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by Nancy Kranich
Based on a presentation at the Texas Library Association
Annual Conference, April 22, 1999
When thousands of people read Kenneth Starr's report on the Internet, they retrieved the docu-ment from a major repository of government publications. Millions of such documents are now available through the World Wide Web which is ubiquitous as well as accessible anywhere/anytime. Is retrieving the Starr report or other similar publications from the web equivalent to using a digital library? There is no broad, balanced collection of information that meets particular selection criteria. Internet publications lack standardization and validation. Items have minimal cataloging or other bibliographic control. And, finally, effective retrieval of information is not guaranteed. According to Clifford Lynch (1997):
One sometimes hears the Internet characterized as the world's library for the digital age. This description does not stand up under even casual examination. The Internet and particularly its collection of multimedia resources known as the WWW was not designed to support the organized publication and retrieval of information as libraries are. It has evolved into what might be thought of as a chaotic repository for the collective output of the world's digital "printing presses"... ...in short, the Net is not a digital library.
Imagine a perfect library situated somewhere out in cyberspace. The library is equipped with precise, replicable discovery tools and materials on every subject from all perspectives in a full range of formats. Users can connect to these library resources in many ways: from a catalog, index, abstract, or finding aid which link to full text, digital images, or other facsimile editions, or to metadata descriptions of textual or multimedia holdings from a local library whose resources can be delivered to users either onsite or by mail. Older titles are archived and preserved, available on demand. Help is offered in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In essence, this virtual digital library can be used anytime, anyplace, and by anyone.
What we have imagined is a "just in time" rather than a "just in case" library. We have migrated from a state of scarcity to a state of abundance, transcending our geographic, legal and political boundaries, with librarians serving as knowledge navigators and learning facilitators. Our dream is for the emergence of a shared cyberlibrary in which each of our individual institutions maintains its separate, unique identity, but offers direct, unlimited access to a rich collection of resources that are no longer limited by location, format, cost, time of day, or onsite restrictions.
We need not just imagine such a state of library nirvana. By utilizing emerging technologies strategically, we can stake a claim in our technological future by creating a virtual, digital library where true resource sharing is fully enabled and users become the driving force behind our efforts.
Librarians have worked successfully in the last few years to integrate computer technology into the day-to-day library environment. Thus far, most of our progress is in the development of standardized imaging and access tools. Recent advances in technology which can assist in the conversion of print materials to digital formats now enable librarians to go well beyond access and make library resources that were previously available only in one physical location available to anyone via the World Wide Web. The joint purchase of commercial databases and conversion of unique print collections to digital format can create a virtual library available to anyone, anywhere.
According to Don Waters, former Director of the Digital Library Federation (1998):
Digital libraries are organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of communities.
Digital libraries offer such benefits as: equitable access; reduced barriers
of distance; timeliness; shared resources; and content delivery. Digital libraries
promise
an exciting new service paradigm for the 21st century.
Creating true digital libraries, not just digital collections, will require
librarians
to work closely together to:
It is critical that digital libraries provide access to valuable, interesting content and assist users in selecting, evaluating, and utilizing resources, no matter what their format. Collections and expertise are the two invaluable additions we offer to the networked world. We must collaborate to optimize the technological opportunities before us.
It no longer matters where digital content resides. But all kinds of libraries and other institutions such as archives, schools, museums, federal, state and local governments, plus commercial and non-profit producers will need to work together to create and convert important resources to digital formats; index, catalog, archive and preserve them; and make them universally accessible. All libraries must be equipped to provide access to and assist with these emerging digital resources. We must carefully coordinate our efforts to ensure that each participant's contributions complement and not duplicate other initiatives. This can not be achieved if each institution acts independently. It is too costly and labor intensive. And no single institution, not even the Library of Congress, has all the collections or resources necessary to respond to the needs of every community of users around the world.
Digital library contributors will need to collaborate in their efforts to digitize resources if they are to be successful and distinguish themselves from digitization projects which have stood alone inside individual institutions or organizations. Several collaborative planning efforts are underway, some among selected research libraries, others within states such as Texas, New York, Colorado, California, Massachusetts, and Virginia, where libraries, museums, and archives are working together to develop truly distributed digital libraries. These efforts are allowing participants to become more familiar with the formidable technical challenges facing them. They also prompt them to work together across lines, institutions, and professions to:
These efforts also force participants to think more seriously about user communities and the need to work closely with them to increase the value and impact of digital libraries.
