The indexing and retrieval of digital items

Abstract

The propOltion of material in library collections that is in the future likely to be held and made available in digital formats is a matter of debate, even controversy. Whatever that proportion may tum out to be, it is beyond question that librarians are already facing the challenges posed by a growing number (in absolute terms) of electronic publications and other document-like digital items that the users of libraries find necessary to their research or other pursuits, and increasingly expect us to take in our stride and to accommodate in our access, collection development, and collection management processes. Many older academics were first introduced to the use of computers by the necessity of learning to use on-line public access catalogues (OPACs) in the 1980s, so we should not be surprised by some academics' high expectations of libraries' ability to wave the magic wand of technology over their research requir.ements in the 1990s. What our users may fail to realise, is that for us the greatest challenges of providing the services they need lie not in the technology, but in the intellectual endeavour required to make the technology useful, in the resource implications of being required to provide new or digitally-enhanced services while continuing to provide traditional services in a time when many libraries face severe budgetary restraints, and in the necessity for international co-operation in defining and agreeing the standards which will ensure the quality of those services. The British Library is actively addressing these challenges through the work of the Electronic Media Group, as well as through the Initiatives for Access programme. Acquisitions Processing and Cataloguing (AP&C) set up the Electronic Media Group and its electronic media cataloguing project in order to develop a centre of expertise within the Library for the cataloguing of electronic publications, the participation in the international development of catalogue-related standards, and the dissemination of knowledge about electronic media within the Library and in the wider library community. Within the Initiatives for Access programme, individual projects have explored indexing and access requirements and methods. In some cases this has involved experimenting with Novel access software and looking into new ways of delivering old catalogues to specialist researchers.