Exploring Digital Libraries is a highly readable, thought-provoking authorative and in-depth treatment of the digital library arena that provides an up-to-date overview of the progress, nature and future impact of digital libraries, from their collections and technology-centered foundations over two decades ago to their emergent, community-centered engagement with the social web. This essential textbook brings students and working librarians up to date on the progress, nature and impact of digital libraries, bridging the gap since the publication of the best-known digital library texts; frames digital library research and practice in the context of the social web and makes the case for moving beyond collections to a new emphasis on libraries’ value to their communities; introduces several new frameworks and novel syntheses that elucidate digital library themes, suggest strategic directions, and break new ground in the digital library literature; calls a good deal of attention to digital library research, but is written from the perspective of strategy and in-depth experience; and provides a global perspective and integrates material from many sources in one place - the chapters on open repositories and hybrid libraries draw together past, present and prospective work in a way that is unique in the literature. Exploring Digital Libraries suits the needs of a range of readers, from working librarians and library leaders to LIS students and educators, or anyone who wants a highly readable and thought-provoking overview of the field and its importance to the future of libraries.

1. EXPLORING
DIGITAL
LIBRARIES
Foundations, Practice, Prospects

2. WHAT IS IT?
The most up-to-date,
thought-provoking and
comprehensive textbook on
digital libraries.

4. WHO IS IT FOR?
LIS students, educators,
working librarians, library
leaders and anyone wanting
a highly readable overview of
the field and its importance
to the future of digital
libraries.

5. WHAT DOES IT OFFER?
1) It will bring readers up-todate on the progress, nature
and impact of digital
libraries, bridging the gap
since the publication of the
best-known digital library
texts.

6. WHAT DOES IT OFFER?
2) It frames digital library
research & practice in the
context of the social web &
makes the case for moving
beyond collections to a new
emphasis on libraries’ value
to their communities.

7. WHAT DOES IT OFFER?
3) It introduces several new
frameworks and novel
syntheses that elucidate
digital library themes,
suggest strategic directions,
and break new ground in the
digital library literature.

8. WHAT DOES IT OFFER?
4) It calls a good deal of
attention to digital library
research, but is written from
the perspective of strategy
and in-depth experience.

9. WHAT DOES IT OFFER?
5) It provides a global
perspective and integrates
material from many sources
in one place.

10. WH0 IS IT BY?
Karen Calhoun is a librarian,
writer and international
speaker with wide-ranging
experience leading libraries
in the digital age.

11. WHAT TO EXPECT
chapter by chapter

12. 1. EMERGENCE AND DEFINITIONS OF
DIGITAL LIBRARIES
This chapter traces the first decade of progress
in digital libraries (1991-2001) with emphasis
on the foundational innovations, vision,
motivations, new technology, funding and
early programs that prompted their
emergence and rapid development. It next
turns to the question of how to define the
concept of ‘digital libraries’ in an environment
of multiple perspectives and continuous
technological and societal change.

13. THIS CHAPTER
IS AVAILABLE
FOR FREE
click here to download a PDF

14. 2. OUTCOMES OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES’
FIRST DECADE
This chapter identifies & discusses a set of
significant outcomes from the first decade of
digital library research & practice. It describes
accomplishments that set dominant themes &
continue to shape the field of digital libraries.
This chapter offers a framework for
understanding the work of thousands of
people during that period, one that reveals the
interplay of people, enabling technologies &
the collections, services & communities they
support (see figure on the next slide).

15. 2. KEY OUTCOMES OF THE FIRST DECADE OF
DIGITAL LIBRARIES
A new field of digital
library research and
practice
Enabling
Technology
Collections,
Services,
Communities
Technical innovation
Producers and
Providers
Scholarly
communications
Digitization
Metadata and
standards
Foundations of digital libraries
Open access
Working digital
libraries and their
communities

16. 3. KEY THEMES AND CHALLENGES IN
DIGITAL LIBRARIES
This chapter identifies the key themes of the
second decade of progress in the field. A concept
map visualizes the results of an analysis of
second-decade digital library literature &
provides new insights into the field by exposing
thematic connections between technologies,
collections, social forces & online community
building. The chapter concludes by considering
the key challenges facing digital libraries:
interoperability, community engagement,
intellectual property rights & sustainability.

17. 4. DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS:
REPOSITORIES
This chapter begins with an exploration of the
parallel but separate developments of the
web, digital library repositories & hybrid
libraries. It then examines digital library
repositories covering topics including:
numbers, usage & discoverability of
repositories; current position & roles; systems
& software; federations & dissemination of
repository content; next-generation repository
systems; and cyberinfrastructure, data & eresearch support.

18. 5. HYBRID LIBRARIES
This chapter takes a detailed look at the
interplay between library users, hybrid library
collections & enabling technologies for hybrid
library systems & services. The chapter then
examines changing information-seeking
behaviours & preferences, explores how they
have fostered new collections strategies, &
analyses the impact of both on discovery
services & other enabling technologies for
hybrid libraries. The chapter ends with some
thoughts about the evolutionary paths of
hybrid libraries, repositories & the web.

19. 6. SOCIAL ROLES OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES
This chapter begins by exploring the past and
present understanding of the value of libraries
to their communities. Taking a well known
framework that lays out libraries’ social roles
as a starting point, the chapter then suggests a
possible new framework to describe the social
roles of digital libraries. The remainder of the
chapter explicates this framework, exploring
aspects of each social role. The sections offer
examples, consider benefits and challenges,
and draw attention to key readers from digital
library researchers and practitioners.

20. 7. DIGITAL LIBRARIES AND THEIR
COMMUNITIES
What sets thriving, long-lived digital libraries
apart from those that attract only modest
attention or have faded into memory? Why
have some digital libraries had a distinctive
impact on the communities they were built to
serve, while others are more or less ignored?
This chapter examines these issues.

21. 8. PROSPECTS OF OPEN ACCESS REPOSITORIES
This chapter focuses on the potential of open
access repositories for having a positive impact on
scholarship & increasing the social & economic
value of digital libraries. Topics include: subjectbased & institutional repositories & their value;
issues around recruiting repository content; legal
frameworks, copyright & open access; disciplinespecific norms, practices & reward systems; the
discoverability of scholarly content; the
sustainability of repositories; e-research data
management; and prospects for the emergence of
a global ecosystem of repositories.

22. 9. DIGITAL LIBRARIES AND THE SOCIAL WEB:
SCHOLARSHIP
This chapter examines the origins and chaotic,
fast-moving nature of the social web, explores
the possibility of digital libraries as social
platforms and introduces a visual framework
that attempts to bring some coherence to the
many confusing elements of digital libraries’
evolution toward the social web. The chapter
then turns to the branches of the visual
framework that pertain to the social web’s
existing emergent, or potential impacts on
scholarship, research and researchers.

23. 9. DIGITAL LIBRARIES AND THE SOCIAL WEB:
COLLECTIONS AND PLATFORMS
This chapter continues the consideration of
digital libraries’ responses to the social web. It
builds on the visual framework introduced in
the previous chapter to consider the transition
of digital collections to platforms that align
well with how people find information, work
and play on the social web; are highly visible
and invite interaction; and re-mix and re-use
data from other sources. The chapter closes
with some thoughts about future digital
libraries and libraries’ digital futures.

24. IF YOU WANT
TO ORDER
THE BOOK...

25. THE BOOK IS OUT NOW!
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Remember, you can browse a free
sample chapter by clicking here