This is the authoritative e-preservation resource for reference librarians, preservationists, archivists, and records managers who create and maintain electronic resources.

Managing Digital Resources in Libraries is a practical guide to managing library materials in digital formats. Working librarians share their expertise in the acquisition and management of digital resources, addressing questions of licensing, funding, and providing access. The contributors also examine innovative projects and systems, such as the integration of PDA-accessible resources into a library collection and the development of all-digital libraries. You'll also find supplementary reading lists and bibliographies of additional resources, including relevant Web sites.

Going Digital: Strategies for Access, Preservation, and Conversion of Collections to a Digital Format is a collection of articles orginally presented at a series of five symposiums sponsored by the Research Libraries Group. It offers you succinct and analytic views of the problems and benefits of digital resources in the traditional academic library. Library administrators, collection managers, and librarians will learn the advantages and disadvantages of traditional and digital collections and the costs of providing local access or implementing remote access to digital collections. Originally presented at a series of five symposiums sponsored by the Research Libraries Group, the articles inGoing Digital will help you decide upon a cost-effective collection method that will meet the needs of your library, your patrons, and your budget.

Advice from the expertson collecting and managing the digital resources that are an increasingly vital part of librarianship! Managing Digital Resources in Libraries is a practical guide to managing library materials in digital formats. Working librarians share their expertise in the acquisition and management of digital resources,

In a world of users that routinely click “I Agree” buttons, librarians may be the lone voice raising an alert to the privacy, use, and ownership issues arising in connection with the design and implementation of digital rights management (DRM) technologies. DRM reflects the efforts of copyright owners to prevent the illegal distribution of copyrighted material – an admirable goal on its face. A common misunderstanding is that DRM is copyright law. It is not. Rather it is a method of preventing copyright infringement; however, if unchecked, DRM has the potential to violate privacy, limit ownership rights, and undermine the delicate balance of rights and policies established by our current system of copyright. All three of these arenas are critical for both librarians and their users. Reflecting the shift from ownership to access, libraries are increasingly providing access to rights-protected digital content. Libraries strive to provide access to rights-protected content in a manner that protects both the content creator and the privacy of the user. DRM encompasses a variety of technologies and strategies utilized by content owners and managers to limit access to and the use of rights-protected content. Librarians need to understand DRM to effectively enable users to access and use rights-protected digital content while at the same time protecting the privacy of the user. Designed to address the practical operational and planning issues related to DRM, this guide explores the critical issues and challenges faced by librarians. After reading it, librarians will better understand: the digital content rights protection scheme; the various DRM technologies and how they are used; how to use authentication and authorization standards, strategies, and technologies; and, the privacy and security issues related to DRM. Edited by two librarians who also hold law degrees, this is a best practices guide for front-line librarians on how to best respond to the impact of DRM schemes on collection development, staffing, budget, service, and other library concerns.

How are your library and its patrons adjusting to the challenges of the digital age? This essential book examines how digital formats are changing libraries today, from the perspectives of librarians, vendors, and library users. Editor Sul Lee is an internationally recognized leader in library administration and management. The expansion of digital collections has been one of the foremost issues in the library field since the early 1990s, and this book addresses important questions about the impact of the digital age. Questions like: How will scholars and students react to digital formats? How will electronic resources change collection development? Will libraries stop buying print materials in favor of digital resources? Will libraries convert to only digital products or will they have to buy both electronic and print formats? Will academic libraries retain their central role in the university? With chapters from leading academic deans and directors, directors of national organizations of library professionals, and book/serials vendors including Philip Blackwell, CEO of Blackwell Limited, this book explores: digital resources and technology digital books--and what they mean to libraries legislation on copyrights and intellectual property rights in the digital age electronic cooperation between libraries how digital technology can facilitate on-campus research partnerships the extent to which academic libraries are embracing electronic publications

Special libraries are facing increasing challenges today. The bigfgest challenge before them is how to demonstrate that they are the best source of specialized information despite reliance on the web for information. Special libraries therefore need to change in terms of their collections, roles, services and evolve strategies for managing the change. Preservation refers to the set of activities that aims to prolong the life of a record and relevant metadata, or enhance its value, or improve access to it through noninterventive means. This includes actions taken to influence records creators prior to selection and acquisition. The purpose of preservation is to ensure protection of information of enduring value for access by present and future generations. Libraries and archives have served as the central institutional focus for preservation, and both types of institutions include preservation as one of their core functions. In recent decades, many major libraries and archives have established formal preservation programs for traditional materials which include regular allocation of resources for preservation, preventive measures to arrest deterioration of materials, remedial measures to restore the usability of selected materials, and the incorporation of preservation needs and requirements into overall program planning. This book attempts to provide all basic aspects of digital library in an authentic but simple style. It describes the revolutionary changes brought out by digital libraries in the entire concept of library organisation, managements and operations. It also discusses the challenges emerging due to the adoption of newer technologies.