2003

Archiving Electronic Journals: Research Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Edited, with an Introduction, by Linda Cantara. (December 2003)

Increasingly, scholarly journals are published electronically. What does it take to keep them accessible electronically in perpetuity? Can the property rights of publishers, the access responsibilities of libraries, and the reliability assurances that scholars need be reconciled in agreements to create archives of electronic journals? These series of studies from seven major libraries examine various aspects of the challenges of archiving electronic journal content.

• Cornell University Library: Project Harvest: Report of the Planning Grant For the Design of a Subject-Based Electronic Journal Repository


• Harvard University Library: Report on the Planning Year Grant For the Design of an E-journal Archive


• MIT University Library: DEJA: A Year in Review. Report on the Planning Year Grant For the Design of a Dynamic E-journal Archive


• New York Public Library: Archiving Performing Arts Electronic Resources: A Planning Project


• University of Pennsylvania Library: Report on a Mellon-Funded Planning Project For Archiving Scholarly Journals


• Stanford University Library: LOCKSS: A Distributed Digital Archiving System -- Progress Report For The Mellon Electronic Journal Archiving Program


• Yale University Library: The Yale Electronic Archive: One Year of Progress: Report on the Digital Preservation Planning Project

A Survey of Digital Library Aggregation Services
Martha L. Brogan. (December 2003)

This report, commissioned by the DLF, provides an overview of a diverse set of more than thirty digital library aggregation services, organizes them into functional clusters, and then evaluates them more fully from the perspective of an informed user. Most of the services under review rely wholly or partially on the Protocol for Metadata Harvesting of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI-PMH). Each service is annotated with its organizational affiliation, subject coverage, function, audience, status, and size. Critical issues surrounding each of these elements are presented in order to provide the reader with an appreciation of the nuances inherent in seemingly straightforward factual information, such as "audience" or "size."

2002

659 Data Tables for Dimensions and Use of the Scholarly Information Environment. (November 2002)

We know from anecdotal evidence that users' expectations of libraries are changing as they find more information directly from the Web, but anecdotes are an insufficient basis for developing new library services. DLF and CLIR commissioned Outsell, Inc. to conduct a large-scale study to give us a much more reliable picture of user behaviors. Published here are the 659 data tables that record the responses to 35 groups of questions asked of 3,200 undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members from academic institutions ranging from small liberal arts colleges to the largest public and private research universities. [Formats: PDF; HTML; MS Excel]

An Introduction to Dimensions and Use of the Scholarly Information Environment. Amy Friedlander. (October 2002)

This report presents a summary of the findings and 158 selected data tables; it should be viewed as an entry to the much larger data set of 659 data tables provided above. [Formats: PDF; HTML; Ms Reader; Palm; print]

The Digital Library: A Biography. Daniel Greenstein and Suzanne E. Thorin. (September 2002)

Digital libraries, once project-based and largely autonomous efforts, are maturing. As individual programs have grown, each has developed its own personality, reflecting the circumstances of its creation and environment, and its leadership. This report from CLIR and the DLF draws on the results of a survey and case studies of DLF members to reveal how these influences have molded a range of organizational forms that we call the digital library. The report is written by Daniel Greenstein and Suzanne Thorin. Greenstein, formerly the director of the DLF, is now university librarian and director of the California Digital Library. Thorin is the dean of university libraries at Indiana University. Section one of the report examines three stages of digital library growth: the young digital library, the maturing digital library, and the adult digital library. Section two of the report presents case studies of digital library development at six institutions. [Formats: PDF; HTML; print]

Diffuse Libraries: Emergent Roles for the Research Library in the Digital Age. Wendy Pradt Lougee. (August 2002).

Research libraries are taking on a range of new roles in the digital age as they become more deeply engaged in the creation and dissemination of knowledge. While some of these roles are extensions of traditional library activity, others are largely new. Wendy Lougee, university librarian at the University of Minnesota, explores some of these emerging functions in this report. Lougee includes several examples of how some libraries and library organizations are forging new services in areas of collection development, information access, and user services; she also touches briefly on the continued importance of library as place. In addition, she suggests where new roles might emerge. In the section on information access, for example, she notes the potential for libraries to contribute to the development of the Semantic Web, which aims to develop languages for expressing information in a form that machines can process, and which therefore can be searched more accurately and efficiently. She writes, "Designing the Semantic Web will require a mix of skills, and librarians have the potential to contribute significantly to this effort." She also notes that there is a potential role for the library in certifying the authenticity and provenance of content on the Semantic Web. [Formats: PDF; HTML; print]

The State of Digital Preservation: An International Perspective. Conference Proceedings. (July 2002).

The State of Digital Preservation: An International Perspective" is the first in a series of international symposiums that are supported by a grant from Documentation Abstracts, Inc. (DAI). The institutes, presented by CLIR, will address key issues in information science relating to digital libraries, economics of information, or resources for scholarship. [Formats: ]

Building a National Strategy for Preservation: Issues in Digital Media Archiving. (April 2002).

