Unit 11 Readings

"Dewey Meets Turing"

• A more intriguing aspect of DLI was its ability to unite librarians and computer scientists
• Computers scientists could see how the DLI project could help current library functions move forward
• And libraries saw the project as a way to infuse needed funds
• Libraries also saw that information technologies were important in order for them to have an impact on scholarly work and it would raise the expertise of the library community that had not been seen before
• The Web changed many of the DLI projects plans - the web blurred the distinction between consumers and producers of information which undermined the common ground that had brought computer scientists and librarians together
• For librarians, the web was much more difficult to integrate into their work
• Against some predictions (of the WWW), the core functions of librarianship still remain today because information still needs to be organized, collated, and presented
• The accomplishment of the DLI have broadened opportunities for LS, rather than marginalizing the field

"Digital Libraries"

• There is a big difference between providing access to discrete sets of digital collections and providing digital services
• information providers designed enhanced gateway and navigation services to address these concerns
• Aggregate - Virtually collocate - federate = mantra for digital library projects
• The offshoot of the DLI project started things such as - Google and the OAI-PMH

"Institutional Repositories"

• Institutional Repository (IR)- a set of services that a university offers to the community for the management and dissemination of digital materials created by the institution and its community members
• Represents a collaboration among librarians, IT, archives and record managers, faculty, and university administrators and policymakers
• An essential preequisite is preservability - must be able to claim it permanent to the collection
• Unclear of what commitments are being made to preserve supplemental materials - but they should be part of the record
• The IR is a completement and a supplement for traditional publication venues
• IR allow dissemination of materials and encourage the exploration of new forms of digital and scholarly communication
• Need to guaruntee both short and long term accessibility - need to continue to use new accessible forms of technology (update often)
• Cautions: IR used as tools of control over intellectual work, IR information overload, and hastily made IR without much real institutional commitment to the process because they want to get the project done quick

Muddiest Point: The IR article talks about federation as just being in the infant stages, and the "Dewey Meets Turing" article talks about federate being a part of its mantra - where is the ability to federate or the federation of digital materials today in the digital library realm?