DIGITAL LIABRARY : AN OVERVIEW

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Introduction
A digital library, digital repository, or digital assortment is web information of digital objects
that may embody text, still pictures, audio, video, digital documents, or alternative digital
media formats. Objects will incorporate digitized content like print or pictures, further as
created digital content like application program files or social media posts. In addition to
storing content, digital libraries offer suggestions that for organizing, searching, and
retrieving the content contained within the assortment.

Rapid advances in information technologies have revolutionized the role of libraries. As a

result,libraries face new challenges, competitors, demands, and expectations. Libraries are
redesigning services and information products to add value to their services and to satisfy the
changing information needs of the user community.

Traditional libraries are still handling largely printed materials that are expensive and bulky.
Information seekers are no longer satisfied with only printed materials. They want to
supplement the printed information with more dynamic electronic resources. Demands for
digital information are increasing.
Digital libraries will start gaining ground in India in the present century. We are heading
toward an environment in which digital information may substitute for much print-based
information. A library's existence does not depend on the physical form of documents. Its
mission is to link the past and the present, and help shape the future by preserving the records
of human culture, as well as integrating emerging information technologies. This mission is
unlikely to change in the near future.
Digital libraries come in many forms. They attempt to provide instant access to digitized
information and consist of a variety of information, including multimedia.

Definition
A digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats (as opposed to
print, microform, or other media) and accessible by computers. The content may be stored
locally, or accessed remotely. The first published use of the term may have been in a 1988
report to the Corporation for National Research Initiatives. The term was first popularized by
the NSF/DARPA/NASA Digital Libraries Initiative in 1994. Bush (1945) created a vision
based on experience (“Digital library.”)
The Digital Library Federation defines digital libraries as:
Organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure,
offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the
persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily available for use
by a defined community or set of communities. (Shiri 2003)
The DELOS Digital Library Reference Model defines a digital library as:
An organization, which might be virtual, that comprehensively collects, manages and
preserves
for the long term rich digital content, and offers to its user communities specialized
functionality
on that content, of measurable quality and according to codified policies. ("Digital Library”)

“Digital Libraries: Functionality, Usability, and Accessibility,” Dr Mayank Trivedi. A digital

library is not a single entity. It requires technology link the resources of many collections.
The links between digital libraries and their resources are transparent to users. Digital library
collections are not limited to document surrogates (bibliographic records. They are the actual
digital objects such as
images, texts, etc.

Digital libraries will vary vastly in size and scope and may be maintained by people or
organizations. The digital content could also be keeping domestically, or accessed remotely
via pc networks. These data retrieval system area units can exchange data with one another
through ability and property.

History

The early history of digital libraries isn't well documented, however many key thinkers area
units connected to the emergence of the idea. Predecessors embody Paul Otlet and Henri La
Fontaine's Mundaneum, an endeavor begun in 1895 to assemble and consistently catalog the
world's information, with the hope of delivery regarding world peace. The visions of the
digital library were mostly completed a century later throughout the good enlargement of the
web, with access to the books and looking of the documents by lots of people on the planet
Wide internet.
 
Vannevar Bush and J.C.R. Licklider area unit 2 contributors that advanced this concept into
then current technology. Bush had supported the analysis that LED to the bomb that was born
in the city. When seeing the disaster, he needed to form a machine that will show however
technology will cause understanding rather than destruction. This machine would come with
a table with 2 screens, switches and buttons, and a keyboard. He named this the "Memex". In
this manner, people would be ready to access keep books and files at a fast speed. In 1956,
Ford Foundation-funded Licklider to research however libraries can be improved with
technology. Nearly a decade later, his book entitled "Libraries of the Future" enclosed his
vision. He needed to form a system that will use computers and networks thus human
information would be accessible for human wants and feedback would be automatic for
machine functions. This method contained 3 parts, the corpus of information, the question,
and therefore the answer. Licklider referred to like it as a procognitive system.
 
