About the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries (CIDL)

Mission

Objectives

Areas of Activity

Organizational Structure

Secretariat

Mission

The Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries promotes, coordinates and facilitates the development of Canadian digital collections and services in order to optimize national interoperability and long-term access to Canadian digital library resources.

Objectives

• Formulate and implement strategies for increased communication, awareness and education on digital library matters;
• Identify and promulgate digital library standards and best practices;
• Define methods to better coordinate digital library activities among institutions and to avoid duplication in the development of digital resources;
• Prepare guidelines for the application of present copyright legislation and develop position statements with respect to intellectual property in a digital environment;
• Explore licensing agreement issues;
• Establish strong relations with others in the information arena: creators and publishers; information technology industries; users; archives, museums and cultural agencies; and government agencies at the federal, provincial, regional, and municipal levels;
• Raise the profile of Canadian digital library activities, both within Canada and internationally.

Areas of Activity

CIDL is involved in the following issues:

• Coordinated development of digital collections and services
• Digitization
• Rights management
• Roles and responsibilities for long-term archiving
• Access policies and practice
• End-user access technical requirements
• Metadata
• Digital preservation issues
• Directories
• Gateways and exchange protocols
• Fundraising
• Promotion
• Advocacy
• Continuing education programs and training
• Communications strategies and resources
• Applied research

Organizational Structure

CIDL is directed by a Steering Committee elected from Canadian member libraries. Much of the work of the alliance is accomplished by smaller working groups addressing specific issues such as digital library development, access and preservation, funding and promotion, and training and research.

Secretariat

The Library and Archives Canada provides the secretariat as an in-kind contribution to CIDL until the Initiative is well-established and has generated the resources to support its administrative and communication activities. The secretariat is responsible for the internal communication, coordination and administration of CIDL, as well as the ongoing development of the CIDL Web site.