The library community needs to collaborate to develop a shared vision for a
digital library which meets the evolving needs of a 21st century
information society. We must build an organizational structure to implement
that vision and create a funding model to sustain it. Critical problems
of creation, access, delivery, navigation, preservation and archiving are plaguing
our advancement. In addition, questions about appropriate licensing arrangements
and copyright restrictions impede progress. Nevertheless, we cannot wait to
begin collaborating to build digital libraries - libraries that must be: based
on content; centered on users; integrated with human services and interactive
navigation tools; ubiquitous; focused on content management; based
on standards and best practices; archived; and preserved.
The high cost of conversion of materials precludes individual libraries from
engaging in a comprehensive effort on their own. Collectively, though, libraries
and other institutions can work toward converting collections that represent
a wide range of topics. They can build upon previous work such as cooperative
preservation, collection development, cataloging and interlibrary loan programs.
By working together, libraries can avoid needless redundancies and enable participants
to take advantage of each other's expertise and strong collections owned by
one institution
but lacked at another.
Never before has collaboration been so essential for libraries - essential to the successful introduction, development, and widespread utilization of digital libraries. In the past, we cooperated on many levels and coordinated our activities around the world. Thanks to our resource sharing efforts, global users can now benefit from investments made by individual libraries in distant local communities. But collaboration will mean something far more demanding than the cooperative endeavors we have relied upon for so many years. It will mean the development of:
As a result, collaboration to create digital libraries
will need:
Yet, we must also be aware of the pitfalls we face when collaborating. First, plans and good intentions are a good start, but without permanent funding and a home, they are unlikely to become a reality. Second, we all face conflicting institutional priorities and competition for scarce funding. Third, many libraries and consortia are already heavily invested in their own developments and may be reluctant to adjust their course in order to accommodate other's efforts. Fourth, there is a wide diversity across libraries of different digital data structures, search engines, interfaces, controlled vocabularies, document formats, and so on. Consequently, federating all digital libraries locally, statewide, nationally or internationally will be virtually impossible. Fifth, many organizations will need major retooling to contribute efficiently and effectively. Indeed, the barriers to collaboration are awesome and must be overcome if libraries are to work together toward a common digital future.
New York's eleven research libraries received a grant in 1995 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to plan for the development of a state digital library. The grant gave the group a reason to work together; the disparate members created NYCRL, New York Comprehensive Research Libraries, and began seeing themselves as an organized voice prepared to participate in policy discussions within the state library community. Throughout the course of the project, members shared a great deal with colleagues, up and down their organizations. They learned what others were doing, both in New York and elsewhere. The project forced all participants, not just those on the leading edge of digital library development, to become more familiar with the technical issues and to work together across lines, institutions and professions to create a common vision for a common future. They shared extensive expertise and information about rich collections in the state.
NYCRL institutions built upon earlier models of cooperative activities, particularly
the preservation program that already involved members. They planned their efforts
to dovetail with other electronic developments statewide,
such as the Electronic Doorway Library program, archives projects, digitization
of government documents, geographic information efforts, and joint licensing
arrangements. They encouraged all NYS libraries and other cultural institutions
to participate and benefit, including the K-12 community (an important focus
for benefits). They developed selection criteria that focused on coordinated
digital collection building. In addition to producing a plan which is available
on the web, the group developed a web site which points to existing digital
resources about New York and held a symposium featuring leaders in the digital
library field and showcasing efforts at the 11 participating libraries.
While the project was successful when external funding was available, it has not yet attracted state funds. A plan, without funding and a permanent structure and home, is unlikely to become a reality. The State Library needs to assume a primary role in this effort to provide the leadership necessary to encourage continued involvement by private and public research libraries. Various conflicting institutional priorities stand in the way of success in New York. Some New York libraries are heavily vested in digital library efforts, others not. All suffer from competition for scarce funding. The libraries are not only geographically dispersed, but also employ a wide diversity of different data structures, search engines, interfaces, controlled vocabularies, document formats, and so on.
Administrative problems persist as well. Collaborative statewide efforts require many meetings, taking people away from production. They also require extensive planning; the speed of technological change is often faster than a shared planning effort. Cooperative collection development has never been a major success for libraries, including those in New York; making it work in the digital environment is equally difficult. Providing access to external materials is problematic when local control of collections is lacking and long-term access and preservation require constant vigilance. Success requires dedicated leadership. Players change, resulting in the need to re-educate and recommit leaders over and over again. In short, a successful collaborative digital library effort needs champions who are willing and eager to promote their cause in the face of great promise along with serious pitfalls.