In December 2000, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds to the Library of Congress (LC) to spearhead an effort to develop a national strategy for the preservation of digital information. Understanding that the task cannot be accomplished by any one organization, Congress wrote into the appropriations language a requirement that LC work with other federal, scholarly, and nonprofit organizations to discuss the problem and produce a plan. The staff of the Library of Congress immediately scheduled a series of conversations with representatives from the technology, business, entertainment, academic, legal, archival, and library communities. LC asked CLIR to commission background papers for these sessions and to summarize the meetings. The resulting papers, along with an integrative essay by Amy Friedlander, are presented in this document. [Formats: ]

Usage and Useability Assessment. Library Practices and Concerns. Denise Troll Covey. (January 2002)

This report offers a survey of the methods that are being deployed at leading digital libraries to assess the use and usability of their online collections and services. Focusing on 24 DLF member libraries, the study's author, Distinguished DLF Fellow Denise Troll Covey, conducted numerous interviews with library professionals who are engaged in assessment. The report describes the application, strengths, and weaknesses of assessment techniques that include surveys, focus groups, user protocols, and transaction log analysis. Covey's work is also an essential methodological guidebook. For each method that she covers, she is careful to supply a definition, explain why and how libraries use the method, what they do with the results, and what problems they encounter. The report includes an extensive bibliography on more detailed methodological information, and descriptions of assessment instruments that have proved particularly effective. [Formats: ]

2001

Scholarly Work in the Humanities and the Evolving Information Environment. William S. Brockman, Laura Neumann, Carole L. Palmer, Tonyia J. Tidline. (December 2001)

As the scholarly information environment changes, so do the needs, expectations, and behaviors of users. Assessing and responding to those changes is essential for the academic library so that it may continue in support of the scholarly mission. The authors of this report have formally examined how humanities scholars conduct and collate their research. The study was based on a small sample of scholars; nonetheless, the results are powerfully suggestive of ways in which academic libraries can adapt to and develop in a rapidly changing environment. In particular, the findings emphasize how important it is for libraries to chart their evolutionary course in close consultation with scholarly user communities. This study results from the fruitful cross-fertilization between the scholar concerned with aspects of information science and the librarian concerned with delivering operational information services. [Formats: ]

Building and Sustaining Digital Collections: Models for Libraries and Museums. Abby Smith. (August 2001).

In February 2001, CLIR and the National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH) convened a meeting to discuss how museums and libraries are building digital collections and what business models are available to sustain them. A group of museum and library senior executives met with business and legal experts, technologists, and funders to discuss the challenges that cultural institutions face when putting collections online and to identify models for sustainability that support the core missions without contravening the internal cultures of nonprofit entities. Using examples of six enterprises -- JSTOR, HighWire Press, The International Center for Photography and George Eastman House, Questia Media, Inc., Art Museum Network, and Fathom -- the report illustrates the differing approaches being used to extend the reach of collections and services online. [Formats: ]

Selection and Presentation of Commercially Available Electronic Resources: Issues and Practices. Timothy D. Jewell. (July 2001).

This report is the second in a series commissioned by the DLF to identify and review digital collection development strategies and practices. It provides an in-depth look at how several research libraries select, license, present, and support the use of commercial online materials. Uncovering a variety of practices, author Timothy Jewell identifies those that are proving to be most effective integrating commercial online materials into library collections. He includes a decision tool that emphasizes and supports strategic planning, and encourages careful consideration of how libraries' functions and professional staff are organized. He also supplies a reference tool, citing working papers and operational guidelines that libraries rely on but rarely "publish." Finally, the author frames an important and practical development agenda by encouraging libraries to collaborate in designing information systems capable of organizing the detailed and often dynamic information they need to maintain about their commercial holdings. [Formats: ]

Building Sustainable Collections of Free Third-Party Web Resources. Louis Pitschmann. (June 2001)

This report is the first in a series commissioned by the DLF to identify and review digital collection development strategies and practices. The report identifies and synthesizes existing practices used in developing collections of free third-party Internet resources that support higher education and research. A review of these practices and the projects they support confirms that developing collections of free Web resources is a process that requires its own set of practices, policies, and organizational models. Where possible, the report recommends those practices, policies, and models that have proved to be particularly effective in terms of sustainability, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and applicability to their stated purpose. The report outlines the similarities and differences between print and free Web resources and describes how the nature and complexity of free Web resources comply with or challenge traditional library practices and services pertaining to analog collections. [Formats: ]

2000

Guides to Quality in Visual Resource Imaging (July 2000).

