Implementation of Next Generation Digital Libraries

Abstract

To implement the next generation digital libraries, one has to examine both the data and functional aspects of the digital library requirements and understand the existing available technologies. In this chapter, we outline the major implementation issues of next generation digital libraries and review existing standards, tools and related research topics. Due to new kinds of content and metadata, as well as domain- and task-specific usage, the next generation digital libraries will need to handle the representation and storage scheme of metadata and content. Unlike the brick-and-mortar libraries, there are new challenges in metadata harvesting, search and retrieval that require standardized protocols to be adopted across different digital libraries. Finally, some advanced digital library services are also discussed.