Discusses relevance in distributed information retrieval and presents a method for solving the collection-fusion problem in hypermedia digital libraries. Describes links between hypermedia documents that reside in distributed hypermedia collections that can supply information to allow effective collection fusion, and considers results of…

Investigates the need for mechanisms for charging by digital libraries and other providers of online content, in particular for micropayments, i.e., charging for small amounts. The SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and SET (Secure Electronic Transactions) protocols for charge card payments and the MiniPay micropayment mechanism for charging small amounts…

Describes Project DL whose goal was to provide a Web site where diverse information sources on digital libraries are available. Discusses the Web site design at the University of Missouri-Columbia that includes three sections: digital library collections, digital library resources, and digital library Web sites. (Author/LRW)

Includes four articles that discuss a distributed architecture for managing metadata that promotes interoperability between digital libraries; the use of electronic print (e-print) by physicists; the development of digital libraries; and a collaborative project between two library consortia in Ohio to provide digital versions of Sanborn Fire…

Describes the history and major features of XML and TEI, discusses their potential utility for the creation of digital libraries, and focuses on XML's application in the humanities, particularly theater and drama studies. Highlights include HTML and hyperlinks; the impact of XML on text encoding and document access; and XML and academic…

Discusses how the library vendor's role is expanding to encompass a more active coaching component in a digitized environment. Topics include centrality of the reader; professional expectations for librarians; and coaching in the areas of bibliography information, licensing, networking, product/service awareness, and industry/market advice. (LRW)

Discusses how technology is defining the future role of library instruction. The present model is built on negative assumptions that the library is deficient; this article proposes a new model based on a paradigm shift in the electronic library and on a positive belief system that focuses on user independence. Contains 53 references. (LRW)

Includes four articles that discuss the use of digital objects to represent value in a network environment; digital library initiatives at the central public funding organization for academic research in Germany; an application of the Digital Object Identifier System; and the Web site of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. (LRW)

The author of this column describes several instances in which secure data on computers were compromised. In each of these instances, a different route was involved in gaining access to the secure data--one by office-based theft, one by hacking, and one by burglary. Is is proposed that the most difficult factor to guarantee in the protection of…

Without question, the ongoing transition from print to electronic periodicals has challenged librarians to rethink their strategies. While some effects of this change have been immediately apparent--greater breadth of material, easier access, exposure to new sources, publisher package deals, and open access--the broader outcomes on library…

There are many chasms in the library profession: among different libraries and between public services and technology staff, users and librarians, and research and practice. Susan Gibbons bridges all of them. As director of digital library initiatives at the University of Rochester River Campus Libraries, Gibbons was an early adopter of MIT's…

The last time this author wrote about open source (OS) software was in last September's 2004 issue of Computers in Libraries, which was devoted to making the most of what you have and do-it-yourself solutions. After the column appeared, she received an e-mail from David Dorman of Index Data, who believed that she had done OS products a disservice…

Small solutions solve discrete, well-bounded problems and can be pieces of larger solutions. They can move things forward by mixing and matching available components in new and previously unimagined ways. A number of innovations, which at first glance are completely unrelated, can come together and create important synergics. This article…

This article details the work of Lucia Chen of the New York Public Library. Lucia Chen combined her two passions--organization and beautification--in her recent project, creating an online version of the New York Public Library's (NYPL) legendary picture collection. Artists ranging from set designers to filmmakers have long used the collection,…

They are an unbeatable combination: Grog Sennema, digital resources librarian at Calvin College's Hekman Library, and Jed Koops, library systems programmer. This brief article discusses these two library employees and and how they worked together to solve many issues within their library system.