DIGITAL / ELECTRONIC / VIRTUAL LIBRARIES

Often apparently used interchangeably (Saffady, 1995)

Inadequate definition:
Digital library: digitized forms of documents originally produced in traditional form
Electronic library: documents originally produced in electronic form
Not a useful distinction: most systems have both types;
difficult to distinguish in practice
 

In practice:

Electronic Library: British / European terminology
(pity such distinctions carry over into the electronic arena)

Digital library: North American terminology

used basically for high-end systems with significant digitized content;

Virtual library: less common, but similar;
perhaps more usually for sites which point to other resources,
rather than those which mount resources
Virtual could indicate Virtual Reality:
interactive systems:
not a useful distinction:
most systems becoming ever more interactive
 
 

WHAT WE SHOULD EXPECT FROM A DIGITAL LIBRARY:

Maintain principal characteristics which have enabled traditional libraries
to contribute so much to society over the course of several centuries:

BASIC PRINCIPLES
CONTENT: valuable, quality information (rather than just pointers, referrals)
ACCESS: should be easy to access
FREE: free of direct usage charges;
COMMUNAL PURPOSE: social value
SELECTION: it should offer documents which have been professionally selected and
ORGANIZATION: organized for ease of use.
SUPPORT SERVICES: help, reference
These basic principles clearly apply both to traditional and digital libraries;
TRADITIONAL: FIXED physical location,
DIGITAL: WWW access.

(ALSO NOTE: TEXTUAL ORIENTATION; GROWTH / DEVELOPMENT; RANGE OF MATERIALS
Traditional libraries:
contain a wide variety of materials,
including books, periodicals, theses, patents, multimedia, CD-ROMs etc., and
offer access to data bases and information services.
Similar range of services from digital libraries
 

DEFINITION:

A Digital Library permits, via Internet / WWW:
easy, open access, without direct charges,
to high-value, quality electronic content
which has been professionally selected
and organized to facilitate use;
services are normally backed up by
quality information, support and referral services.
The electronic content should be dynamic in nature;
it may reflect the traditional textual orientation of many libraries
or take advantage of WWW's facility to deliver graphics and multimedia.
 
 

SPECIFIC DEFINITIONS:

Library that maintains all, or a substantial part,
of its collection in computer-processible form,
as an alternative, supplement or complement to
the conventional printed and microfilm materials
that currently dominate library collections. Saffady, 1995.

A collection
(unorganized accumulation does not constitute a library);
not exclusively bibliographic,
not exclusively a set of pointers;
includes full-form online material, such as articles, books, etc.;
attempts to create satisfactory links between community and collection; services link collection and users;
intensive technological basis;
institutional backing. Bishop and Star, 1996

Collection of information that is both digitized and organized;
organized collections of digital information.
Combines the gathering and structuring of information,
which libraries and archives have always done,
with the digital representation that computers have made possible.
Digital libraries must have content;
can either be new material, prepared digitally,
or old material, converted to digital form.
Lesk, 1997, p. xix, 1-2.

On-going concern;
collection of resources (with organized content),
including navigation and finding tools,
in a distributed networked environment;
set of services designed to meet end user needs.
Kochtanek, 1999

Researchers focus on digital libraries as
content collected on behalf of user communities,
while librarians focus on digital libraries as institutions or services. Borgman, 1999

Definition and Purposes of a Digital Library:
Association of Research Libraries, 1995:
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/ARL/definition.html

Digital v. Electronic v. Virtual Libraries / Roy Tennant:
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/mydefinitions.html
 
 

NOT A DIGITAL LIBRARY:

AUTOMATED LIBRARY
Traditional library plus:
automated catalog
CD-ROM tower
Internet access
 

INTERNET ACCESS ROOM
sometimes called Virtual Library
but this usage incorrect:
only permits access;
does not place materials / information on the web
 

