special collections and digital libraries: a new role for consortia?
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Special collections and digital libraries: a new role for consortia?. Dale Flecker Harvard University Library. Intersection. *Development of library technology * Purpose of consortia * Nature of special collections. 1. Development of library technology. Development of library technology. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Special collections and digital libraries: a new role
for consortia?
Dale Flecker
Harvard University Library
Intersection
*Development of library technology
* Purpose of consortia
* Nature of special collections
1. Development of library technology
Development of library technology
Three phases:
1. Processing support
2. Intellectual access
3. Digital collections
Library technology – Phase one
• Automation of business records and processes
• Library “back room”– acquisitions, circulation, serial records, etc
• Stand-alone systems
• Locally developed
• 1960 – 1970’s
Library technology – Phase two
• Technology for information retrieval
• OPAC – public access to library systems
• “Integrated library systems”– both processing and public catalog– based on common bibliographic record
• Vendor systems become dominant
• Consortial shared systems become common
• 1980 – 1990’s
Library technology – Phase three
• Digital collections– the “digital library”
• Two sources– “born digital”– “reborn digital” from existing collections
• Shared licensing, portals become common• Mid-1990’s…
– in its infancy
2. Purposes of consortia
Sharing!!
Collections (avoiding materials duplication, richer resources)
Infrastructure(avoiding hardware, software, and facilities duplication)
Expertise(avoiding staff duplication)
Today’s consortia
• Two core purposes– Sharing of collections
• initially traditional book and serial collections
• increasingly licensed resources
– Sharing of integrated library systems• shared record efficiency, union catalog, shared
hardware, software, and staff
3. Nature of special collections
Attributes of special collections
• Unique or rare materials
• Related materials widely dispersed
• Materials highly diverse
• Metadata practices not standardized
Implications for consortia
Unique materials:
no economy in sharing records oravoiding duplicate purchases
Implications for consortia
Related materials widely dispersed :
geographically-based union catalogs are
less compelling
Implications for consortia
Materials highly diverse:
union catalogs problematic
Implications for consortia
Metadata practices not standardized :
sharing descriptive metadata difficult
Digital library important for special collections
• A means of sharing unique materials
• Physically dispersed collection can be “virtually” united
• Permits browsing of difficult to describe materials (e. g., visual collections)
• Digitization creating ferment and development in descriptive metadata
Digital library important for special collections
Born digital materials are coming…
the archive of a 21st Century Berensonwill include e-mail, digital
images, and databases!
Potentially a key role forconsortia in building digital libraries…
because sharing again can lowercosts and increase quality
A new role?
Danger in naiveté
Digitizing is easy!but digitizing well is hard!
Putting digital things on the web is easy!but preserving them is hard!
Building a little database for access is easy! but who will find that database?
Digital libraries are hard!
Expertise is critical, expensive,
and hard to find!
Sharing expertise makes sense…
Expertise – digital object formats
• Understanding digital formats the KEY to most digital library work
• Formats vary significantly in “preserve-ability”
• Digitizing costs sensitive to format used• Formats can be applied well or poorly• Constant technological change threatens all
formats
Expertise -- digitizing
• Many ways to digitize the same object– Vary in quality– Vary in functions supported– Vary in cost (both one-time and on-going)– Vary in preserve-ability
• Understanding equipment options important
• Understanding workflows important
Expertise – metadata of all kinds
• Descriptive/access metadata – differing conventions in different domains– integration with the larger environment– conflicting developments, much change
• Technical metadata– for rendering– for preservation
Expertise – metadata of all kinds
• Administrative metadata– management– protecting assets
• Structural metadata– growing as objects become more complex
Expertise -- preservation
• Digital materials much more fragile than traditional collection
• Preservation poorly understood, few models available– Developing rapidly
Digital library – sharing infrastructure
Infrastructure of two types:
* systems
* services
Shared infrastructure -- digitizing
• Digitizing laboratory with– equipment– expertise– established workflow
• Reduced cost, better product
Shared infrastructure -- repository
• Repository provides– object storage, management, protection, access– persistent identifiers– preservation
• Shared hardware, software, management
Shared infrastructure – metadata creation
• Digital library metadata more diverse, complex than traditional library cataloging
• Few libraries can afford to have expertise in all metadata domains– trade-off between options– requires both expertise and technical facilities
Summary – consortia and special collections
• For basic library collections– Share collections– Share expertise– Share infrastructure
• For special collections/digital libraries– Shared collections less compelling– Need for expertise much greater– Need for infrastructure as great
This will be hard…
• Skilled staff are scarce
• There are few turn-key digital library systems
• Money is scarce in general, scarcer for special collections
• We need a lot of development in standards, good practices, etc….
But the promise is ENORMOUS!