Focuses on possibilities for providing reference service to remote users of digital collections. Discusses international digital reference networks; factors that limit global electronic reference service; and drawbacks of e-mail and use of real-time interactive technologies for the reference encounter. Highlights some pioneering projects. (AEF)

Discusses how collections in the digital library, instead of traditional cataloging, call for metadata, structured information about information. Describes three categories of metadata information about digital resources: descriptive, structural, and administrative. Examines emerging standards for digital-library classification. (AEF)