Exploring Digital Libraries

Foundations, Practice, Prospects

Abstract

The digital library emerged in the 1990s and changed the way we think about information. Twenty-five years on, the concept of networked information is both fairly new and firmly bedded in. The aim of this book is to shed light on the current stage in the development of libraries – a multidisciplinary digital library in the context of the social web.

The field of digital librarianship has produced a large body of research literature and practice, which the author summarises in her work. This is evident in the references section, which is over 50 pages long despite the fact that it contains only references to works cited in the book. But the book is more than a record of the evolution of digital libraries. It looks towards the future and the intended audience is the generation that will carry forward the evolution of the digital library.