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Digital Libraries for Access to Scientific Research

April 22, 2002

Catherine Murray-Rust
Associate University Librarian
Oregon State University

Laurie E. Stackpole
Chief Librarian
Naval Research Laboratory

R. James King
Specialist in Library Information Technology
Naval Research Laboratory

Two new initiatives are advancing the cause of easy access to scientific information through digital libraries. One project analyzes the need for information about natural resources in the Pacific Northwest, while another provides users affiliated with the Naval Research Laboratory with access to scientific journals, databases, and technical reports.

Building on its land-grant mission, the Oregon State University Libraries plans to create a natural resources digital library to inform decision-making and environmental stewardship in the Pacific Northwest. A needs assessment was commissioned to answer two fundamental questions:

  • Would better access to existing natural resources information through a digital library help users make informed decisions about natural resources policy and practice?
  • Will users be able to understand the accessed information? Interviews with citizens, policy makers, and scientists showed that potential users want to quickly find, retrieve, integrate, and synthesize well-organized and geo-referenced information in a wide variety of formats, especially in three high-priority natural resource thematic areas: watersheds, land and water use, and forestry.

The Ruth H. Hooker Research Library has made significant progress in providing its distributed user community at the Naval Research Laboratory with a single point-of-access to information needed to support scientific research. End users at the Navy’s primary corporate research facility currently enjoy continuous access to databases, reference tools, technical reports, and journals via the Web whether in the office, at home or on travel. Locally mounted and remote databases and publications are available to researchers through a Web-based Information System and Gateway known as InfoWeb. A key InfoWeb component is the TORPEDO Ultra digital repository consisting of thousands of agency publications and a growing number of licensed journals. In support of its goal to provide users with a unified approach to retrieving journal content regardless of location, the Library has developed a strategy to link users to journals that reside on publisher Web sites through a TORPEDO Ultra browse or search.
handout (in PDF format) 10K file size

Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, Digital Libraries, E-Journals, Information Access & Retrieval
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The Digital Library @ Duke: Library Initiatives and IT Collaboration

April 22, 2002

Paul Conway
Director, Information Technology Services
Duke University

In the planning stages for the past two years, the Digital Library @ Duke has moved into an initial implementation phase, including the establishment of a core organizational structure and initial programmatic focus. The DL @ Duke is a good example of focused digital library development. The program at Duke is characterized by top-to-bottom vertical integration with the university planning infrastructure. The university’s budgetary commitment distinguishes clearly between ongoing support for baseline capabilities versus dependence on outside funding for research and development. Digital library programs focus on web- mediated library services, on the characteristics of the physical infrastructure supporting those services, and on a user-centered support model that breaks down the distinctions between academic computing support provided by central IT resources and capabilities provided by the digital library program. The library also handles the university’s course management system and is exploring ways to integrate the online catalog and course reserve systems. The session will provide participants an opportunity to discuss and debate some of the operating assumptions of digital libraries by engaging the Digital Library @ Duke as a point of departure.

Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, Digital Libraries
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Digital Media Acess and Management in the University of Maryland Libraries

April 22, 2002

Lori A. Goetsch
Director for Public Services
University of Maryland

Allan Rough
Manager, Nonprint Media Services
University of Maryland

Paul Hammer
Information Technology Database Administrator
University of Maryland

The University of Maryland Libraries have begun using two digital media servers to distribute audio and video programming within the Libraries and on campus. In September 2000, the University acquired a MediaHawk Video Server to replace a VHS videotape distribution system. MediaHawk is a high quality interactive video-on-demand system designed to deliver full screen, television-like quality video to a desktop computer. In May 2001, we completed negotiations with Films for the Humanities and Sciences for digital video distribution rights that will ultimately permit us to offer nearly 1,000 titles to the University community in a fully interactive environment. We are also using the IBM VideoCharger media streamer to distribute high fidelity audio programming to students enrolled in a Rock & Roll Music course on campus. VideoCharger will also be used for video serving on campus. Recently, the Libraries entered into a Premier Partner Agreement with Ex Libris (USA) of Chicago to further the development of their DigiTool digital asset management software as a potential vehicle for the integration of digital initiatives of the Libraries.
handout (in PDF format) 8K file size

Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, Information Access & Retrieval, Intellectual Property
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Digitizing Intellectual and Cultural Heritage for the Public Good

April 22, 2002

Clifford Lynch
Executive Director
Coalition for Networked Information

At the CNI spring meeting of 2001, Tom Kalil challenged the attendees to consider what might be done with very large amounts of federal government funding – perhaps as much as a billion dollars a year funded through a public trust — earmarked to support the creation or acquisition of content to support education, scholarship and the public interest. It was clear that our community in the US has given very little thought to the strategies and priorities that might guide such investments. While the near-term prospects for such large scale funding have certainly diminished with the elimination of the federal surplus, the economic downturn and the new financial demands on our nation after 9/11/2001, the question remains relevant. Also, over the past decade, very large personal fortunes have been amassed that may ultimately be turned in part to such purposes as new sources of funding. In addition, in the US we have seen a number of proposals, most notably the Minnow/Grossman “Digital Promise” initiative, suggesting large scale federal investments in digital content for the public interest.

