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updated:
September 15, 2003
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Digital Library
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DEVELOPING THE CLAREMONT
COLLEGES DIGITAL LIBRARY: Relevant and enduring digital content is fundamental to the success of the digital library effort; that a resource is digital and/or created by a college should not preclude its representation in the Libraries' collections. It is unclear how many faculty and departments at The Colleges are acquiring and/or creating digital collections for teaching. Each campus has its own web site, and departments, institutes, faculty, and student groups have their own web sites as well. A college's departmental collection (in any format) is available for use by its own campus, and cross-college use typically is discouraged. However, there are digital collections created by some Claremont Colleges that might serve as a pilot project for the CCDL; these include the Collections Catalog, Williamson Gallery, Scripps College; Web Kiosk, the Pomona College Museum of Art (Exhibit D11); and the Claremont Graduate University's Center for Politics and Economics datasets (Exhibit D2). Significant challenges regarding potential content for the CCDL involve obtaining support from faculty who currently create and maintain their own resources and web pages; maintaining perpetual access to licensed resources in light of their fluid content and the constant merging of providers and publishers; and creating a program for digital objects to insure their long-term preservation. Other, longer-term considerations will emerge when the Libraries begin to provide access to resources created by The Colleges. It is important as well that all parties involved agree upon selection criteria for the CCDL; MERLOT's peer review process might prove a good model for this. There are technical support and quality control decisions to be made, as well as copyright and intellectual property rights to consider and maintain, and varying levels of access and authentication to be provided. It remains to be seen what other, new library user services may be needed as a result of the CCDL. Before any expansion of the Libraries' digital library efforts can take place, our technological and management infrastructure and information architecture must be expanded to accommodate the variety and quantity of digital material that we would be managing. Specifically, there currently are no mechanisms or procedures in place for the Libraries to serve as custodian or gateway to digital resources obtained or created by The Colleges. The current library access mechanisms, the online catalog and the Libraries' web site, must evolve to handle the more complex and specialized indexing required to adequately guide users to appropriate sources. The additional work of cataloging, including descriptive and administrative metadata, along with the additional information technology load implied in the hardware and software needed to sustain a digital library system, underscore the importance of planning for the CCDL. Building the case for the CCDL will likely lead to hard decisions about the Libraries' resources including budget, staffing, and space. Librarians have expertise in keeping and preserving print materials. Digital preservation and archiving will present new challenges, but it is another area for which we can provide a leadership role for The Colleges given adequate resources. Preservation of digital collections, however, will require more staff and resources than we have currently. In addition to potential problems with evolving file formats and storage media degradation, preserving those items that are "born digital" is complicated by copyright concerns. The time and expense of tracking and migrating digital objects for the future makes it clear that the CCDL plan must address who will preserve the digital objects and by what mechanisms and time line it will be accomplished. Implied in the growth of the CCDL is the expansion of the digital library program currently undertaken by the Libraries' special collections. One challenge is reconciling our traditional work, rooted in caring for and providing access to rare books and manuscripts, with the increasing demand for them to be digitized; we are committed to both of these important initiatives. Inherent in this two-sided challenge are the staffing issues that result from the merging of technology with rare books and manuscript collections, particularly the tension between the IT side and curatorial side of digital project administration. That is, in academic libraries, the staff involved in digitizing library collections are either IT experts in hardware/software and networking, or librarian/curators who are experts in rare books and manuscripts, preservation of fragile material, and reference and instruction. A specific challenge, then, is designing a new model for digital projects administration at the Libraries that brings together technologically savvy librarians with IT staff who are sensitive to collections issues and outreach. Good communication impacts all areas of digital project administration; therefore, expanding the Libraries' digital projects initiative will require the same close examination and augmentation of planning, staffing, and infrastructure that the wider-scale CCDL will require. Open communication and agreement between The Colleges and the Libraries, heretofore elusive, is crucial, between faculty and librarians as creators/managers, and between information technology departments as computing experts. Establishing appropriate selection criteria for contributions to the CCDL is one area where collaboration between The Colleges and the Libraries will be vital. Digital objects require an added measure of diligence that traditional, non-electronic resources do not, especially in relation to licensing and, most importantly, to copyright. Any resources created by the Libraries or The Colleges must be examined for the proper provenance and permission to create and disseminate copies. A cooperatively developed copyright policy for The Claremont Colleges would make all content contributors to the CCDL aware of their rights regarding copyright. A cross-college copyright policy has been discussed by The Colleges in the past, particularly after a Mellon-funded copyright symposium several years ago, but no policy resulted. Cooperation between the Libraries' IT and the other IT departments will be fundamental to the success of any formal digital library program involving projects created by The Colleges. Currently, The Colleges IT departments act independently from each other. Considering the saturation of technology in our lives, true collaboration among all IT departments in Claremont is an essential goal. In an environment in which independence is treasured, it remains to be seen how college/library collaboration on this large scale can be realized. It is clear that to proceed in the development of the CCDL, a great deal more planning is required within the Libraries. The management and technical infrastructure at the Libraries must evolve to enhance communication among Libraries' staff, improving and coordinating the management of digital objects, services, and infrastructure. Of high priority is the development of a plan that addresses our goals for digital initiatives including increased investment in staff and equipment. As well, coordinated planning with The Colleges will require new ways of thinking, especially about how the CCDL will be funded, staffed, administered, and promoted. A library brings together knowledge and learners. The Claremont Colleges Digital Library has the potential to be a virtual commons that draws students, faculty, and staff to online content, making it easier for students and faculty to learn and to teach. |