Regional Digital Libraries Research Articles

Colecciones digitales del patrimonio cultural de Canarias: situación actual y propuesta de actuación

Se presentan los resultados obtenidos en un estudio realizado entre finales del 2015 yprincipios del 2017 sobre el estado del patrimonio de Canarias digitalizado y accesible a través deInternet, de cara a plantear una futura biblioteca digital regional en el ámbito de las tecnologías de laweb semántica. Se analizan los 87 proyectos existentes. La mayoría de ellos están liderados porinstituciones públicas, pero con una clara desconexión entre ellas. Se están llevando a cabo muchasiniciativas, pero este trabajo pone de manifiesto las carencias que existen. Estas provocan una faltaclara de interoperabilidad que impide a muchos de los proyectos participar en plataformas colectivasmayores como Hispana o Europeana. Se observa que cada administración camina, a nivel general, ensu propia dirección y con sus propios objetivos y planteamientos, pareciendo que la difusión digital desu patrimonio debiera ser más un reflejo de su propia estructura administrativa que de la propiaidiosincrasia del patrimonio que se publica en la red. Se proponen soluciones para paliar estasdeficiencias y poder hacer realidad una biblioteca digital regional de Canarias adaptada a otros usosnacionales e internacionales.

Evolving Europeana ’s Metadata : from ESE to EDM

The evolution of metadata standards used for building the Semantic Web makes possible single, integrated access to regional digital libraries. The ambition of Europeana project is focused at realisation of such an integrated, secured multilingual access to digital collections of European cultural heritage artifacts distributed at various European countries. The present paper represents in brief both the goals and evolution of Europeana and its technical implementation steps. It discusses possible ways of contributing to this effort by submitting descriptive metadata according two specific notations – the flat propertyvalue format of Europeana Semantic Elements (ESE) and the Europeana Data Model (EDM) specifying how resources as networked.

The state of development of digital libraries in Poland

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the state of development of Polish digital libraries.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the establishment of the first digital library in Poland, the creation of the Wielkopolska Digital Library and other regional digital libraries. The organisational and technological solutions used by these libraries are described.FindingsThe concept of a single central library and several dozen regional libraries has made possible the creation of more than 40 digital libraries and the establishment of wide co‐operation among digital librarians. However, the passage to mass digitisation is still proving impossible at present.Originality/valueThe situation in Poland indicates a clear necessity for the introduction of appropriate legal regulations to place digitisation among the charter objectives of large libraries. The awarding of small grants does not change the situation, and sometimes even makes it worse. Digital libraries have come into being in large numbers over the last few years; because some of them have been functioning for a number of years, much experience has been acquired. Now it is necessary to move on to the next stage – mass digitisation. Polish libraries are quite unprepared for this. Digitisation continues to be treated by libraries as an experimental rather than a fundamental activity.

Keyword binding as a method of reducing the length of indexes in library catalogues (based on the experience of Digital Library of Wielkopolska)

Artykuł przedstawia stosunkowo prostą i tanią metodę skracania indeksów rzeczowych w katalogach bibliotecznych. Polega ona na przyjęciu zestawu kilkudziesięciu pojęć ogólnych - charakteryzujących się niską barierą świadomości semantycznej. Wokół tych słów budowane są subindeksy złożone ze słów występujących w opisach zawierających dane pojęcie ogólne. Skuteczność metody badano, analizując zawartość fragmentów indeksów przedmiotowych centralnego katalogu bibliotek polskich NUKAT, Biblioteki Uniwersyteckiej w Poznaniu i Biblioteki Kongresu. Metoda ta w porównaniu z metodą języka haseł przedmiotowych średnio trzykrotnie skraca długość indeksu i znacznie ułatwia czytelnikowi rozeznanie w użytym przez katalogera słownictwie. Została opracowana dla potrzeb Wielkopolskiej Biblioteki Cyfrowej i prawdopodobnie będzie stosowana we wszystkich regionalnych bibliotekach cyfrowych w Polsce.

