What is the DLF?
The Digital Library Federation is a consortium of libraries
and related agencies that are pioneering in the use of
electronic-information technologies to extend their collections
and services. Through its members, the DLF provides leadership to
libraries broadly by:
- identifying standards and "best practices" for digital collections and network access
- coordinating leading-edge research and development
- helping start projects and services that libraries need but
cannot develop individually.
How does the DLF operate?
The DLF operates through a professional director with a small
staff and a Board of Trustees on which each member institution
is represented. Drawing on its members and others in the
scholarly, library, and computing communities, the DLF brings
together experts needed for each DLF initiative, and awards
Distinguished Fellowships for special projects. The Council on
Library and Information Resources houses the staff, provides
administrative support, and collaborates on publications. Funding
comes from members and grants.
What does the DLF provide?
- leadership and support for new research, standards
development, and project start-ups
- a twice-a-year forum for guiding the DLF, reporting
developments, and sharing experiences of members in developing
and managing electronic resources
- an e-mail listserv for exchanging information, announcing
initiatives, identifying resources, and stimulating
discussion
- a Web site
(http://www.diglib.org/) for
providing public access to information about activities,
resources, developments, and the DLF itself
- three online databases providing access through the Web site
to digital collections of publicly available material,
digital-library events, and digital-library documentation
(policies, strategies, working papers, standards, and technical
documentation).
- a quarterly, Web-based DFL Newsletter for reporting on the
progress of initiatives and on members' digital-library services,
collections, projects, and challenges
- publications for reporting on research and conferences.
What Initiatives has the DLF Promoted?
DLF initiatives change with needs; as some projects come to
fruition or find new support, the DLF invests in others, staying
flexible as a catalyst for experiment and change. For example,
the DLF has promoted work on digital-library structures,
standards, preservation, and use; on archives for electronic
journals; on online collections for use in teaching on Internet
services that expand access to resources of use to scholars and
on assessments of libraries' future roles.
For more information, contact the DLF by
phone at (202) 939-4750 or by post at Digital Library Federation,
1752 N St NW, Suite 800,Washington, DC, 20036