Topics in Digital Libraries
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Introduction – Perspectives on Management & Roles
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The Scholarly Communication Center and Digital
Projects
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Digital Library Architecture
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Reusable Platforms
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
“ . . . librarians must begin to design an imaginative,
easily identifiable space in cyberspace as the centrality
of the library as a physical phenomenon slowly fades.”
(Martrell, 2000)
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Perspectives on Digital Librarianship
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“Librarians could not have helped us.” (Marcum, 1998)
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“We’ve chosen to emphasize extrapolation rather than
identify and understand emerging discontinuity” (Lynch,
1999)
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“…we can expect a further dissolution of the traditional
structures of the library.” (Raschke, 1999)
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We have handled 23% fewer reference desk questions at
RU Libraries in AY 96/97 than in AY 98/99. (Boyle, 1999)
Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Issues and Opportunities in the
Emerging Digital Library
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Competition
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Technological Discontinuities
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Innovation
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Innovation
“. . . innovation is the process by which industry generates new
and improved products and production processes. It
includes activities ranging from the generation of an idea,
research, development and commercialization to the diffusion
throughout the economy of new and improved products,
processes, and services.” (Zairi, 1992)
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
The Scholarly Communication Center
(Rutgers University Libraries)
Goals
 Allow scholars to apply state-of-the-art technology
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Teach and demonstrate the latest electronic tools
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Share the resources of the library
More Importantly: An opportunity to experiment and
innovate, rather than extrapolate.
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
SCC Project Types
(http://www.scc.rutgers.edu)
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Bibliographic databases
Digital libraries
Directories
E-journals
Encyclopedias
Instructional
Numeric data
Online surveys
Research guides
Web hosting
Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
SCC Digital Library Projects
(http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/)
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The NJ Environmental Digital Library (with NJ DEP)
(http://njedl.rutgers.edu)
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The Alcohol Studies Database (with Center for Alcohol Studies)
(http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/alcohol_studies)
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Public Opinion Data (with Eagleton Institute)
(http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/eagleton_tst) (requires password)
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The REALITI Project
(http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/realiti)
Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Digital Project Architecture
Desktop
WWW Browser
• Submit records and documents
• Search/Browse Ref. Database
• Retrieve document
Request to access Web
Server (NT)
Internet Info. Server
Internet
• Web Server
• Cold Fusion/Verity
• Database Access
HTML & script output
MS Access
Digital
Documents
Archival Storage
GIS/Numeric
Databases
Print
Documents
Documents
Reference
Database
(Metadata)
Digital Library Development Environments
Application Servers
Middleware/Scripting Languages
Database Management
Web Server
Operating System
Hardware
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Computing and Network Hardware
SCC Development Environment
Application Servers
Middleware/Scripting Languages
Database Management
Web Server
Operating System
Hardware
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
SPSS, ArcIMS
ColdFusion/Verity
MS- Access
IIS
NT (W2000)
Computing and Network Hardware
An “Open Source” Environment
Application Servers
Middleware/Scripting Languages
Database Management
Web Server
Operating System
Hardware
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
SPSS, ArcIMS
PHP/Tomcat
(cocoon)
ColdFusion/
Verity
MySQL
Apache
Linux/Unix
Computing and Network Hardware
Reusable Platforms
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Reuse can dramatically improve productivity and quality
Reusable Platforms (RPs)
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RP – a collection of software which can be used in many
applications with little or no modification.
Examples can include complete system architectures, generic
project structures, reusable objects, or code segments
SCC Examples
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An online survey platform (http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/platforms/survey
A digital library platform (based on the NJ Environmental Digital Library)
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Stand-alone Tools
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Adobe tools
Djvu plug-in and workgroup encoder
LF Format Scanner, Printer
HiRes digital camera
Video digitizer
See the SCC ColdFusion Tutorials:
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http://www.ceth.rutgers.edu/intromat/cfres/main.cfm
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http://sccweb.rutgers.edu/scchome/technical/tech_support.htm
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Logical Model for a Digital Repository
(Based on the Open Archival Information System Model)
An OAIS is an organization of people and systems that has
accepted the responsibility to preserve information and make it
available for a designated community.
