Plans for shared digital library
moving forward

by Emily Silverman, special to the Chronicle

taff members of the five University libraries met recently in Shrewsbury to advance a plan for a shared digital library. More than 60 representatives of the President's Office, University Information Systems, the I-495 Center for Professional Education, and all five campus libraries gathered at the Hoagland-Pincus Conference Center of UMass Worcester to share ideas and set priorities for the delivery of information and services to the Commonwealth.

     In May, the UMass libraries drafted a proposal for a shared digital library. The strategic principles of the digital library are to remove geographical, time, and physical access barriers to the collections and services of the libraries; meet the needs of distance education students and remote users by providing resources and instruction over a robust network; enhance access to information for campus users, and citizens across the Commonwealth and beyond; and link campus library and information resources with the I-495 Center for Professional Education.

     According to Ben Franckowiak, director of the UMass Lowell Library, a shared digital library makes good sense financially and politically. In fact, he said, "We need to do this for all 29 of the public higher education institutions in Massachusetts. Huge savings will be possible through shared resources and collaborative services among the campuses." He pointed out examples of successful and cost-effective state-wide digital library systems in Connecticut, Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky.

     Margo Crist, director of Libraries at the Amherst campus, reviewed the core components of the digital library proposal, which include: system-wide authentication to grant all those affiliated with the campuses access to databases and electronic tools; shared digital collections of a variety of resources, such as images, video, archival materials, documents, journals, and newspapers; real-time online reference librarians to support information literacy and online instruction; and delivery of information through sophisticated digital methods as well as an enhanced state-wide physical delivery system. Participants at the planning meeting developed steps for moving the digital library proposal forward from these concepts to implementation.

     The directors of the five campus libraries are continuing to seek funding for the digital library following strong efforts to reallocate existing resources.

Related Web site:

• UMass Libraries