From the Print Media to the Internet Part 6

Many libraries are developing a digital library alongside their other collections. Digital libraries gather mainly texts, and sometimes images and sounds as well. They allow a large audience to have access to doc.u.ments belonging to specialized, old, local or regional collections, which were previously difficult to access for various reasons, including: concern for preservation of rare and fragile doc.u.ments, reduced opening hours, forms to fill out, long waiting period to get the doc.u.ment, and shortage of staff. All these reasons were hurdles to get over and required of the researcher an unfailing patience and an out-of-the-ordinary determination to finally get to the doc.u.ment.

Beowulf, the first great English literary masterpiece, is a treasure of the British Library. It is known only from a single 11th century ma.n.u.script, which was badly damaged by fire in 1731. Transcriptions made in the late 18th century show that many hundreds of words and letters then visible along the charred edges subsequently crumbled away. To halt this process each leaf was mounted in a paper frame in 1845. Scholarly discussion of the date, provenance and creation of the poem continue around the world, and researchers regularly require access to the ma.n.u.script. Taking Beowulf out of its display case for study not only raises conservation issues, it also makes it unavailable for the many visitors who come to the Library expecting to see this most fundamental of literary treasures on display. Digitization of the whole ma.n.u.script offered a solution to these problems, as well as providing new opportunities for insight.

The Electronic Beowulf Project has a.s.sembled a huge database of digital images of the Beowulf ma.n.u.script and related ma.n.u.scripts and printed texts. The archive already includes fiber-optic readings of hidden letters and ultraviolet readings of erased text in the early 11th-century ma.n.u.script; full electronic facsimiles of the 18th-century transcripts of the ma.n.u.script; and selections from important 19th-century collations, editions, and translations. Major additions will include images of contemporary ma.n.u.script illuminations and material culture, and links with the Toronto Dictionary of Old English project and with the comprehensive Anglo-Saxon bibliographies of the Old English Newsletter.

The project has been developed by the British Library with two leading American Anglo-Saxon experts, Kevin Kiernan of the University of Kentucky and Paul Szarmach of the Medieval Inst.i.tute, Western Michigan University. Professor Kiernan is editing the electronic archive and is producing a CD-ROM electronic facsimile that will bring together in an easy-to-use package all the different types of images being collected.

As Brian Lang, Chief Executive of the British Library, explains on the website:

"The Beowulf ma.n.u.script is a unique treasure and imposes on the Library a responsibility to scholars throughout the world. Digital photography offered for the first time the possibility of recording text concealed by early repairs, and a less expensive and safer way of recording readings under special light conditions. It also offers the prospect of using image enhancement technology to settle doubtful readings in the text. Network technology has facilitated direct collaboration with American scholars and makes it possible for scholars around the world to share in these discoveries. Curatorial and computing staff learned a great deal which will inform any future programmes of digitisation and network service provision the Library may undertake, and our publishing department is considering the publication of an electronic scholarly edition of Beowulf. This work has not only advanced scholarship; it has also captured the imagination of a wider public, engaging people (through press reports and the availability over computer networks of selected images and text) in the appreciation of one of the primary artefacts of our shared cultural heritage."

Thanks to the digital library, the "traditional" library can finally join two goals which used to be in contradiction - doc.u.ment preservation and doc.u.ment communication. On the one hand, the doc.u.ments are taken out of their shelves only once to be scanned. On the other, the public can access them from the screen, and easily go from one doc.u.ment to another, without a long waiting period or the need to fill out forms.

The UNOG (United Nations of Geneva) Library, a leading European center for the study of world affairs, is open to UN staff, scholars, researchers, diplomats, journalists, and students. Its outstanding collections are especially strong on disarmament, economics, human rights, international law and current events. On July 3, 1997, the UNOG Library inaugurated its new Cybers.p.a.ce. Initiated by Pierre Pelou, the Head of the Library, this electronic forum is primarily intended to benefit representatives of the Permanent Missions, conference delegations and international civil servants. It is also open to specialized researchers, students, engineers and other interested professionals.