Last summer, there was an international invitational meeting held in London at the Tate to examine a range of national digitalization initiatives for cultural heritage materials. One clear outcome from the 2001 meeting is that there are a number of large scale governmentally funded national programs taking place outside the United States which can offer valuable insights for US-based efforts, and that activities in the US are taking a rather different trajectory, with much more extensive participation and support from the non- governmental sector. A second international meeting took place in Washington DC in March, followed by an invitational CNI workshop to discuss potential US strategies and issues. This session will present some of the thinking emerging from these meetings.

 

Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, Digital Libraries, Repositories
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ETDs at UMI Dissertation Publishing

April 22, 2002

William Savage
Director, Dissertations Publishing
Pro Quest Information and Learning

This session presents the most recent developments at UMI Dissertation Publishing, including access, reformatting, usage and digital preservation.

Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, Digital Preservation, Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETDs)
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Getting Started with Digital Certificates: Is PKI-Lite Real PKI?

April 22, 2002

Judith Boettcher
Executive Director
Corporation for Research & Educational Networking

Larry Levine
Director of Computing
Dartmouth College

Susan Minai-Azry
Director, IT Architecture & Infratructure
MIT

Knowing when and how to get started with digital certificates can be confusing. PKI-Lite has emerged to leverage existing campus practices to make the technology more accessible. This panel clarifies what PKI-Lite is and how Dartmouth College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are using digital certificates and what they are planning to do with them in the future.
handout (in PDF format) 31K file size

Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, Information Access & Retrieval, Intellectual Property
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IMLS Update: New Initiatives, Trends in National Leadership Grants & Survey Reports

April 22, 2002

Joyce Ray
Director of the Office of Library Services
Institute of Museum and Library Services

Barbara Smith
Office of Research & Technology
Institute of Museum and Library Services

This session will provide an update on IMLS, addressing the following topics:

  • The proposed new IMLS program on librarian recruitment and education
  • The IMLS Framework of Guidance on Building Good Digital Collections
  • New funding initiatives within the National Leadership Grant series
  • Trends in the current National Leadership Grant applications
  • The third annual Web Wise Conference
  • The Technology & Digitization Survey Report (due to be published in April)
Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, Digital Libraries
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Information Policy, Electronic Surveillance, and Privacy Post September 11th

April 22, 2002

Prue Adler
Associate Executive Director
Association of Research Libraries

Rodney Peterson
Security Task Force/IT Policy & Planning
EDUCAUSE/University of Maryland

The government’s response to the terrorist acts of September 11th presents several difficult challenges for the academic community. Information is being removed from web sites and library collections in an effort to enhance our nation’s security. A presidential directive is encouraging institutions to identify and stop offering sensitive courses. The USA PATRIOT Act broadly expands government surveillance authority and affects standards for both domestic criminal investigations and foreign intelligence surveillance powers. Questions for the academic community include:

  • What is the likely impact on open access and the future of networked information?
  • What are the implications for colleges and universities, especially as service providers?
  • How should the higher education and the library community respond?

This session will review developments following September 11th and invite discussion of campus experiences, concerns, and strategies.

Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, Intellectual Property, Scholarly Communication
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Local to Global: The Next Generation of the Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS)

April 22, 2002

Diane Kresh
Director, Public Service Collections
Library of Congress

Chip Nilges
Department Manager, Product Management, Market-Reference, & Resource Sharing
OCLC

The Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS) provides professional reference service to researchers any time and anywhere, through an international, digital network of libraries and related institutions. Now with over 250 members, CDRS is launching the next generation of its co-branded (with OCLC) peer-to-peer service with added features that will make it easier for a library to escalate an information need from one network to another seamlessly. The presentation will include a live demo and feature the many new tools designed to help librarians answer patrons’ questions more efficiently and effectively.

Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, User Services
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LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe): The Software Works! What’s Next?

April 22, 2002

Vicky Reich
Director of LOCKSS Project
Stanford University

David S.H. Rosenthal
Distinguished Engineer
Sun Microsystems

The transitory nature of web content is a fact of digital life that affects everyone. How can you find documents posted by publishers who are now defunct? How can you protect archived publications from hazards such as fires, floods, or human error? How can you ensure interested (and authorized) readers will find your published materials? Ensuring continuous access to online scientific journals and other web documents is the focus of a unique collaboration between Sun Microsystems Laboratories’ David Rosenthal and Stanford University Library’s Vicky Reich. LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) provides a strategy for long-term preservation by systematically caching content in a self- correcting P2P network. This project, midway through the beta testing of the LOCKSS software, enables libraries to maintain high integrity persistent caches of electronic journal content to which they have subscribed. The briefing session will concentrate on lessons learned from the beta test to date and outline steps to take the software to production.

Filed Under: CNI Spring 2002 Project Briefings, Digital Preservation, E-Journals, Publishing
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