 Early comes focused on the creation of associate electronic card catalog referred to as on-
line Public Access Catalog (OPAC). By the Nineteen Eighties, the success of those endeavors
resulted in OPAC exchange the standard library catalog in several tutorial, public and special
libraries. This allows libraries to undertake further rewardable co-operative efforts to support
resource sharing and expand access to library materials on the far side of a private library.
 
 An early example of a digital library is that the Education Resources data Center (ERIC),
information of education citations, abstracts, and texts that was created in 1964 and created
accessible on-line through DIALOG in 1969.
 
 In 1994, digital libraries became wide visible within the analysis community thanks to a
$24.4 million National Science Foundation managed program supported together by
DARPA's Intelligent Integration of knowledge (I3) program, NASA, and National Science
Foundation itself. Eminent analysis proposals came from six U.S. universities. The colleges
enclosed Carnegie altruist University, University of California-Berkeley, University of
Michigan, University of Illinois, University of California-Santa Barbara, and university.
Articles from the project come summarized their progress at their halfway purpose in could
1996. Stanford analysis, by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, LED to the creation of Google.
 
 Early attempts at making a model for digital libraries enclosed the DELOS Digital Library
Reference Model and therefore the 5S Framework.
Terminology
The term digital library was 1st popularized by the NSF/DARPA/NASA Digital Libraries
Initiative in 1994. With the supply of the pc networks, the knowledge resources are expected
to remain distributed and accessed as required, whereas in Vannevar Bush's essay As we tend
to might imagine (1945) they were to be collected and unbroken among the researcher's
Memex.
 
 The term virtual library was at first used interchangeably with digital library, however is
currently primarily used for libraries that are virtual in alternative senses (such as libraries
that combine distributed content). within the period of digital libraries, there was discussion
of the similarities and variations among the terms digital, virtual, and electronic.
 
 A distinction is usually created between content that was created in a very digital format,
called born-digital, and data that has been born-again from a physical medium, e.g. paper,
through conversion. Not all electronic content is in digital information. The term hybrid
library is usually used for libraries that have physical collections and electronic collections.
for instance, Yankee Memory may be a digital library among the Library of Congress.
 
 Some vital digital libraries conjointly function long-run archives, like arXiv and also the net
Archive. Others, like the Digital library of America, obtain to form digital info from
numerous establishments wide accessible on-line.

Characteristics of Digital Libraries

Recent developments in library technology and practices have helped bring some of
Lancaster 's paperless society to reality. The effects that digital technology has brought
include: (Jebaraj and
Deivasigimani 2003)
Digital library collections contain permanent documents. The digital environment will enable
quick handling and/or ephemeral information. Digital libraries are based on digital
technologies. The assumption that digital libraries will contain only digital materials may be
wrong. Digital libraries are often used by individuals working alone.

The physical boundaries of data have been eliminated. Support for communications and
collaboration is as important as information-seeking. Compression of data storage is enabling
publication and storage of digital information. Telecommunications is facilitating the storage,
retrieval, use, and exchange of digital resources.

Function of Digital Library

 Access to large amounts of information to users wherever they are and whenever they
need it.

 Access to primary information sources.

 Support multimedia content along with text

 Network accessibility on Intranet and Internet

 User-friendly interfac

 Hypertext links for navigation

 Client-server architecture

“Digital Libraries: Functionality, Usability, and Accessibility,” Dr Mayank Trived

Advanced search and retrieval. Integration with other digital libraries.

Purpose of Digital Library

 Expedite the systematic development of procedures to collect, store, and organize,
information in digital form.
 Promote efficient delivery of information economically to all users.
 Encourage co-operative efforts in research resource, computing, and communication
networks.
 Strengthen communication and collaboration between and among educational
institutions.
 Take leadership role in the generation and dissemination of knowledge

Components

The components of a digital library are:

 Infrastructure
 Digital Collection
 Systems function
 Telecommunication facility
 Human resources

Planning for Digital Library

A digital library committee should be formed to plan for its creation and maintenance. The
members must be from various library departments, and, if necessary, consultants can be
hired. There are at least two ways of developing a digital library: converting a traditional
library into a digital library, and direct development of a digital library.

