Spring 2010

May 2010

2nd International Conference on Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries (QQML), 25-28 May 2010, Chania, Crete, Greece

Scientific event

A DL.org paper was presented on 25 May 2010 at QQML. The talk focuses on the main goals and outputs of DL.org with particular reference to the investigations conducted by the six thematic Working Groups: content, user, functionality, policy, quality and architecture, one for each core concept captured in the DELOS Digital Library Reference Model, which has been enhanced and expanded by DL.org.

Title: Paving the way for Interoperability in Digital Libraries: The DL.org Project

Authors: Katerina El Raheb (2), George Athanasopoulos (2), Leonardo Candela (1), Donatella Castelli (1),  Perla Innocenti (3), Yannis Ioannidis (2,) Akrivi Katifori (2), Anna Nika (2), Stephanie Parker (4),  Seamus Ross (5), Costantino Thanos (1), Eleni Toli (2), Giuseppina Vullo (3)

1 Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione "A. Faedo", Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
2 Dept. of Informatics and Telecommunications, University of Athens
3 Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute, University of Glasgow
4 Trust-IT Services Ltd
5 Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

Presenter: Katerina El Raheb (pictured), University of Athens

Abstract: While Digital Libraries (DLs) are moving towards universally accessible collections of human knowledge, considerable advances are needed in DL methodologies and technologies to make this happen. Interoperability between DLs is a crucial requirement to achieve this goal. The European project,  DL.org,  is focused on advancing the state of the art in this area by proposing solutions, fostering best practices and shared standards, drawing on the knowledge acquired during the DELOS Network of Excellence, and harnessing the expertise of DL domain stakeholder communities. By serving this goal, DL.org is paving the way for the embedding of new research achievements into real-world systems, opening up new cross-domain research perspectives and supporting the advancement of the European Information Space for the knowledge-based economy.

QQML, 25 May 2010

Title: Policy and Quality Interoperability of Digital Libraries: an organisational perspective

Authors: Perla Innocenti and Giuseppina Vullo, Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII), University of Glasgow; Seamus Ross, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

Presenter: Giuseppina Vullo (pictured), University of Glasgow
Abstract: Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organisations to work together. Today interoperability is considered a key step to move from isolated digital archives and digital libraries towards a common information space that allow users to browse through different resources within a single integrated environment.

Approaches to policy and quality within digital information system are often ad hoc and based on a single institution focus. They frequently fail to take into consideration the interoperability requirements needed to allow digital repositories to cooperate and to exchange their digital objects. Here we propose an organisational perspective to policy and quality interoperability, and present an overview of how the European funded DL.org and international experts are investigating a shared policy and quality framework between diverse digital libraries. The interim outcomes of this research are described, including how external parties may also benefit from the findings. DL.org is identifying interoperability issues preventing digital libraries from working together and addressing the most immediate challenges to interoperability.