Management of Digital Libraries: Issues, Challenges, Present
Scenario and Future Prospects
Anil Kumar Mishra LIO, NCHRC, NIHFW New Delhi Email id:
[email protected] Blog: http://anilkmishra.blogspot.com
IntroductionThe development of the information structure of the
world and growing use of the Internet are creating a
rapidlychanging environment that provide easy access to the digital
material. The new generation whose demand for information is never
met is always demanding that traditional libraries should be
developed as well equipped and interconnected as digital libraries.
If we consider that the information is for use and for all then why
not libraries for all? Why not Libraries become universal, open for
all those who seek for information?
Cont.There is no doubt that the present era is an age of
information and hence structurally our libraries and allied
entities are the branded responsible organization for procuring
organizing and disseminating the information to the users. But the
widely experience factors such as budgetary crisis and voluminous
character of information have changed the concept of libraries
which has to move parallel with rapidly changing development in the
field of information technology taking place every moment.
DefinitionThe Digital library federation in the USA defines the
digital library as:
Digital Libraries are organization that provide the resources,
including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer
intellectual access to interpret, distributed, 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.
Cont. Technically speaking, digital libraries can be viewed as
infrastructures for supporting and creation of information
resources, facilitating the movement of information across global
networks, allowing the effective and efficient interaction among
knowledge producers, librarians and information and knowledge
seekers. ranging from a digitized collection of material that one
might find in a traditional library through to the collection of
all digital information along with the sense that make that
information useful to all possible users.
y
The term digital library has variety of potential meanings,
Digital libraries dont mean libraries in the classical sense
but
a network of multimedia system which call for carrying out of
the functions of libraries in a new way, which are digital in
nature.
Digital libraries: ViewpointsFrom an information retrieval point
of view, it is a large database. 2. For people who work on
hypertext technology, it is one particular application of hypertext
methods. 3. For those working in wide-area information delivery, it
is an application of the web. 4. For software developers
collections of computer algorithms or software programs are digital
libraries.1.
Objectives The Primary objective of a digital library is to
enhance the
digital collection in a substantial way. To Provides scalability
and flexibility to access the information. To collect store,
organize and access information in digital form via communication
channel. To provide personalized & retrospective service in
efficient way. To have large digitized database. To provide
coherence view of all information with a library in any format. To
meet the requirement of patrons by providing better services.
Issues And Challenges Financial Management. Copyright.
Inconvenient system/infrastructure. Managerial issues and
challenges Preservation archiving. Attitude of professional.
Technical barrierSoftware Management Collection Management Hardware
management
Cont. The cost involved in the creation and maintenance
of digital library is very high. Copyright has been called as
the single most vexing barrier to digital library development. Poor
electricity, poor quality of telephone service lack of technology
standards inadequate library collection ,legal restrictions
etc.
Managerial issues and challenges:y Inadequate & poor
hardware are another y
issue
y y y
for digital library. Decision regarding the use of a site
license Internet Protocol access or to have individual or group
passwords is major software management activity. Preservation of
material has become a great challenge as the cost involved in this
process is very high. Attitude of professional Lack of proper
technical skill & technical architecture.3/28/2011
Present scenario and future prospects In the present era there
have been lots of advancement and development
in the field of Information technology. The joint Digital
Libraries Initiative (DLI) sponsored by the National Science
Foundation (NSF), Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) and the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was
established as a project of the US Federal Internet Infrastructure
Technology and Application Working Group of the High Performance
Computing and Communications initiatives. The joint initiative
funded digital library proposals from six universities with several
external collaborators. Joint Digital Libraries Initiative (DLI)
and the project of Library of Congress (LC), Xerox, TULIP (The
University Licensing Program), Network Computer Science Technical
Report Library (NCSTRL), Research Library Group (RLG), Online
Computer Library Centre (OCLC), Network Digital Library of Thesis
and Dissertation (NDLTD) (http://www.netltd.org/) is a digital
library project of international significance, launched at the
initiative of the Virginia Tech. University, U.S.A. Benchmarking
proper standard are required because digital libraries are operated
in such a network environment where there are both consumer and
suppliers of digital collection & services.
Suggestions: The uniformity of standards must be maintained.
e.g. raster
graphics, ASCII texts, GIS and metadata schemes. Digital library
system should also have a strong collection interface capable of
embracing almost all the popular digital standards and formats and
software platforms . The preservation of digital content for long
periods of time, across multiple generations of hardware and
software technologies and standards is essential in the creation of
effective digital libraries Therefore due consideration must be
given to the important stage in maintaining efficient service
provision.
Contd. There is need to accommodate these techniques
and technologies in an efficient manner. This is possible only
if experts hands are there in each and every field. Deploying
cutting edge Resource Description Framework (RDF) standards for
metadata and its encoding to minimize the efficiently &
effectiveness of the information access and retrieval Providing
adequate no. of computer workstations and other equipments. The
sources of finance should be planned efficiently for the management
of common contents of the digital library.
conclusionAs the professionals have an ultimate responsblity to
break through this there hold of seminar to move into cyber space
and navigate through world wide to realize the dream of digital
libraries in true senses. If we concentrate at the reasons why
there are very few digital libraries In India, we can very clearly
see that our government is not taking proper decisions for the
development of it. Our government must take proper steps for the
development of digital libraries and should have the motto each
library a digital library, then only librarians and information
professionals are going to progress into the 21st century by
presenting an effective "digital library" model.
anilkmishra
Thank You