Planning includes:

 IT Infrastructure
 Digitization
 Access
 Staffing
 Furniture, equipment, and space
 Services
 Funding
Creation of Digital Resources
 Database of digital material that is open to all users over the campus-wide LAN.
 High bandwidth Internet connectivity
 Focus selectively on acquiring digital resources
 Electronic journals, and gradual elimination of print subscriptions
 Licensed databases
 Creation of local digital content available within the university

Advantages of a Digital Library

The advantages of digital libraries include

 Nearly unlimited storage space at a much lower cost

 Re-allocate funds from some staff, collection maintenance, and additional books.
 No physical boundary
 Round the clock availability
 Multiple access
 Enhanced information retrieval.
 Preservation for some print material
 Added value
 Universal accessibility

Limitations
 Lack of screening or validation
 Lack of preservation of a fixed copy (for the record and for duplicating scientific
research)
 Lack of preservation of “best in class”
 Difficulty in knowing and locating everything that is available, and differentiating
valuable from useless information.
 Job loss for traditional publishers and librarians
 Costs are spread and many become hidden.
Digital Library Initiatives in India

India is in the experimental stages of digital libraries. Barring the Health Education Library
for People (HELP), Mumbai, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai,
IIT Kharagpur, and National Centre for Science Information (NCSI), Bangalore, a majority
of libraries provide bibliographic access only. IASLIC-LIST and the LIS-FORUM, along
with the electronic newsletter, INFOWATCH provide professional information. Information
today and Tomorrow , INFLIBNET Newsletter , and the DESIDOC Bulletin of Information
Technology (D-BIT) are a few other sources of current information on the use of ICTs and
networks in India. Research and development activities regarding digital libraries are
being undertaken in some institutions, for example, at the Education and Research network
(ERNET) of Department of Electronics, Gol ( http://www.doe.ernet.in ) and the electronic
library being developed at the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (NISCAIR),
New Delhi ( http://www.NISCAIR.org ). A brief account of some of the resources and
services is presented below.

 Searchable databases on the web from Central Library of Indian Institute of Technology,
Kharagur (IIT-Kgp) ( http://144.16.192.18 or http://libweb.iitkgp.ernet.in )
 Digitization at IIT-Kgp Library initiated at the beginning of 1990s. IIT-Kgp is one of the
six premier institutions of quality education in engineering and technology, the Indian
Institute of Technology (IITs).
 Electronic current awareness bulleting „Infowatch' beginning in July 1996 by the
University Grants Commission (UGC). ( http://144.16.72.150/ncsi/iw.html )
 LIS-FORUM, a discussion forum sponsored by NCSI, Bangalore
(http://144.16.72.150/ncsi/services/lis-archive.html )
 Development of OPACs in many libraries such as Centre on Rural Documentation
CORD of National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad (
http://www.nird.org/clic/index.html and http://www.nird.org/clic/L.html )
 Index of Hitesranjan Sanyal Memorial Collection (HSMC) at the Centre for Studies in
Social Sciences (CSSS), Calcutta. ( http://www.iisg.nl/asia/cssc.htm and
http://www.socialsciencecal.org)

 Health Education Library for People (HELP), in Mumbai. HELP is a privately managed
site providing health related information and managing an online catalogue of over
15,000 documents
( http://www.healthlibrary.com )

The situation in India regarding digital libraries is very peculiar1. Many government agencies,
as well as
institutions, mostly in the public sector, are engaged in some sort of work regarding the
digitization of libraries. Examples clearly indicate that the potential of ICTs for developing
digital libraries has not been fully realized by the GoI. While one government agency is
providing support for one particular aspect, the other is focusing elsewhere, without any
coordinated effort by a nodal agency.

