How To Build A Digital Library

Orientation: The world of digital libraries

Example One: Supporting Human Development Kataayi is a grassroots cooperative organization based in the village of Kakunyu in rural Uganda. In recent years its enterprising members have built ferro-cement rainwater catchment tanks, utilized renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and biogas, and established a local industry making clay roofing tiles—among many other projects. But […]

Libraries and Digital Libraries

Is a digital library an institution or a piece of technology? The term digital library, like the word library, means different things to different people. Many people think of libraries as bricks and mortar, a quiet place where books are kept. To professional librarians, they are institutions that arrange for the preservation, collection, and organization […]

The Changing Face of Libraries

Libraries are society’s repositories for knowledge: temples, if you like, of culture and wisdom. Born in an era when agriculture was humankind’s greatest preoccupation, libraries experienced a resurgence with the invention of printing in the Renaissance, and really began to flourish when the industrial revolution prompted a series of inventions that mechanized the printing process—the […]

Searching for Sophocles (Digital Library)

Pergamos, a digital library at the University of Athens, is representative of many interesting resources that have appeared on the Web over the last decade. It contains four collections spanning historical archives, folklore, the theater, and sheet music; and more collections are being developed. The name is an alternate spelling for Pergamum, which, as already […]

Digital Libraries in Developing Countries

It sometimes happens that technological advances in developing countries leapfrog those in developed ones. This occurs because established infrastructure, a strong and necessarily conservative force, is absent. For example, in developing countries alternative energy sources, such as solar energy, are widely used in place of traditional power generation and distribution, and these countries have experienced […]

The pen Is Mighty: Wield It Wisely (Digital Library)

Collecting information and making it widely available to others has far-ranging social implications, and those who build digital libraries must act responsibly by making themselves aware of the legal and ethical issues that surround their particular application. Copyright is the place to begin. Digital libraries are far more accessible than physical ones. And this brings […]

Planning a Digital Library

Are you going to build a digital library? We hope so. And as with any complex system, it is wise to undergo a planning stage before immersing yourself in the detail. Table 1.1 shows some of the questions you should be asking. Table 1.1: pertinent questions Users 1. Who are the intended users? 2. Where […]

Implementing a Digital Library: the Greenstone Software

Part I of this book is general, drawing examples from the panoply of digital library innovation and implementation around the globe. But this is a practical book about how to build a digital library. Rather than attempting a high-level survey of the many different software products that are available, Part II focuses on a particular […]

People in digital libraries

Think about your local library: besides the books, magazines, newspapers, DVDs, and computers, the library’s key ingredient is people. Many are patrons (readers), but there are also several librarians, without whom there would be no library for the patrons to patronize. There are other staff as well, working behind the scenes: librarians in the cataloging […]

Roles (Digital Library)

Libraries are social organizations that connect readers and authors through the content of their collections. Although reader and author are the most prominent roles, numerous people work behind the scenes to enable the simple act of reading a library book. Examining the roles that people play in a physical library will help us understand how […]

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