Five guides issued by DLF and RLG are designed to serve the growing community of museums, archives, and research libraries that are turning to digital conversion to provide greater access to their visual resources as well as to help preserve the original materials. The guides range from project planning to scanner selection, considerations for imaging systems, digital master quality, and masters' storage, and share the experience and knowledge of leaders in the field. In addition to providing advice based on the uses to which the images will be put and the technology now available, they also flag areas where further research and testing are needed. [Formats: ]

Risk Management of Digital Information: A File Format Investigation. Gregory W. Lawrence, William R. Kehoe, Oya Y. Rieger, William H. Walters, and Anne R. Kenney.(June 2000)

This report is based on an investigation conducted by Cornell University Library to assess the risks to digital file formats during migration. The report includes a workbook that will help library staff identify potential risks associated with migrating digital information. Each section of the workbook opens with a brief issue summary; this is followed by questions that will guide users in completing a risk assessment. The appendixes also include two case studies for migration: one for image files and the other for numeric files. [Formats: ]

Systems of Knowledge Organization for Digital Libraries: Beyond Traditional Authority Files. Gail Hodge. (April 2000)

Provides an overview of systems of knowledge organization and pertinent examples of their application in a digital library environment. [Formats: ]

Collections, Content, and the Web. (February 2000).

The report explores how the World Wide Web is affecting collections-based institutions. It is based on a conference organized by CLIR and the Chicago Historical Society in October 1999, with financial support from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. [Formats: ]

1999

The Making of America II Testbed Project: A Digital Library Service Model. Bernard J. Hurley, John Price-Wilkin, Merrilee Proffitt and Howard Besser. (December 1999)

The publication defines a digital library service model that encapsulates the interaction of digital objects (including their metadata), tools, and services based on principles of object-oriented design. [Formats: ]

Preserving the Whole: A Two-Track Approach to Rescuing Social Science Data and Metadata. Ann Green with JoAnn Dionne and Martin Dennis. (June 1999)

This publication is a meticulously detailed study of migration as a preservation strategy. [Formats: ]

Digitization for Scholarly Use: The Boswell Papers Project at The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Nicole Bouché. (March 1999)

This paper reports on the digitization of manuscripts from the Boswell Collection by The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. It is one of a series that CLIR is publishing in order to explore strategies for integrating digital technology into the management of library print and media collections. [Formats: ]

Enabling Access: A Report on a Workshop on Access Management. Caroline Arms with Judith Klavans and Don Waters. (February 1999)

This report addresses the issue of how to manage access to digital information that is sensitive, proprietary, or protected by copyright. [Formats: ]

Why Digitize. Abby Smith. (February 1999)

Evaluates the experiences of cultural institutions with digitization projects to date and summarizes what has been learned about the advantages and disadvantages of digitizing culturally significant materials. [Formats: ]

Avoiding Technological Quicksand: Finding a Viable Technical Foundation for Digital Preservation. Jeff Rothenberg. (January 1999)

The report documents and assesses existing models of digital archiving and develops a theory of software emulation. [Formats: ]

1998

Selecting Research Collections for Digitization. Dan Hazen, Jeffrey Horrell, and Jan Merrill-Oldham. (August 1998)

Provides detailed planning information for research libraries contemplating large-scale digital conversion of holdings for research and teaching purposes. [Formats: ]

Library Systems: Current Developments and Future Directions. Leigh Watson Healy. (May 1998)

An overview of the state of the art for those concerned with the development of digital libraries and the role of library management systems in libraries today. It contrasts librarians' visions and strategies with the development philosophies of the systems vendors that serve them. [Formats: ]

Digitizing Historical Pictorial Collections for the Internet. Stephen Ostrow. (February 1998)

Describes the nature and uses of large historical pictorial collections in a both the reading room and online, analyzing the advantages and the disadvantages of digital access to images. [Formats: ]

Into the Future: On the Preservation of Knowledge on the Electronic Age.

This film (and accompanying discussion guide and a compendium of other resources) was produced by CLIR to inform a variety of publics about issues of preservation in the electronic age, to articulate what might be at stake for our society, and to point to ways that individuals and groups can work together to find solutions to the challenges posed. [Formats: ]

1997

Digitization as a Method of Preservation? Hartmut Weber and Marianne Dörr. (October 1997)

Acknowledging that the digital medium is unstable, and therefore risky as a preservation medium, the report investigates how digitizing and microfilming can be combined to achieve both optimal access and maximum preservation. [Formats: ]

SGML as a Framework for Digital Preservation and Access James Coleman and Don Willis. (July 1997)

Explores the suitability of Standard Generalized Markup Language for developing and providing access to digital libraries, with special emphasis on preservation issues. [Formats: ]

1996

Digital Image Collections Michael Ester. (December 1996)

Projects to digitize visual collections present their own unique set of questions and concerns, as well as issues that overlap with digital capture of text. The author provides library and archives administrators with ways of thinking about this activity for the long-term benefit of preservation and scholarship. [Formats: ]

Preserving Digital Information, Report of the Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information Donald Waters and John Garrett. (May 1996)

This report recommends specific actions that the Commission on Preservation and Access and the Research Libraries Group, Inc., and other organizations could undertake to help develop reliable systems for preserving access to digital information. [Formats: ]

Preservation in the Digital World Paul Conway. (March 1996)

Links the historical context and concepts of preservation practice and management to a new framework for effective leadership in the digital environment. [Formats: ]