YAHOO and similar services:
many similarities to traditional libraries:
offer information
publicly available
select resources
use classification
but more like directories than libraries
pointers / referral centers only
do not place information materials on web
more useful / distinctive to call them
directories / gateways / portals
 

INTERNET
WWW itself:
offer wide access to shared information, like a library
but much less organization / selection
little advantage in calling it a library:
Internet / WWW already firmly established.
If Internet / WWW = digital / electronic / virtual library:
what name to be given to more distinctly library-style services
made available via Internet / WWW?
Better to retain digital library for specialized services,
continue using Internet / WWW for general services
 
 

RELATED CONCEPTS
 

HYBRID LIBRARIES

Physically-based libraries
which offer a part of their collection electronically
standard workplace for next generation of librarians
Quality, older, non-copyright materials
 

(DIGITAL / VIRTUAL ARCHIVES)?
Traditional media:
document produced in multiple copies: library
document produced in single copy: archive
Library of Alexandria: Manuscript Collection or Archive
But electronic system is server:
maintains electronic copy at hand;
produces and sends additional copies
in response to requests;
Library / archive distinction not valid / best avoided:
except possibly:
Digital archive: holds electronic copies of documents normally associated with archives:
one-off historic documents; lengthy data files
Digital library: holds electronic copies of documents normally associated with libraries: books, periodicals
or possibly: Digital archive: archive of pages originally posted to Internet
(not currently undertaken: cost, copyright considerations)
 
 

ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES

NETWORKED ACCESS
Access to texts and information services from any location without having to go to library

TIME
Services available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

SIMULTANEOUS ACCESS
to same material by two or more users

SOFTWARE ACCESS
Access via browser to electronic text

DIGITAL TEXTS
(notably HTML texts) can be printed, copied, even manipulated (if copyright permits)

FREE
To date systems are largely free

INDEXING
Texts frequently indexed word for word

LINKS
to other relevant information sources, specialized data bases or human help (via e-mail)

RELIABILITY
Access more reliable: avoid problems common in traditional libraries:
Book on loan / lost or torn pages / missing periodical issues

LOW COSTS
Costs can be lower, but this is not the principle aim:

SERVICE / SOCIAL IMPACT
Major objective: increased service / social, community impact
 
 

LIMITATIONS OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES

COMPUTER, INTERNET ESSENTIAL
limitations in poorer environments

READING FROM SCREEN
Users do not like reading lengthy texts on computer screens:
print quality / book - cinema orientation

PRINTER (almost) essential

LIMITED COLLECTIONS
at the moment, excluding:
most modern commercially published books / copyright protected sources:

Not certain when commercial publishers will enter this field, or:
How they will charge for electronic versions of their texts.
Copyright, designed to protect sales of physical copies,
transfers poorly to a digital environment.

FINANCING
digital libraries cost money at a time when funding is stagnant

PERSONNEL
average librarian not trained / capable of planning / mounting a digital / hybrid library

TERMINOLOGY
Difficult to know what might be offered by digital / electronic / virtual library before accessing

CATALOGING
No union catalog of digital publications:
Standard Internet search engines must be used to retrieve these materials
Cataloging will be complex; digital library materials can be:
available in different systems (ASCII / HTML / .PDF)
Indexed / not indexed
with / without illustrations
with high / low resolution images
with / without supporting materials / citations

SCRIPTS
Most digitized texts to date in Latin script
Few texts in other scripts
Little experience in indexing texts in other scripts
 

BASIC PROCESSES IN THE CREATION OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES:

SELECTION

IDENTIFYING RIGHTS HOLDERS

NEGOTIATING RIGHTS: exclusive, limited; price and conditions

CREATE ELECTRONIC VERSION: ASCII / HTML / image (pdf, gif etc.)

INDEX

SUPPORT: bibliographic citation; attractive, organized site;

SERVER, computer personnel

PRESERVATION of original (migration amongst systems, hackers, verification etc.)