A review of the status of 20 digital libraries

Abstract

Recent proliferation of research in digital libraries has given rise to a number of working digital libraries around the world. These digital libraries have been defined, designed and developed differently and therefore the experience that one might have from one particular digital library might not be the same with other digital libraries. Current status of 20 digital libraries around the world: twelve from the USA, three from the UK, two from Australia, one from New Zealand, one from Singapore and one from Canada, has been reviewed. Various features of these selected digital libraries were collected from their home pages, journal articles and the information published on the World Wide Web. The parameters used to study the chosen digital libraries include: contents, type of library, organisation, user interface, access, information retrieval, search features, output format and links to other Internet resources. While some of the chosen digital libraries cater for specific subject or document format, others play the role of digital as well as virtual libraries, giving access to the local digital collection as well as remote collections accessible through the Web. While most of these digital libraries have been developed for use in-house or by authorised users, some digital libraries are globally accessible. The chosen digital libraries differ in terms of the information search and output facilities; very few have the facility to store search histories. Only four digital libraries have books in electronic form: National Library of Canada in general area, GUTENBERG in subject-specific area and SETIS and Carnegie Mellon University in special collection areas.The review confirms that while digital libraries to date have been quite useful, there is need for further improvements in terms of user interfaces and information facilities. Additionally, this study reveals that two different types of digital libraries are likely to emerge in future. The first are subject-and document-specific digital libraries that will cater for specific subjects and types of information, like digital video, maps, photographs and paintings, theses, and so on. The second are hybrid libraries that will link the traditional libraries with its online public access catalogue (OPAC), CD-ROM and online databases to the world of digital libraries and virtual libraries or gateways. The provision of personalised information services is an emerging trend in digital libraries to provide the next higher level of functionality to support users' specific information needs and preferred search and retrieval strategies. 50 1 2

Digital libraries and reference services: present and future

“…However, Rogers (2001) presented an interesting report of a study analysing Web-based reference services in academic libraries in Illinois. This study shows a usage pattern that is quite similar to the timing of usage of traditional reference services in libraries, for example, 80 per cent of all usage occurred between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.; evening use was higher than morning use, and the busiest hour was between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Meyyappan et al (2000) and Chowdhury and Chowdhury (2000) have recently reviewed the status of some digital libraries from around the globe. These reviews reveal that while the digital libraries have very good information access and retrieval mechanisms in place, there is almost no provision for quality reference and information services.…”

Policy route map for academic libraries’ digital content

“…Austin et al, 2008;Ayre and Muir, 2004b;Cedars Project, 2002a, 2002bKrishnaswamy and Gopalakrishnan, 2008), project results, 1 conference and journal papers (e.g. Arms, 1998;Ayre and Muir, 2004a;Meyyappan, 2000;Perry and Callan, 2006;Weinberger, 2000a, 2000b;Varmus, 2008;Walters, 2003;Witten, 2003 ), guides (e.g. Pappalardo et al, 2007Pappalardo et al, , 2008 and books (e.g.…”

“…For example, Meyyappan (2000), who described the status of 20 digital libraries while also mentioning their access policies, had previously undertaken similar work.…”

Use of a digital work environment prototype to create a user-centred university digital library

“…A review of 20 working digital libraries [4] from different parts of the world, representing academic, special and public libraries, shows the diversified collection of information resources. The various information resources accessible to users are full-text articles, proceedings papers, CD-ROM databases, theses and dissertations, e-journals, e-books, examination papers, photographs, images of historic buildings, maps, audio,…”