This article provides an overview of some of the main areas surrounding the broad topic of ‘Digital Libraries’. This includes the advantages and costs of digitisation; the traditional and digital library; the library community and digitisation; and an examination of various digital library projects. It is not exhaustive, but hopefully, it provides some general information and guidelines for the reader. The article concludes with a critique within a social and political angle, including a consideration of the gender issue.
References
1.
BeagrieNeil (2004) The Continuing Access and Digital Preservation Strategy for the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), D-Lib Magazine, 10(7/8). http://dx.doi.org/10.1045/july2004-beagrie
2.
BellLoriLindbloomMary-CarolPetersTomPopeKitty (2008) Virtual Libraries and Education in Virtual Worlds: Twenty-first century library services, Policy Futures in Education, 6(1), 49–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2008.6.1.49
Book Digitisation Project Gathers Pace (2007) Research Information, December/January, no. 27, p. 10.
5.
BorgmanC.L. (1999) What are Digital Libraries? Competing Visions, Information Processing and Management, 35, 227–243. http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=315055 (accessed 4 September 2007).
ButcherMike (2003) Girls Beat the System: A competition aimed at encouraging girls to choose a career in IT has had an enthusiastic reception, The Guardian Online, Supplement, 13 March, p. 6.
9.
CarlsonScott (2006) AlouetteCanada hopes to pluck scattered digitization efforts into a central portal, Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/06/2006062101t.htm (accessed 4 September 2007).
10.
ConnawayLynn S.LawrenceStephen R. (2003) Comparing Library Resource Allocations for the Paper and the Digital Library, D-Lib Magazine, 9(12). http://dx.doi.org/10.1045/december2003-connaway
11.
CopelandSusan (2008) Electronic Theses and Dissertations: Promoting ‘hidden’ research, Policy Futures in Education, 6(1), 87–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2008.6.1.87
Digital Libraries Initiative – Phase 2 (1998) Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Library of Medicine, Library of Congress, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Endowment for the Humanities. http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf9863/nsf9863.htm (accessed 4 September 2007).
15.
DunlapIsaac Hunter (2008) Going Digital: The transformation of scholarly communication and academic libraries, Policy Futures in Education, 6(1), 132–141. http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2008.6.1.132
Oxford-Google Mass-Digitisation Programme (2006) University of Oxford Director of University Library Services and Bodley's Librarian – contribution to the Opening Plenary Panel session of the CNI Spring 2005 Task Force Meeting, Washington, DC, 4 April 2005. http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/librarian/rpc/CNIGoogle/CNIGoogle.htm (accessed 4 September 2007).
RikowksiRuth (2001a) GATS: Private affluence and public squalor? Implications for Libraries and Information, Managing Information, 8(10), 8–10. Also available in Library Juice, 4:46, 19 December 2001. http://www.libr.org/juice/issues/vol4/LJ_4.46.html#7 (accessed 4 September 2007).
RikowskiRuth (2002a) What Does the Future Hold for Our Public Libraries?Information for Social Change, 15, 56–60. http://libr.org/ISC.TOC.html (accessed 4 September 2007).
RikowksiRuth (2002c) The WTO, the GATS and the Meaning of ‘Services’, Public Library Journal, 17(2), 48–50 (Part 1 of a two-part article, which is based on my talk on The WTO/GATS Agenda for Libraries).
45.
RikowskiRuth (2002d) Takeover by Stealth?Public Library Journal, 17(3), 73–76 (Part 2 of a two-part article, which is based on my talk on The WTO/GATS Agenda for Libraries).
46.
RikowskiRuth (2002e) Globalisation and Libraries, in Globalisation. Report by House of Lords, Select Committee on Economic Affairs, Session 2002–03, 1st Report. London: The Stationery Office. In ‘Volume of Evidence’, part 2, HL5-11 – on CD-ROM, pp. 360–371.
47.
RikowskiRuth (2003a) Value – the life blood of capitalism: Knowledge is the current key, Policy Futures in Education, 1(1), 163–182. http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/pfie.2003.1.1.5
RikowskiRuth (2003c) Females, Computers and Libraries (2003c)Managing Information, 10(6), 6–10.
50.
RikowskiRuth (2004a) On the Impossibility of Determining the Length of the Working-Day for Intellectual Labour, Information for Social Change, 19. http://libr.org/isc/articles/19-R.Rikowski-2.html (accessed 4 September 2007).
51.
RikowskiRuth (2004b) Creating Value from Knowledge in the Knowledge Revolution, Information for Social Change, 20. http://libr.org/isc/articles/20-R.Rikowski.html (accessed 4 September 2007).
ShadeLeslie Regan (1993) Gender Issues in Computer Networking. Talk given at Community Networking, the International Free-Net Conference, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, 17–19 August 1993. http://feminism.eserver.org/gender/cyberspace/gender-issues.txt (accessed 4 September 2007).
SylgeC. (1995) Wired Women. Information technology, the workplace and the gender debate (might women have chance to rewire the new working environment to their advantage), Managing Information, 2(10), 17–21.
58.
TeddLucy A.LargeAndrew (2005) Digital Libraries: Principles and practice in a global environment. Munich: K.G. Saur.