In 1995, Nicolas Negroponte wrote that "being digital" required a transformation from atoms to bits. He used such terms as: multimedia, asynchronous, on demand, open systems, interactive, infinite, multimodal, decentralized, harmonized, and mobile, to describe the essence of what it would take to become digital. For libraries to achieve this state, they must evolve from library buildings with physical collections and limited access and hours to information services with abundant resources and unlimited availability. Important starts are being made. But formidable problems of access, of delivery vehicles, of developing new forms of navigational aids to locate, create, archive, and preserve content must be overcome. The library community cannot wait for all problems to be solved. We must create new works - multimedia works - that graphically bring alive our collections to audiences both new and old. And we must find the funds for this great undertaking. If we hesitate, we risk losing a role for libraries in the 21st century information society.
Our digital libraries will be content based. Libraries' content distinguishes them from other information providers. We will need to re-structure around content rather than function-based activities. Digital collections will require the expertise of systems, cataloging, preservation, selection and service staff. They cut across all traditional lines of service and organizational structure.
Our digital libraries will be user centered. Libraries will design and digitize content based on user needs. We will use focus groups, surveys, and other evaluation techniques to assess user needs and feedback. We will consider how our resources can enrich an active learning environment, foster a higher level of lifelong learning and enable the mastery of skills for conducting research. We will develop access tools that use language and techniques that are responsive to all users' needs including those of children, non-English speaking, and the disabled.
Our digital libraries will integrate human services with digital content and tools. Libraries will integrate information literacy into our service models. We will get more involved in the learning process. We will partner with teachers to facilitate collaborative, group learning processes. We will become teachers/facilitators in the information navigation effort.
Our digital libraries will be ubiquitous. Libraries will no longer be constrained by our edifice complex. Our new realm will not be a technological entity, but one that will focus on content management, with technology serving the role of tool and enabler, but not driver.
Our digital libraries will rely on standards and best practices but not set them. Libraries will follow standards and best practices demonstrated to serve users effectively. We will adopt technology that facilitates resource sharing and a seamless mosaic of information access. We will ensure archiving and preservation
How can librarians assure collaborative development of digital libraries? First, we must participate in the discussions about the development of digital libraries locally, statewide, nationally, and internationally. Continuous education is essential to success. Library schools must incorporate digital libraries into their curriculum at the same time that associations and other educational groups prioritize continuing education in this arena. We will need to take more risks and get involved with the political and social issues including the debate over intellectual freedom and intellectual property in the digital environment.
Second, we must work together to promote the concept of digital libraries and get support for collaborative digital library programs. At the state level, we can seek grants from LSTA and other sources. We must expand our joint licensing efforts. We must work with our state associations, our state libraries, regional and other library organizations, archives associations, local and state governments, museums, educational institutions, and others interested in digitizing materials. We must involve every type of library in the effort, recognizing that "the rising tide raises all the boats" and that all have something to gain. We must build strong partnerships with private and non-profit groups concerned with learning, technology, culture, economic development, and the like.
We must capture people's imagination. We must launch pilot projects that demonstrate the value of digital libraries, particularly to school-age students; digitize collections that relate to improving learning; and cater to the interests of key policy makers, funders, journalists, and other important decision makers. And we must publicize our efforts and advocate for increased support.
The discourse about the information superhighway is focused heavily on hardware, software and connectivity. And the discourse about digital libraries is directed primarily toward technological development. But, the unique strengths that libraries bring to both venues is our ability to apply our invaluable expertise and rich resources to the digital sphere, similar to the way we have done in the print environment. This is the special role libraries must play if our extraordinary skills, resources, and tools are to contribute to the economy, health, and welfare of our citizens. Being digital will not negate the importance of our more traditional resources and services. Rather, it will elevate their value as well as the role of all types of library services in the 21st century information society.
When the Library of Congress began digitizing its collections, it quickly realized that not even a library rich in resources and technical capacity could undertake this effort on its own. It sought partnerships throughout the private sector and with other libraries and institutions to create its digital collections. And those partnerships have enriched LC's own holdings along with public access.
In conclusion, I believe we have learned a great deal from our own digital library pilot projects as well as from others' experiences. We are progressing with the development of necessary standards and best practices. We must recognize, however, that we need to undertake far more than disparate digital pilot projects and the development of technical capacity. We must collaborate to build local, state, national, and international digital libraries that offer the mosaic of resources with the breadth and depth of collections similar to those we have so carefully crafted in our traditional libraries.
While we may feel overwhelmed by new digital technologies, we must recognize that we are way out in front of the general public. We must stay out in front, close to the bleeding edge of technology, at the same time that we provide a bridge for those novice late followers who have no other entry into the information age. And we must find ways to make our collections and services even more relevant in the digital age. And the way we can do that is by "becoming digital." Remember what Mario Andretti said: "If you're in control, you're not going fast enough."
Nancy Kranich is associate dean, New York University Libraries, and president-elect, American Library Association.