The Global Networked Digital Environment:
How Libraries Shape The Digital Future
Ingrid Parent,
University Librarian
University of British Columbia
Ingrid.parent@ubc.ca
Pacific Rim Digital Library Alliance Conference
October 21, 2010
Shanghai, China
Enabling knowledge through Mass and Boutique Digitization
• Mass digitization and traditional library services
• International cooperation and heritage collections in
the digital age
• Accessing and managing our digital content: issues
and challenges
• Incorporating the digital library into outreach and
communication programs
• Digital scholarship and implications for the
future
Mass Digitization and Traditional Library
Services
• Evolution of single-book digitization projects into
national and international projects
• Digitization undertaken for preservation as well as
access reasons
• Large-scale digital library initiatives in the cultural
heritage sectors increasingly include archives and
museums
Mass Digitization and Traditional Library Services
Perspectives from PRDLA
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Resource discovery in mobile and web-scale world
Digitization best practices
Web archiving of online primary source material
Mass digitization in China
Mass Digitization and Traditional Library Services
Perspectives from around the globe
• Google Book digitization project has radically “moved the
yardsticks” for libraries
• IFLA – the trusted global voice of the library community
in driving access to knowledge
• IFLA/IPA Steering Committee: joint statements on mass
digitization and on Open Access
The Digital Age & Heritage Collections
Heritage collections are made accessible and provide connections
across national boundaries
Cultural heritage collections in the digital age face two key
challenges:
• Long term preservation and access
• Intellectual property rights
The Digital Age & Heritage Collections
Digitization and Digital Preservation
Digital content is fragile and can be easily lost
through hardware or software degradation, or
simply a lack of capacity and resources to capture
the growing volume of information
The Digital Age & Heritage Collections
Intellectual Property Rights
Who owns orphan works?
Who “owns” heritage?
The Snuneymuxw First Nation has
copyrighted their artwork just as Canada has
copyrighted its flag
The Digital Age & Heritage Collections
Perspectives from PRDLA
• Providing global access to local resources
• Partnerships allow for not only sharing content, but also
sharing expertise in digital technologies and standards,
as well as in more traditional activities such as paper
conservation
• Digital access also facilitates interpretation of content
and the development of educational and research
packages
The Digital Age & Heritage Collections
Perspectives from around the globe
IFLA’s Digital Strategy calls for partnership:
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Digital preservation: IFLA-CDNL Alliance for Digital Strategies (ICADS)
http://www.ifla.org/icads
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Copyright: IFLA’s Copyright and Other Legal Matters Core Activity (CLM)
- Statement of Principles on Copyright Exceptions and Limitations
IFLA and Convergence
Focuses on cultural heritage institutions to increase cooperation between Libraries,
Archives, Museums, Monuments and Sites, and Audio-visual organizations
The LAMMS Coordinating Council
international cooperation on convergence between
the International NGOs (IFLA-ICA-ICOMICOMOS- CCAAA)
CCAAA
Co-ordinating
Council of
Audiovisual Archives
Associations
Fields of cooperation
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WIPO (copyright)
Blue Shield (cultural heritage protection)
UNESCO (lobby)
Common issues such as global digital libraries /
collections
• Training in preservation and emergency planning
(http://www.ifla.org/en/about-lamms)
Accessing and Management of Digital Content
Curation is a life-cycle process,
curation is managing a growing, living collection
Lynch, C. Digital Curation Conference,
2005, Bath, England
Accessing and Management of Digital Content
Perspectives from PRDLA
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Collections, preservation, and storage facilities for print and digital
resources
Achieving balance between e-book services and paperbook service
models
Curating the complete life-cycle of digital information
Accessing and Management of Digital Content
Perspectives from around the globe
Digital Library Futures Conference – Milan, 2009
http://www.athenaeurope.org/index.php?en/143/italy-milan-digital-library-futures-25august-2009
• Focus on the user
IFLA Strategic Plan for 2010-15
• Encourage partners and users to maximize the potentials of
digital technology
• Provide libraries with tools to face digital challenges and issues
The Manifesto for Digital Libraries aims to make our cultural and
scientific heritage accessible to all:
http://www.ifla.org/publications/ifla-manifesto-for-digital-libraries
Outreach and Communication
• Digital curators promote and build capacity in digital
scholarship
• Transfer of knowledge more efficiently within libraries and
cross institutions
Outreach and Communication
Perspectives from PRDLA
• Interactive and creative use of technology in digital
collections
• Oral histories, artifacts and technology
• Discovery services from commercial vendors
Outreach and Communication
Perspectives from around the globe
• UBC’s Museum of Anthropology has launched the
Reciprocal Research Network (RRN) in partnership with
First Nations groups, to digitally repatriate cultural objects
and share with institutions around the globe
http://www.rrnpilot.org/
• World Digital Library Charter
• IFLA Advocacy focuses on professional development,
political advocacy and community advocacy
• Palestian newspaper digitization project
Digital Scholarship and the Future
• How can academic libraries remain relevant?
• High-level digital skills needed for e-Research
• Evolving trend: digital scholarship; creating sustainable and
authoritative digital resources, delivered by means of an
information infrastructure that incorporates people,
technology, content and the interactions between them
In the next five years, E-Research will generate more
scientific data than has been collected in the whole
of human history. (Hey, 2004)
Digital Scholarship and the Future
Five Elements of Digital Scholarship in libraries:
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Digitization strategy
Research policy
Community building, lobbying and advising
Research projects
Examination of born-digital initiatives and digital
preservation
Conclusion
Libraries shape the digital future
It is up to us to demonstrate our expertise and
our value in this evolving digital landscape.
Xie Xie
Ingrid Parent,
University Librarian
University of British Columbia Library
Ingrid.parent@ubc.ca
References and Image Credits
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Hey, T. (2004) e-Science and the Grid – Preserving the Data Deluge. Digital Preservation
Coalition Forum. http://www.dpconline.org/events/digital-preservation-the-global-context.html
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UBC Library images courtesy of Martin Dee, Jill Pittendregh and Glenn Drexhage.
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IFLA images courtesy of IFLA. www.ifla.org