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The information is deemed to need long term preservation.
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“Long term” is long enough to be concerned with the impact of
changing technologies and with a changing user community.
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Overview of OAIS reference model at:
http://ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/nost/isoas/
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
The OAIS Functional Model
Preservation Planning
Data
Management
Producer
Ingest
Access
Archival
Storage
Administration
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Management
Consumer
An Open Systems Digital Repository
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Problem/Requirements
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FEDORA – a possible solution
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Flexible and Extensible Digital Object and Repository Architecture
Research by Cornell/CNRI (Corp. for National Research Initiatives)
Implementation by UVA
METS – A major component of FEDORA
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Lots of digital collections amassed with little integration
Need to scale to millions of objects
Flexibility to handle many digital formats
Ability to customize by adding special tools and services
An XML standard for describing digital objects
Four parts: descriptive, administrative, file, and structural
At: www.loc.gov/standards/mets
Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Digital Library Architecture
Major Issues (both institutional and technological):
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Digital Archiving
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Metadata
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Open source and inter-operability
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Innovation and technology transfer
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
New Roles for the Librarian
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Software bibliographer/selector
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Digital projects librarian
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Systems, digital formats, migration, library policies
Electronic publishing (databases, journals, encyclopedias)
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Programming, databases, architecture, metadata, project management
Digital preservation
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Library applications for commercial software
Markup languages, ocr, image technology,copyright
Intranet librarian
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Library organization, knowledge management, informal knowledge
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Boyle, J. (1999). Annual Report, 1998/99. Public Services and Communications: Rutgers University Libraries.
Lynch, C. (1999). On the threshold of discontinuity: The new genres of scholarly communication and the role of
the research library. In H. Thompson (Ed.), Racing Toward Tomorrow: Proceedings of the Ninth National
Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, April 8 – 11, Detroit, Michigan. (pp. 410 – 418).
Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.
Marcum, D. (November/December, 1998). Educating leaders for the digital library. Council on Library and
Information Resources, (6), 1-4.
Martrell, C. (2000). The disembodied librarian in the digital age. College and Research Libraries, (61), (1), 10 –
28.
Raschke, C. (November/December, 1999). The age of transition and the scene of digital learning. Syllabus, 13,
(4), 14 – 19.
Staples, Thornton, and Ross Wayland, "Virginia Dons Fedora: A prototype for a digital object repository," D-LIb
Magazine, July 2000, http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july00/staples/07staples.html
Zander, E. (2000/June 7). Ahoy, Internet companies – huge icebergs ahead. USA today. p. 15A.
Zairi, M. (1992). Managing user-supplied interactions: Management of R&D activity. Management Decision, 30,
(8), 49 - 57.
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Exercise
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Many think of the library website as a digital library
There are many different users of the library website
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First 2 years, junior/senior, graduates
Faculty
Staff
Academic departments
“One size” doesn’t fit all
The “my-library” concept targets different user segments
Exercise: design a my-library website for MLS students
We’ll review your websites in the March 13 class
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Directions for the Future
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Libraries
Access will become more important than ownership resulting
in a proliferation of user interfaces.
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Technology
Lower costs and improved capacity in bandwidth, storage, and
processor speed will offer new opportunities for innovation.
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Innovation
“. . librarians must begin to design an imaginative, easily
identifiable space in cyberspace . . .”
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
Digital Library Tools Platforms
Application Servers
Middleware/Scripting Languages
Database Management
Web Server
Operating System
Hardware
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Digital Libraries - R. Jantz, Feb. 27, 2002
SPSS, XML, ArcIMS,
Real Server
ColdFusion, PHP, JSP, ASP
Access, MySql, Oracle, SQL Server
IIS or Apache
NT or Linux/Unix
Computing and Network Hardware