Types of Digital Libraries

Institutional repositories
Many tutorial libraries are actively concerned with building institutional repositories of the
institution's books, papers, theses, and different works which may be digitized or were 'born
digital'. several of those repositories are created on the market to the overall public with few
restrictions, following the goals of open access, in distinction to the publication of analysis in
industrial journals, wherever the publishers typically limit access rights. Institutional, truly
free, and company repositories are typically said as digital libraries. The institutional
repository software system is intended for archiving, organizing, and looking out a library's
content. in style, ASCII text file solutions embrace DSpace, EPrints, Digital Commons, and
felt hat Commons-based systems Islandora and Samvera.2
1
Kawatra, P.S. (2000). Textbook of information science. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation.
2
Digital Library (1995). Communication of the ACM.
National library collections
Legal deposit is commonly lined by copyright legislation and typically by laws specific to
legal deposit, and needs that one or a lot of copies of all material revealed during a country
ought to be submitted for preservation in an establishment, usually the national library. Since
the appearance of electronic documents, legislation has had to be amended to hide the new
formats, like the 2016 modification to the Copyright Act 1968 in Australia.
 
 Since then varied forms of electronic depositories are designed. nation Library’s Publisher
Submission Portal and therefore the German model at the Deutsche National Bibliothek have
one deposit purpose for a network of libraries, however public access is barely obtainable
within the reading rooms within the libraries. The Australian National e-deposit system has
identical options, however conjointly permits remote access by the overall public for many of
the content.

Digital archives
Physical archives disagree with physical libraries in many ways in which. historically, the
archives area unit outlined as:
 
 Containing primary sources of data (typically letters and papers directly made by a private or
organization) instead of the secondary sources found in an exceeding library (books,
periodicals, etc.).
 Having their contents organized in teams instead of individual things.
 Having distinctive contents.
 The technology accustomed produce digital libraries is even additional revolutionary for
archives since it breaks down the second and third of those general rules. In alternative
words, "digital archives" or "online archives" can still typically contain primary sources,
however, they're possible to be delineated separately instead of (or additionally to) in teams
or collections. Further, as a result of their digital, their contents area unit simply duplicatable
and will so are reproduced from elsewhere. The Oxford Text Archive is mostly thought of to
be the oldest digital archive of educational physical primary source.
 
 Archives disagree with libraries within the nature of the materials control. Libraries collect
individual printed books and serials or delimited sets of individual things. The books and
journals control by libraries aren't distinctive, since multiple copies exist and any given copy
can typically prove as satisfactory as the other copy. the fabric in archives and manuscript
libraries area unit "the distinctive records of company bodies and also the papers of people
and families".
 
 An elementary characteristic of archives is that they need to stay in the context within which
their records are created and also the network of relationships between them to preserve their
informative content and supply graspable and helpful data over time. the elemental
characteristic of archives resides in their gradable organization expressing the context by
means that of the repository bond. repository descriptions area unit the elemental means that
to explain, understand, retrieve and access repository material. At the digital level, the
repository descriptions area unit is sometimes encoded by means that of the Encoded
repository Description XML format. The EAD could be a standardized electronic illustration
of repository description that makes it doable to produce union access to elaborated
repository descriptions and resources in repositories distributed throughout the globe.
 
 Given the importance of archives, an ardent formal model, known as NEsted SeTs for Object
Hierarchies (NESTOR),[24] designed around their peculiar constituents, has been outlined.
NESTOR is predicated on the concept of expressing the gradable relationships between
objects through the inclusion property between sets, in distinction to the binary relation
between nodes exploited by the tree. NESTOR has been accustomed to formally extend the
5S model to outline a digital archive as a particular case of digital library ready to take into
thought the peculiar options of archives.
Functions of digital libraries3
The advantages of digital libraries as a way of simply and apace accessing books, archives,
and pictures of varied sorts square measure currently widely known by industrial interests
and public bodies alike.
Traditional libraries square measure restricted by storage space; digital libraries have the
potential to store way more data, just because digital data needs little or no physical area to
contain it. As such, the price of maintaining a digital library is often a lot less than that of a
standard library. A physical library should pay massive sums of cash paying for employees,
3
Gopal, K. (2000). Digital libraries in electronic information era. New Delhi: Author Press.
book maintenance, rent, and extra books. Digital libraries could cut back or, in some
instances, do away with these fees. each form of the library needs cataloging input to permit
users to find and retrieve material. Digital libraries could also be additional willing to adopt
innovations in technology providing users with enhancements in electronic and audiobook
technology similarly as presenting new kinds of communication like wikis and blogs;
standard libraries could contemplate that providing on-line access to their OP AC catalog is
adequate. a crucial advantage to digital conversion is accumulated accessibility to users. They
additionally increase accessibility to people United Nations agency might not be ancient
patrons of a library, thanks to geographic location or structure affiliation.
 
