An international cadre of leading thinkers and experimenters provide their considered opinions concerning the influence of digital technology on teaching and learning in general, and the role of the library in the educational enterprise in particular. Topic treatments include envisioning the future, facing major challenges, creating projects and programs, and developing digital libraries. A must-read for anyone involved in higher education. The Kanazawa Institute of Technology is Japan's largest institution of higher education specializing in engineering and technology. It is a world leader and collaborator in electronic initiatives, often on the forefront of systems design and telecommunications advancement. It is also the site of an annual symposium series on digital library development. Marcum and George have pulled together an international cadre of leading thinkers and experimenters, all of whom have participated in these symposia, to provide their considered opinions concerning the influence of digital technology on teaching and learning in general, and the role of the library in the educational enterprise in particular. Their contributions have, in turn, been arranged into four thematic groupings, which range from envisioning the future, and facing major challenges, to creating projects and programs, and developing digital libraries. An informative read for anyone involved in higher education.

Every year, leading librarians, scholars, and administrators from the United States are invited to give papers on important library-related topics at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology's Roundtable. From 1995 to 1999, some aspect of digital library development was the theme of the symposium, and the essays in this collection are all devoted to that topic. In these essays, some of the most innovative thinkers and practitioners discuss how digital libraries have been conceived and implemented in the United States. Insight into the policy, legal, and technical frameworks of digital libraries is given, while honest views of problems encountered in trying to integrate digital and traditional libraries are given. Finally, some of the essays explore how users are affected by digital library services.

Planning and managing a self-contained digitization project is one thing, but how do you transition to a digital library program? Or better yet, how do you start a program from scratch? In this book Purcell, a well-respected expert in both archives and digital libraries, combines theory and best practices with practical application, showing how to approach digital projects as an ongoing effort. He not only guides librarians and archivists in transitioning from project-level initiatives to a sustainable program but also provides clear step-by-step instructions for building a digital library program from the bottom up, even for organizations with limited staff. Approachable and easy to follow, this book traces the historical growth of digital libraries and the importance of those digital foundations; summarizes current technological challenges that affect the planning of digital libraries, and how librarians and archivists are adapting to the changing information landscape; uses examples to lay out the core priorities of leading successful digital programs; covers the essentials of getting started, from vision and mission building to identifying resources and partnerships; emphasizes the importance of digitizing original unique materials found in library and archives collections, and suggests approaches to the selection process; addresses metadata and key technical standards; discusses management and daily operations, including assessment, enhancement, sustainability, and long-term preservation planning; provides guidance for marketing, promotion, and outreach, plus how to take into account such considerations as access points, intended audiences, and educational and instructional components; and includes exercises designed to help readers define their own digital projects and create a real-world digital program plan. Equally valuable for LIS students just learning about the digital landscape, information professionals taking their first steps to create digital content, and organizations who already have well-established digital credentials, Purcell's book outlines methods applicable and scalable to many different types and sizes of libraries and archives.

This landmark text captures a global cross-section of leading voices and provides a clear and coherent overview of the user studies domain and user issues in digital libraries. As the information environment becomes increasingly electronic, digital libraries have proliferated, but the focus has often been on innovations in technology and not the user. Although user needs have become a popular concept, in practice the users are rarely consulted in the development of services. Research and analysis of users is essential to fine-tune the content and approach of digital libraries to the diverging requirements and expectations of incredibly varied communities and to ensure libraries are effective, accessible and sustainable in the long term. Key topics include: • what is the place of user studies in digital libraries and what are the basic user study methods? • explaining user-centric studies, information behaviour and user experience studies • exploring user-study methods such as surveys, questionnaires, expert evaluation methods, eye tracking, deep log analysis, personae and ethnographic studies • critical issues around user studies such as evaluation of digital libraries, digital preservation, social media, the shift to mobile devices and ethics • user studies in specific types of institutions: libraries, archives, museums, audiovisual collections and art collections • the most popular questions and what to do next. Readership: Information professionals involved in supporting, developing or designing digital library services, researchers wanting to address the user dimension in their work and students on LIS and computer science courses who want to understand the importance of the user in information services.

This excellent reference traces the construction and maintenance of the digital collections and services that have been available day in and day out to users worldwide for more than a decade. It examines applicable guidelines for any library looking to build and manage systems, conduct and evaluate projects, and scout new directions for mainstreaming and hybridizing the building of a digital library. Including contributions from seasoned experts in specializations such as staffing, collection development, and technology project management for digital libraries, Becoming a Digital Library discusses the techniques for finding and training the right people to build a digital library.

Digital library is commonly seen as a type of information retrieval system which stores and accesses digital content remotely via computer networks. However, the vision of digital libraries is not limited to technology or management, but user experience. This book is an attempt to share the practical experiences of solutions to the operation of digital libraries. To indicate interdisciplinary routes towards successful applications, the chapters in this book explore the implication of digital libraries from the perspectives of design, operation, and promotion. Without common agreement on a broadly accepted model of digital libraries, authors from diverse fields seek to develop theories and empirical investigations that to advance our understanding of digital libraries.

"This book is an in-depth collection aimed at developers and scholars of research articles from the expanding field of digital libraries"--Provided by publisher.