The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the major issues surrounding the development of digital libraries in the developing countries of the English-speaking Caribbean known also as the Caricom region. The impetus for digital libraries comes from the desire of these countries to become integrated in the new, global information economy. As part of this global information trend, digital libraries technology holds the key to improved information access. Digital libraries, which have become affordable and manageable provide increased access to global information and at the same time, increase the visibility of indigenous Caribbean information resources. The paper looks at the major issues that must be addressed in the process of digital libraries development. These include the current state of ICT infrastructure, economic and data sustainability, issues of interoperability and the generation of local content. Examples of current digital library projects undertaken in academic, public and special libraries are identified. The paper ends with a set of recommendations that can be used by information professionals and other stakeholders in developing countries to organize the way forward for the application, growth and development of digital libraries.
Association of Research Libraries. (1995) Definition and purposes of a digital library. URL: http://www.arl.org/sunsite/definition.html (accessed November 2007).
2.
Arunachalam, Subbiah. (2003) Information for research in developing countries -information technology friend or foe? Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 29 (5), 16-21.
3.
Berry, John. (1996) Digital libraries: new initiatives with worldwide implications. Collection Building, 15 (4), 21-33.
4.
Bradley, Kevin. (2006) Digital sustainability and digital repositories . URL: http://www.Valaconf.org/vala2006/papers2006/45BradleyFinal.pdf (accessed November 2007).
5.
Canhos, Vanderlei P.; Canhos, Dora A.L.; de Souza, Sidnei; Kirsop, Barbara. (1996) Electronic publishing and developing countries: trends, potential and problems. URL: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/icsu/canhos.htm (accessed February 2008).
6.
Chan, Leslie and Costa, Sely. (2005) Participation in the global knowledge commons: challenges and opportunities for research dissemination in developing countries . New Library World, 106 (3/4), 141-165.
7.
Chowdhury, Gobina. (2002) Digital divide: how can digital libraries bridge gaps? In Digital libraries, people, knowledge and technology . Berlin: Springer. pp. 371-391.
8.
Digital Library of the Caribbean. (2007) URL: http://www.dloc.com/ENabout.html (accessed November 2007).
9.
Fox, Edward and Goncalves, Marcos. (2006) Introduction to teaching and learning about digital libraries. JCDL 2006 Tutorial. Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
10.
Gross, Julia and Riyaz, Aminath. (2004) An academic partnership in the Indian Ocean region . Library Review, 53 (3/4), 220-227.
11.
Kranich, Nancy. (1999) Digital libraries: Building a bridge to the 21st Century. URL: http://www.txla.org/pubs/tlj_3/diglibs.html (accessed June 2007).
12.
Internet World Stats. (2007) Internet usage in the Caribbean. URL: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm#caribbean (accessed November 2007).
13.
Lynch, Clifford and Garcia-Molina, Hector. (1995) Digital libraries: their emergence, use and problems. URL: http://home.neo.rr.com/mckibben/Paper_Digital_Libraries.htm (accessed June 2007).
14.
McArthur, David: Giersch, Sarah; Burrows, Howard. (2003) Sustainability issues and activities of the NSDL. Proceedings of the 2003 JCDL. http:/csdl.computer.org/comp/proceedings/jcdl/2003/1939/00/19390395.pdf (accessed November 2007).
15.
Minges, Michael. (2001) Mobile Internet for developing countries. URL: http://www.isoc.org/inet2001/CD_proceedings/G53/mobilepaper2.htm . (accessed November 2007).
16.
Morris, Jacqueline (2005) Challenges for the Caribbean URL: http://www.wgig.org/docs/book/Jacqueline_A_Morris.html (accessed November 2007).
17.
Peters, Dale and Pickover, Michele. (2001) Insights into an African model for digital library development. http://www.dlib.org/dlib/november01/peters/11peters.html (accessed November 2007).
18.
Sharma, R.K. and Vishwanathan, K.R. (2001) Digital libraries: development and challenges. Library Review, 50 (3), 10-15.
19.
Spink, Amanda. (1999) Digital libraries and sustainable development. URL: http://csdl.tamu.edu/DL95/papers/spink/spink.html (accessed November 2007).
20.
Uneclac. (2000) Caribbean Digital Library. URL: http://www.eclacpos.org/cdl/cdl.asp . (accessed December 2007).
21.
Waters, David. (1998) What are digital libraries? Council on Library and Information Resources, 4 (July/August), 1,5.
22.
Web, Colin. (2003) Saving digital heritage -a UNESCO campaign. URL: http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/v7_n3_feature3.html (accessed December 2007).
23.
Witten, Ian, (2004) Democratizing information: digital libraries, developing countries, and information for all. Seventh IFIP-WG9.2 Namur Award Lecture, Namur.
24.
Witten Ian and Bainbridge, David (2002) How to build a digital library. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann .
25.
Witten, Ian; Loots, Michel; Trujillo, Maria; Bainbridge, David. (2002) The promise of digital libraries in developing countries. Electronic Library, 20 (1), 7-13.