 No physical boundary. The user of a digital library needn't travel to the library physically;
individuals from everywhere on the planet will gain access to equivalent data, as long as an
online affiliation is accessible.

 Round-the-clock accessibility a serious advantage of digital libraries is that individuals will

gain access 24/7 to the data.

 Multiple access. equivalent resources are often used at the same time by a variety of
establishments and patrons. {this could|this might|this could} not be the case for proprietary
material: a library may have a license for "lending out" only 1 copy at a time; {this is often
this will be} achieved with a system of digital rights management wherever a resource can
become inaccessible when the expiration of the disposal amount or when the loaner chooses
to create it inaccessible (equivalent to returning the resource).

 Information retrieval. The user is in a position to use any search term (word, phrase, title,
name, subject) to look at the whole assortment. Digital libraries will give easy interfaces,
giving click-in-position access to their resources.

 Preservation and conservation. digitization isn't a long-run preservation answer for physical
collections, however, will achieve providing access to copies for materials that may otherwise
fall to degradation from continual use. Digitized collections and born-digital objects cause
several preservation and conservation considerations that analog materials don't. Please see
the subsequent "Problems" section of this page for examples.
 Space. Whereas ancient libraries square measure restricted by space for storing, digital
libraries have the potential to store way more data, just because digital data needs little or no
physical area to contain them and media storage technologies square measure more cost-
effective than ever before.

 Added worth. bound characteristics of objects, primarily the standard of pictures, could also
be improved. digitization will enhance legibility and take away visible flaws like stains and
discoloration.
 Easily accessible.
The various functions of the digital library

 A digital library system4 is additionally famed by the name of an internet library system or
library management system.
 Access to an outsized quantity of data — It provides a great amount of data to access the
resources.
 User-friendly interface — It meets the stress of multiple users accessing the system over the
web at an equivalent time.
 Client-server design — Digital libraries give support to their shoppers which may be
accessed with common desktop configuration and computer code.
 Network accessibility — an on-line library system may be an assortment of disparate
systems and resources connected through a network.
 Access to primary data sources — they supply a good vary of data to the users in digital
type.
 Support multimedia system content — this method supports the multimedia system content.

Features of the Digital Library

 Additionally, abundant work is finished within the field of {data of knowledge} and data
management space. The library management system provides effective learning resources to
students and alternative users. Digital libraries square measure supported digital technologies.
4
Lakshmi, R., Suma, P. (1998). A step towards developing a digital library. Library Science with a
Slant to

Information Studies 35 (1) .

That digital objects square measure pictures, text, etc. on that the digital technologies work
upon.
 Digital library system or library management system depends upon numerous parts like:
 User Interfaces — There square measure 2 forms of users, one for the end-users of the digital
library and therefore the alternative is for the system directors.
 Repository — Repositories store and manage digital objects and alternative info.
 Handle System — this method receives an input handle for a digital object and returns the
symbol of the repository.
 Search System — differing kinds of indexes and catalogs square measure gifts to look for the
knowledge. These indexes manage and support a wide selection of protocols.

Digital Libraries at scientific societies or organisations

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE provides access to almost one
third of the world literature in the area of electrical engineering and computer science. Their
Digital Library called IEEE Xplore provides full-text access to IEEE transactions, journals,
magazines and conference proceedings published since 1988 and all current IEEE Standards.

