The Digital Library Tool Kit
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The Digital Library Tool Kit by Dr. Peter Noerr April 1998 ©1998 Sun Microsystems, Inc. - Printed in the United States of America. 901 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto, California 94303 USA All rights reserved. This product and related documentation is protected by copyright and distributed under licenses restricting its use, copying, distribution and decompilation. No part of this product or related documentation may be reproduced in any form by any means without prior written authorization of Sun and its licensors, if any. Portions of this product may be derived from the UNIX® and Berkeley 4.3 BSD systems, licensed from UNIX Systems Laboratories, Inc. and the University of California, respectively. Third party font software in this product is protected by copyright and licensed from Sun’s Font Suppliers. RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 and FAR 52.227-19. The product described in this manual may be protected by one or more U.S. patents, foreign patents, or pending applications. TRADEMARKS Sun, Sun Microsystems, SunService, JavaSoft, the Sun logo, Java, JavaBeans, Authorized Java Centers, the Authorized Java Center logo, 100% Pure Java, The Network is the Computer, JDBC, NFS, Enterprise, and JDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd. THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED ‘‘AS IS’’ WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. THIS PUBLICATION COULD INCLUDE TECHNICAL INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY ADDED TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN; THESE CHANGES WILL BE INCORPORATED IN NEW EDITIONS OF THE PUBLICATION. SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. MAY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES IN THE PRODUCT(S) AND/OR THE PROGRAM(S) DESCRIBED IN THIS PUBLICATION AT ANY TIME. The Digital Library Tool Kit by Dr. Peter Noerr Preface The Digital Library Tool Kit was sponsored by Sun Microsystems Computer Company in the hopes of ad- dressing some of the leading questions that academic institutions, public libraries, government agencies, and museums face in trying to develop digital content and distribute it on the Worldwide Web. Librarians and Campus CIOs are dealing with a plethora of new technologies and issues in the realm of Digital Librar- ies. The evolution and coalescing of Java applications, digital object standards, Internet access, electronic commerce, digital media management models, and library automation systems, is causing educators, CIOs, and librarians to rethink many of their traditional goals and modes of operation. As one of the leading tech- nology providers to the Education and Library Communities, Sun discerned the need for a comprehensive, state-of-the-art document that could give some guidance in the nascent field of Digital Libraries. We hope The Digital Library Tool Kit is of use to you as you explore new directions and technologies. Art Pasquinelli Marketing Manager, Libraries and Administrative Computing Academic and Research Computing Sun Microsystems Computer Company Purpose and Scope This document is designed to help those who are contemplating setting up a digital library. Whether this is a first time computerisation effort or an extension of an existing library’s services, there are questions to be answered, decisions to be made, and work to be done. This document covers all those stages and more. The first section (Chapter 1) is a series of questions to ask yourself and your organisation. The questions are designed generally to raise issues rather than to provide definitive answers. The second section (Chapters 2-5) discusses the planning and implementation of a digital library. It raises some issues which are organisation-specific, but does contain answers and information to help answer these and a host of other aspects of a digital library project. The third section (Chapters 6 -7) includes resources and a look at current research, existing digital library systems, and the future. These chapters enable you to find additional resources and help as well as show you where to look for interesting examples of the current state of the art. This document was produced on commission to Sun Microsystems Computer Company. It is available in HTML on the Sun website at http:/www.sun.com/edu/. Dr. Peter Noerr [email protected] http:/www.edulib.com/ Table of Contents Part 1 ..............................................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 The Questions ..............................................................................................................................2 1.0 What is.......................................................................................................................................................2 1.0.1 ...a Digital Library?............................................................................................................................2 1.0.2 ...Digital Material?.............................................................................................................................2 1.0.3 ...the Bleeding Edge of Technology? ..................................................................................................4 1.0.4 ...Automatic indexing?........................................................................................................................4 1.1 Policy.........................................................................................................................................................5 1.1.1 Is there a need for a Digital Library? ................................................................................................5 1.1.2 Is the current library expanding?.......................................................................................................5 1.1.3 Is the Library central to the organisation?.........................................................................................5 1.1.4 How valuable is the Library's information?.......................................................................................5 1.1.5 Is the information changing?..............................................................................................................6 1.1.6 Does the library or organisation want an in-house Digital Library?.................................................6 1.1.7 Should a Digital Library coexist with a conventional one?................................................................6 1.1.8 Is the object to run a library or manage material? ............................................................................6 1.2 Audience....................................................................................................................................................7 1.2.1 Is there a demand for new services and/or material?.........................................................................7 1.2.2 Has the market been sized? ................................................................................................................7 1.2.3 How is it composed?...........................................................................................................................7 1.2.4 How will a Digital Library be used? ..................................................................................................7 1.2.5 How will a Digital Library be accessed? ...........................................................................................8 1.3 Reasons......................................................................................................................................................8 1.3.1 To expand services?............................................................................................................................8 1.3.2 To make the library more central to the organisation?......................................................................8 1.3.3 To generate income? ..........................................................................................................................8 1.3.4 To promote collections? .....................................................................................................................9 1.3.5 To raise the library's profile? ............................................................................................................9 1.3.6 Because of staff pressure? ..................................................................................................................9 1.4 Alternatives ...............................................................................................................................................9 1.4.1 Do nothing?........................................................................................................................................9 1.4.2 Out-source? ......................................................................................................................................10 1.4.3 Provide a gateway? ..........................................................................................................................10