Designed and planned by Antonio Bustamante, architect and Head of the Buildings, Parks and Gardens Unit, the cybers.p.a.ce is comprised of 24 computerized workstations that have been installed on the redesigned first floor of the UNOG Library to provide the following services:

a) Access to a broad range of electronic resources, such as: the Internet; the United Nations Optical Disk System; an infoserver with about 50 networked CD-ROMs; the United Nations Bibliographical Information System (UNBIS), the shared database of the Headquarters Dag Hammarskjold Library and the UNOG Library; the UNOG Library's automated catalogue; Profound, a collection of databases in the business and economics field; and the catalogue of RERO (Reseau des bibliotheques romandes et tessinoises), a network of Swiss libraries with which the UNOG Library is affiliated;

b) Consultation of a selection of multimedia CD-ROMs composed of intertwined audio, textual, photographic and video segments (e.g. Encarta 97, dictionaries and encyclopedias, l'etat du monde, elysee 2, Nuklear);

Viewing of multistandard videoca.s.settes and DVDs (digital versatile disks) of doc.u.mentaries and films on topics of international relevance (e.g. humanitarian affairs, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi);

Usage of computerized working tools for text-processing (WordPerfect) and electronic mail (e-mail, cc:mail); and

Access to the Internet, particularly the UNOG homepages in English and French, the homepages of Permanent Missions and other international organizations, and a selection of links provided by the managers of the UNOG Cybers.p.a.ce.

A second cybers.p.a.ce with six computers opened in April 1998 on the second floor of the library, with the same facilities and a fantastic view on the Lake of Geneva and the surrounding Alps.

The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international organization based in Paris, has been quick to put the Internet at its staff's disposal, and to create on extensive Intranet. Peter Raggett, Deputy-Head of the OECD Main Library, made the following comments in his e-mail of June 18, 1998:

"The Internet has provided researchers with a vast database of information. The problem for them is to find what they are seeking. Never has the 'information overload' been so obvious as when one tries to find information on a topic by searching the Internet. Information managers have a large role to play in searching and arranging the information on the Internet.

When one uses a search engine like Lycos or AltaVista or a directory like Yahoo!, it soon becomes clear that it can be very difficult to find valuable sites on a given topic. These search mechanisms work well if one is searching for something very precise, such as information on a person who has an unusual name, but they produce a confusing number of references if one is searching for a topic which can be quite broad. Try and search the Web for Russia AND transport to find statistics on the use of trains, planes and buses in Russia.

The first references you will find are freight-forwarding firms who have business connections with Russia.

At the OECD Library we have collected together several hundred World Wide Web sites and have put links to them on the OECD Intranet. They are sorted by subject and each site has a short annotation giving some information about it.

The researcher can then see if it is possible that the site contains the desired information. This is adding value to the site references and in this way the Central Library has built up a virtual reference desk on the OECD network. As well as the annotated links, this virtual reference desk contains pages of references to articles, monographs and websites relevant to several projects currently being researched at the OECD, network access to CD-ROMs, and a monthly list of new acquisitions. The Library catalogue will soon be available for searching on the Intranet.

The reference staff at the OECD Library uses the Internet for a good deal of their work. Often an academic working paper will be on the Web and will be available for full-text downloading. We are currently investigating supplementing our subscriptions to certain of our periodicals with access to the electronic versions on the Internet.

The Internet is impinging on many peoples' lives and Information Managers are the best people to help researchers around the labyrinth. The Internet is just in its infancy and we are all going to be witnesses to its growth and refinement."

The Internet in libraries is a research topic dealt with by numerous organizations, for example the Internet Public Library (IPL) or the International Federation of Library Inst.i.tutions and a.s.sociations (IFLA).

Opened in March 1995, the Internet Public Library (IPL) is the first digital public library of and for the Internet community. Its different sections are: reference; exhibits; especially for librarians; magazines and serials; newspapers; on-line texts; and Web searching. There are also sections for Teen and Youth. All the items of the collections (20,166 as of December 8, 1998) are carefully selected, catalogued and described by the IPL staff. As an experimental library, IPL also tries to discover and promote the most effective roles and contributions of librarians to the Internet and vice versa.