IEEE Xplore covers technical areas ranging from computer engineering, Introduction to
Digital Libraries – Memex of the Future 27 Proceedings ELPUB2006 Conference on
Electronic Publishing – Bansko, Bulgaria – June 2006 biomedical technology and
telecommunications, to electric power, aerospace and consumer electronics.

For full access you have to be a member (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/) Association for

Computing Machinery (ACM) members and registered users can use the Digital Library
containing bibliographic information, abstracts, reviews, and the fulltext for articles
published in ACM periodicals (journals, magazines and transactions) and ACM proceedings
(http://portal.acm.org/).

Close to one million documents of interest to people working in particle physics and related
areas can be found at the CERN document server site. Originally named Conseil Européen
pour la Recherche Nucléaire, now renamed European Organization for Nuclear Research, the
Digital Library at CERN covers preprints, articles, books, journals, photographs, and much
more available at no cost for everyone (http://cdsweb.cern.ch/). BioMed Central is an
independent publishing house committed to provide immediate free access to peer-reviewed
biomedical research. BioMed Central publishes more than 50 online journals covering the
whole of biology and medicine. The service includes support for journal editors in developing
countries

.Digital Libraries at National Libraries

Digital Libraries at National Libraries National libraries are the collective memories of
nations. They always house valuable collections of both scientific and cultural nature where
citizens go for research and investigation of historical heritage and events. These days many
national libraries take advantage of modern technology to help them serve their customers
need. By digitizing text, sound, film-collections and making them into Digital Libraries
within the national library, cultural heritage treasures are made available for people far
outside the national borders. Fine examples of this are to found at: British Library which
offers a number of digital information services based on British Library collections. One
example is the “Treasures in Full” site that brings high-quality editions of the works of
Shakespeare, Chaucer and the Gutenberg bible among other things to the users desktop
(http://www.bl.uk/treasures/treasuresinfull.html). Another is “Images online” which gives
access to thousands of pictures from the library collections
(http://www.imagesonline.bl.uk/britishlibrary/). Library of Congress offers two great Digital
Library resources: “American Memory” which is an umbrella term for a collection of digital
resources on topics such as African American History, Immigration, Native American
History, Performing Arts etc. (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/) and a resource called
“Thomas”, named after Thomas Jefferson, made up of several databases, where federal
legislative information is freely available to the Internet public (http://thomas.loc.gov/). The
National library of Portugal can stand as an example of a smaller national library with limited
resources that is working towards a vision of a National Digital Library consisting of a
coherent group of services and resources with technical solutions based on open and scalable
technology. Several digital collections and exhibitions are available. A good example is the
digital collection devoted to the renaissance portugeese mathematician and astronomer Pedro
Nunes (http://purl.pt/40/1/) [26] (Note the persistant URL!). 3.4. Digital Libraries at
Universities In the second half of the 1990s several university libraries started building digital
collections making them public available. The Electronic Text Center at the University of
Virginia is one famous Digital Library offering thousands of SGML-encoded electronic texts
and many special collections devoted to famous authors or American historical events
(http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/). Project Gutenberg also emanated from a university. In this case
the University of Illinois. The objective of the project was to provide free access to digital
version of world literature. The texts are stored in plain ASCII format making them easy to
read and search with any sort of computer equipment. Today Project Gutenberg is a volunteer
effort continued outside the university (http://www.gutenberg.org/). At the Oxford Digital
Library a number of disparate collections from the university are available. You can go from
images of medieval manuscripts to a database of Athenian Pottery to a collection of motoring
and transport images. In the future the Oxford Digital Library aims to offer a Digital Library
architecture which will allow centralized access to these digital resources. The use of
established standards for descriptive metadata (i.e. EAD, Introduction to Digital Libraries –
Memex of the Future 29 Proceedings ELPUB2006 Conference on Electronic Publishing –
Bansko, Bulgaria – June 2006 TEI) is a precondition for this integration process. Existing
Digital Library collections may be transferred step by step into a common architecture with
an integrated retrieval mechanism (http://www.odl.ox.ac.uk/). Established in 1997 as a
University of California library, the California Digital Library has become one of the largest
Digital Libraries in the world providing access to resources like The Online Archive of
California – collections of digital materials (such as manuscripts, photographs, and art) held
in the libraries, museums, and archives across California; government data and statistics
about California in “Counting California”; The Melvyl catalogue with its 15 million records
from the 10 University of California campuses. (http://www.cdlib.org/). arXiv is an e-print
service in the fields of physics, mathematics, non-linear science, computer science, and
quantitative biology that started in 1991. It is a fully automated electronic archive and
distribution server for research papers The contents of arXiv conform to Cornell University
academic standards. arXiv is owned, operated and funded by Cornell University, a private
not-for-profit educational institution. arXiv is also partially funded by the National Science
Foundation. Users can retrieve papers from the archive either through an world wide web
interface, or by sending commands to the system via email (http://arxiv.org/). 3.5. Digital
Libraries at Museums and other cultural heritage organisations Many cultural heritage
institutions are building digital collections of their holdings in order to provide easy and
affordable access to the cultural heritage resources. In many ways it has been a tough trip
since funding and research for Digital Libraries of this type have not been as excessive as in
other areas. There is also the problem of common standards in order to describe cultural
objects homogenously, using the same kind of metadata standards. Cultural heritage
institutions use a multitude of different standards and in many cases no standards at all. This
will be one of the big challenges for the next generation of Digital Libraries at museums and
cultural heritage sites [27]. The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia has
provided access to many collections of the museum. A variety of techniques have been used
for making 3D images and virtual exhibitions come alive in both Russian and English
(http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/) The 24 Hour Museum is the UK’s National Virtual
Museum, offering a unique mix of dynamic content including daily arts and museum news as
well as exhibition reviews. It functions as an access point to Cultural heritage sites of the UK.
Venue and listings info is driven by a comprehensive searchable database of more than 3,400
entry points. This brief expose hopefully has made clear how varied and heterogeneous the
flora of Digital Libraries are today. Some work with very simple technology, like Project
Gutenberg, but others like virtual worlds of the Hermitage are very sophisticated. Some are
designed to provide access to digital resources in specific fields like BioMed Central or
arXiv. Others give access to specific document types in a wide area of scientific subjects
provided by commercial publishers that charge you for the data, while many other Open
Access archives are available for free5

