W e l c o m e Readers!
We would like to invite you to learn, experience, and share with us as we dip our toes into the world of digital libraries and their information services
This blog will be a collection of our mutual thoughts and findings as we discover more about virtual libraries. More importantly, we would like to write about them from the college student perspective...
- What are they? What purpose do they serve?
- Why are they useful to us as students?
- How can we take advantage of them and use them to our benefit?
These are just a couple of the questions you might have, and us too!
First to get started, a general definition so you get an idea of what we are talking about here…
A DIGITAL LIBRARY IS...
"A managed digital collection of information, and associated services, that is systematically organized and available through a network."
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-Notice that these libraries are managed. Man-made. They are created to provide electronic knowledge to the population.
- Also take notice that they are networks. They serve as an exchange of data among people.
* * *
What kind of data do they share?
A few types of the data exchanged includes but is not limited too...
- Text Information
- Visual Material
- Audio Material
- Video Material
EXAMPLE:
Among our research, we stumbled upon the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Not to get into too much detail, but here is a basic overview of the organization and the service and information they provide. As we continue the blog, we hope to dig more into their corporation and learn more about them… So tune into following posts for that!
Digital Public Library of America:
Launched in April of 2013, DPLA is both a portal and an innovative platform. Developer's make apps that use the library's data in a variety of ways. Here you can explore 8,417,029 different items from libraries, archives, and museums. They consider themselves a portal that gives students, teachers, scholars, and the public incredible resources no matter of their location.It's not just a search engine- it utilizes technology to strengthen the public option that libraries make available in their communities.
Check out their website and see for yourself here: http://dp.la
It is actually quite amazing the feat this website has become. In just a few short years, the creators have become well on their way to accomplishing their goal of providing open and coherent access to our society's digitized cultural heritage. And it does not seem to have an end in sight! They recently just published their strategic plan and goals for 2015-17.