The International Federation of Library a.s.sociations and Inst.i.tutions (IFLA)is a worldwide, independent organization created to provide librarians around the world with a forum for exchanging ideas, promoting international cooperation, research and development in all fields of library activity. IFLA's objectives are: to represent librarianship in matters of international interest; to promote the continuing education of library personnel; and to develop, maintain and promote guidelines for library services. The part relating to Electronic Collections and Services includes four sections: library and information science; digital libraries; information policy; and Internet and networking.

A number of professional magazines are available on the Web.

Library Journal Digital (LJ Digital) is an electronic offshoot of Library Journal (LJ), founded in 1876 and the oldest U.S. independent national library publication. LJ is read by over 100,000 library directors, administrators, and others in public, academic, and special (e.g., business) libraries. Published 20 times a year, LJ combines news, features, and commentary with a.n.a.lyses of public policy, technology, and management developments. In addition, some 7,500 evaluative reviews (of books, audio and video, CD-ROMs, websites, and magazines) written by librarians help readers make their purchasing decisions. Each issue reviews 250 to 350 adult books, mostly prior to publication, making it a source for librarians and publishers' early evaluations.

Published by the University of Houston Libraries, Texas, the Public-Access Computer Systems Review (PACS Review) is an electronic journal about end-user computer systems in libraries. It is distributed at no charge on the Internet and other computer networks to 8,000 persons in 60 countries. The journal publishes papers on topics such as digital libraries, doc.u.ment delivery systems, electronic publishing, expert systems, hypermedia and multimedia systems, locally mounted databases, network-based information resources and tools, and on-line catalogs.

The librarian's job has significantly changed with computers, and continues to change with the Internet. Computers made the catalogs much easier to handle. In place of all these paper cards to be cla.s.sified into wood or metal drawers, the computer could sort out the bibliographic records itself. The loan of doc.u.ments and the processing of orders became computerized too. Then networking computers allowed the creation of union catalogs for a region, a country, or a specific topic, furthering interlibrary loan.

What does the Internet bring to librarians, libraries and library users? It brings:

- the use of electronic mail for internal and external communications, and as a means of communication with the public;

- the partic.i.p.ation in newsgroups and discussion forums;

- the use of the library website to give additional information, open a digital library, and offer a selection of sites relating to the public's topics;

- free access to the library's catalogues;

- a gigantic information provider; and

- a simpler way to look for another job.

With the Internet as a main information provider and the quick development of digital libraries, what is the future of librarians? Will they become cyberlibrarians, or will they disappear because the public will not need them any more when all the information and doc.u.ments they need will be available on-line?

As for journalists, the librarians will probably continue being useful, as stated by Peter Raggett, Deputy-Head of the OECD Library, in his e-mail of September 18, 1998:

"I have to filter the information for my clients. This means that I must be familiar with the sites which contain useful links. In addition I expect that there will be an expansion in Internet use for education and research. This means that libraries will have to create Virtual Libraries where students can follow a course offered by an inst.i.tution at the other side of the world.

Personally, I see myself becoming more and more a 'Virtual Librarian'. My clients may not meet me face-to-face but instead will contact me by e-mail, telephone or fax and I will do the research and send them the results electronically."

7. DIGITAL LIBRARIES

[In this chapter:]

[7.1. The Digital Library: A Definition / 7.2. Digital Libraries: Some Examples / 7.3. Digital Image Collections / 7.4. Future Trends for Digital Libraries]

7.1. The Digital Library: A Definition

Digital libraries may be the major contribution from the print media to the Internet, and vice versa.

Thanks to the Internet, hundreds of public works, literary and scientific doc.u.ments, articles, academic and research works, pictures and sound tracks are available on the screen for free. The collections of existing digital libraries increase regularly, and new digital libraries come up constantly.

Some digital libraries are created by "traditional" libraries who want to put their doc.u.ments at the disposal of Internet users. Other digital libraries are "only" digital - their life is 100% on the Web.

Hosted by the Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Universal Library defines the digital library as "a digital library of digital doc.u.ments, artifacts, and records. The advantage of having library material available in digital form is threefold: (1) the content occupies less s.p.a.ce and can be replicated and made secure electronically, (2) the content can be made immediately available over the Internet to anyone, anywhere, and (3) search for content can be automated. The promise of the digital library is the promise of great cost reductions while providing great increases in archive availability and accessibility. [...]