What is the Digital Library?

Library materials that are available in electronic or digitized form are sometimes referred to as components of a Digital Library. This terminology is misleading because it implies that the Digital Library is an entity that exists outside of the "regular" library. In many cases, the components of the Digital Library are regular library materials that have been translated into digital form. The categories that apply to existing library materials can usually be applied to the digital form as well: primary, secondary, and tertiary, for instance; or reference materials, manuscript collections, journals, books, and indexes.

Some digitized or electronic materials are available free over the Internet. Other resources are subscribed to by libraries. These resources are limited to use within the university.


Guides to E-Texts and Digitized Resources on the Internet

Librarians and others inside and outside the academy have undertaken the task of pulling together links to electronic resources available over the Internet. Sometimes these are major projects undertaken by a group; more often one person seeks to pull together links to resources on the same subject in one Web page or on a Web site.

Indexes and Catalogs of both Print and Networked Electronic Resources at Princeton and Cornell

Librarians at both universities have developed catalogs, lists, and gateways in the Web format to supplement the online catalog and enhance access to networked resources.

The first library resources to be digitized--converted to electronic form--were the bibliographic indexes anc catalogs for finding printed material in books and journals.


Last revised June 5, 1998 by Michael Engle
Suggestions to moe1@cornell.edu.

URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/digitlib.html


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