Conclusion
Given that the digital library field continues to be quite new, it appears strange to be talking
already regarding enhancing digital libraries. However, during this fast-moving setting, the
initial digital libraries ensuing from digitization come, or maybe virtual collections, the
square measure being increased as user expectations and technology capabilities permit.
within the interior of this furious activity, it's valuable to investigate users’ wants and
interests to spot KOSs that may be wont to enhance the digital library.
 
 Knowledge organization systems consult with a spread of ancient and untraditional systems
for the organization of information. The systems are developed in varied settings outside the
normal library environment, as well as those of A&I services, publishers and skilled

5
Lesk, Michael. Understanding Digital Libraries. Second Ed. Morgan Kaufmann Publisher, 2005
organizations, and firms. Examples exist in several disciplines and for several target
audiences.
 
 Knowledge organization systems will enhance the digital library during a variety of the way.
they will be wont to connect a digital library resource to a connected resource. The connected
info could reside at intervals the KOS itself or the KOS is also used as an associate degree
negotiator file to retrieve the key required to access it in another resource. A KOS will build
digital library materials accessible to disparate communities. this could be done by providing
alternate subject access, by adding access by totally different modes, by providing trilingual
access, and by mistreatment the KOS to support free text looking out.
 
 A well-planned infrastructure for KOSs is needed. This includes the resources, processes,
and policies for analyzing user needs; locating KOSs to answer these needs; and exploit,
implementing, and maintaining the KOS.
 
 Traditional and untraditional KOSs offers a chance to increase the boundaries of the digital
library. By going on the far side of the initial organization of the digital library, digital
librarians will use the network setting to supply further worth to its users.