Original Principles of Organization (1995)
The founding members of the Digital Library Federation made a
five-year commitment to the organization. At this stage, several
principles guide the participants in thinking about
organization.
First, over the five-year period of the DLF's expected life,
circumstances affecting digital libraries will change, probably
dramatically in various aspects. Assumptions guiding the DLF
organization will also need correspondingly to change, as will
the organization itself. DLF members thus need to establish
sensitivity to changing circumstances and flexibility as core
attributes of the organization.
Second, constituted as a "federation," rather than as some
other kind of organization, the DLF is meant to have a lean,
streamlined, and agile central organization focused on
leadership.
Third, as a leadership organization, the DLF's mission is to
promote the development and federation of distributed digital
libraries. Because DLF will NOT directly operate a digital
library, it seeks as its core strategic participants those
institutions that are - or aspire to be - directly engaged in
digital library operations.
Fourth, some digital library operations are well developed
within the DLF; others are less so. The recruitment of new
participants should seek demonstrably to strengthen the ability
of the DLF to provide leadership in the development of digital
libraries.
Fifth, participants bring value to the DLF, but they also
receive value. The DLF provides the direction and coordination of
strategic initiatives. It provides the opportunity to participate
with other leaders in the field in the early definition and
execution of development efforts. Participation in the DLF also
provides access to expertise, to meetings and workshops on key
digital library issues, to detailed studies of digital library
topics, and to project reports. The structure of participation
should allow value to flow to and from the DLF openly and through
a variety of paths.
Sixth, the DLF needs to interact vigorously and effectively
with the many and varied organizations that have stakes in
digital libraries but that do not necessarily have a role as
direct participants in the Federation. Some organizations operate
digital libraries but have chosen not to join the DLF. Other
organizations, including technology vendors, standards
organizations, publishers, funders, and various consortia,
generally do not operate digital libraries - and so would not
qualify as DLF participants. However, they do provide essential
services to digital libraries or otherwise have key roles to play
in their development. It is essential for the DLF to develop, as
it has already done with RLG, OCLC, CNI, and several other
academic libraries, productive modes of interacting other than
direct participation.
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