Metadata harvesting in regional digital libraries in the PIONIER network

PurposeThe paper aims to present the concept of the functionality of metadata harvesting for regional digital libraries, based on the OAI‐PMH protocol. This functionality is a part of regional digital libraries platform created in Poland. The platform was required to reach one of main objectives of the Polish PIONIER Programme – to enrich the content‐based services in the Polish NREN.Design/methodology/approachIn order to create the regional digital libraries platform with metadata harvesting feature, digital library low‐level services provided by the dLibra Digital Library Framework in a service‐oriented architecture (SOA) are deployed. The approach for defining the set of services started with splitting the whole set of advanced digital library features into coherent functional groups, which covered functionality related to digital content, metadata, searching, etc. Then each functional group implicated the creation of a respective digital library service. Additionally, a couple of supporting services like “system” or “event services” were defined.FindingsThe exploration of metadata and information about libraries' structure enables the creation of higher‐level, content‐based services like virtual collections or metadata searching, which are described in the paper. The approach for building distributed regional digital libraries in the National Research and Education Network is suitable for larger scale systems, like international digital libraries. This issue is very important for research networking, especially in the context of European Commission's announcement promoting digital access to Europe's heritage through the European Digital Library.Research limitations/implicationsThe implementation of the communication protocol between different instances of digital libraries is the basis for the development of content‐based services. It presents examples of such services that are enabled through the PIONIER platform for distributed regional digital libraries, and that are provided for research and education users. The next step that will allow for the creation of even more sophisticated services, will offer the possibility to search through content gathered in PIONIER digital libraries. This will be achieved by combining the OAI‐PMH protocol together with the MPEG‐21 DIDL standard for the exchange of the digital content and content‐related metadata. Another group of complementary services also covers information services provided by grid environments.Practical implicationsThe installation of regional digital libraries in the PIONIER network is currently providing access to more than 15,000 of digital publications. This paper presents a working implementation of the communication between digital libraries in the sense of the exploration of metadata and information about the library structure. This service is seen by us as one of the crucial mechanisms of the information infrastructure, which provides access to scientific and cultural content as well as common middleware services, which should be both distributed and platform‐independent.Originality/valueThe paper is providing the case study for those who are building the large‐scale distributed digital library systems. The definition of services based on metadata harvesting provides an example of core digital library services, which are transforming digital libraries into digital infrastructure for social sciences.

Regional digital libraries in Poland

PurposeTo review selected activities of Polish libraries in the field of digitising library collections.Design/methodology/approachProvides descriptive information on Wielkopolska Digital Library (WDL) – organisational assumptions, technology, functionality and resources. This paper discusses the problem of relations between regional libraries and central library.FindingsIt describes the organisation and technological solutions applied in the WDL, and characterises its resources and functionality. In addition, main problems of librarians developing digital libraries in Poland were indicated.Originality/valueA concept of a network of regional digital libraries in Poland was presented. Tasks were discussed, which regional libraries should carry out as the completion of tasks performed by the central library.

Aggregating distributed digital collections in the Mountain West Digital Library with the CONTENTdmTM multi‐site server

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the creation of the Mountain West Digital Library (MWDL), a cooperative regional program distributed throughout Utah and Nevada. Its metadata are aggregated at a single web site. Six digitization centers at the largest universities in both states digitize their own collections and support partner institutions in their geographic regions. Each center runs a CONTENTdm server, and an aggregating server at the University of Utah harvests metadata into a single searchable index. Local control and identity of collections are hallmarks of the MWDL.Design/methodology/approachThis paper describes the technical structure of the MWDL, focusing on the multi‐site server aggregating software from DiMeMa Inc.FindingsThe MWDL was the first cooperative digital project to implement this software, and inspired the same infrastructure for a nine‐state project known as the Western Waters Digital Library. In 2005 the MWDL will also become the first in the nation to aggregate distributed digital newspaper collections.Practical implicationsDescribes the creation and aggregation of a distributed regional digital library with digital asset management software that is already in use at over 200 institutions in the US. The solutions implemented in the MWDL offer a mechanism for large and small institutions to work together in a cost‐effective manner.Originality/valueExamines the benefits and problems associated with creating a regional digital library.