Group items tagged

Open Content Alliance website. The home page today features "economics of book digitization"

This is a statement issued by the Consortia at Yale University regarding the ethical implementation of licensing fees during the current economic crisis. They urge a halt on new, expensive innovation and request that database vendors work with libraries regarding their pricing strategies.

2002 Amy Friedlander study of users attitudes toward libraries

critique of Google Books

I think this can be deleted, but tagged it just in case. It seems to me to mostly be a critique against Google's digitization project, pointing out better ways to digitize books.

In this article we present the methodology and initial results from qualitative research into the usage and communication of digital information. It considers the motivation for the research and the methodologies adopted, including Contextual Design and Cultural Probes. The article describes the preliminary studies conducted to test the approach, highlighting the strengths and limitations of the techniques applied. Finally, it outlines proposals for refinement in subsequent iterations and the future research activities planned. The research is carried out as part of the Planets (Preservation and Long-term Access through NETworked Services) project.

I don't think this paper points to the feasibility of a digital library. It details the methodology of how to study users of digital libraries.

In an information world in which Google apparently offers us everything, what place is there for the traditional, and even the digital, library? In a library environment which is increasingly moving to the delivery of online rather than print resources, what of the academic library's traditional place at the heart of campus life?

Drexel University's W. W. Hagerty Library received funding [1] in the Fall of 2000 from the U.S. Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to study the impact of a library's shift to electronic journals on staff and costs. The goals were to perform a comparative analysis for Drexel's library (a case study) and to develop a model for use by other libraries. The results suggest that, when all costs are considered, electronic journals are more cost effective on a per use basis. Storage space for low use bound journals is a major expense. A readership survey shows that the library's electronic collection is widely accepted and extensively used. Since there are methodological difficulties with the data available to make the analyses, this study should be viewed as a single first step to address an issue of critical importance to academic libraries.

The Bookless Future: What the Internet is Doing to Scholarship

Key idea: "The historical narratives that future historians write may not actually look much different from those that are crafted today, but the methodologies they use may need to change radically. If we have, for example, a complete record of everything

This is a great article that looks at the preservation of the cultural and historical record from a historian's perspective. He tackles such questions as how do we establish trust in intangible "documents?" How do we preserve the historical record in such a way that future people can access the materials?

Stephen R. Lawrence

The abstract for this article reads, "This exploratory study asked eleven Association of Research Libraries (ARL) librarians to identify the resources needed for the transition of an all-paper library to the all-digital library. Although the results cannot be generalized, the study identifies functions and resources associated with the provision of paper and electronic materials that can be used for further investigation of library resource allocations." Connaway, L., Lawrence, S.

This is the Website for the Universal Digital Library project at Carnegie Mellon University. The "Copyright Policy" page clearly spells out how the project adheres to the existing copyright law, and provides information for authors who either want to add their work to the project or have it removed. It is interesting that this project allows for self-publication.

U Mich president's talk on the benefits of participating in Google Books

A pro-Google-Book Search speech, given by the head librarian at the University of Michigan.

While interesting, I think this can be deleted as it doesn't focus on the feasibility of an all-digital library.

2006 article on Google Books from library perspective. Asks "How will the librarians at participating Google Book Search libraries use their copies of the digitized books, commonly referred to as the library digital copy, the copy that Google gave to them in return for their participation in the Book Search project?"

Planets, Preservation and Long-term Access through Networked Services, is a four-year project co-funded by the European Union under the Sixth Framework Programme to address core digital preservation challenges. The primary goal for Planets is to build practical services and tools to help ensure long-term access to our digital cultural and scientific assets. Planets started on 1st June 2006. This website makes available project documentations and deliverables as Planets progresses so that these can be shared with the libraries, archives and digital preservation community.