Digital libraries: principles and practice in a global environment

The goal of Digital Libraries: Principles and Practice in a Global Environment is to introduce readers to the principles underlying digital libraries, as well as to illustrate these principles by reference to a wide range of digital library practices throughout the world. Individual chapters deal with digital library users and the services that are offered them, information sources typically found in digital libraries, the standards and protocols with which digital libraries must cope in the context of interoperability, the software that can be used in the development of digital libraries, interface design, searching and browsing digital library collections, and managing digital libraries, including discussion of intellectual property rights and preservation issues. A final chapter comprises eight case studies drawn from Canada, England, India, Italy, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the US and Wales that are used to illustrate points made in earlier chapters. Throughout the book the challenges of developing and implementing digital library systems in multilingual and multicultural environments are explored.