems) Introduction to the hardware and software systems to be used for projects.