Minutes

Founding Meeting

March 21-22, 1997

"Toward a National Strategy for Digital Library Resources: A National Consultation Meeting" was held on March 21-22, 1997 at the National Library of Canada in Ottawa to discuss and develop a national strategy for digital library resources. CIDL is the result of this meeting.

Background Documents

• The Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries: A National Alliance
  (detailed description in HTML)

Meeting Documents

• Digital Resources in Canadian Libraries: Analysis of an NLC Survey
  (08-04-97)

Follow-up Documents

• Participants' Report and Record of Decisions
  (08-04-97)
• News Release: "Canadian Collective to Promote Digital Resources"
  (24-04-97)

Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries A National Alliance

National Library of Canada
June 1997, with minor revisions September 1997, March 1998

Introduction

In early 1997, the National Library of Canada engaged in a two-step consultation with Canadian libraries as to the state of their digital library collection development, and their achievements, issues, constraints, plans and concerns in this area of activity. First, a questionnaire was sent to 112 libraries, to which 50 libraries responded. Then, an invitational two-day consultation meeting was held at the National Library of Canada in Ottawa, March 21-22, 1997. Twenty-five institutions attended that meeting.

Participants agreed that sufficient experience had been gained individually to now identify and develop a coordinated approach to questions of national concern. They indicated that they wished to address the questions collectively, so that the choices made at the local level were based, where appropriate, on accepted standards and best practices. A coordinated approach, it is hoped, will optimize interoperability and facilitate long-term access to Canada's digital library resources.

In the autumn of 1997, the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries was founded with more than fifty (50) Canadian libraries joining the national alliance.

Mission of Libraries: Some Guiding Principles

A number of declarations were articulated by participants at the consultative meeting. These are that:

• Canadians have a right to information.
• Libraries facilitate equitable access to information by ensuring that it is organized, comprehensive, accurate and provided in a timely, affordable and efficient manner, regardless of format.
• Canadian libraries play a significant role in providing access to the Information Highway and in ensuring Canadian content on it.
• Canadian libraries work with other information providers to maximize the potential of the technologies and to ensure that all Canadians have access to information, based on principles of equality, universality and affordability.
• Canada has a national obligation to contribute to the global effort to make important information resources available via international electronic networks.

These principles have guided the development of objectives for the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries.

Purpose of a National Alliance

The nation's collective digital library and public information resources encompass material that originates in electronic form, which is proliferating at an accelerating rate, and material that libraries and other entities have converted to electronic form through the processes of digitization. Many libraries further supplement their own holdings of electronic resources through provision of organized network links to remote electronic resources.

The development and management of these three forms of digital library resources promises to be a costly, labour-intensive, and challenging long-term objective for Canadian libraries.

The Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries aims to increase communication and the standardization of practices among Canadian libraries in order to minimize "reinvention of the wheel" and duplication of effort, and to maximize the accessibility, interchangeability, and longevity of their digital collections. A broadly-based, collaborative effort will both respect local priorities and capabilities and at the same time foster the development of a sizeable, expanding corpus of culturally, socially and economically significant research material for the benefit of Canadians and those seeking Canadian information. It will be focused on practical activity, such as promoting the adoption of common structures, protocols and proven best practices. It will also look for opportunities to capitalize on the economies of scale and increased political leverage that can result from cohesive collective activity.

Mission

The Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries will promote, coordinate and facilitate the development of Canadian digital collections and services in order to optimize national interoperability and long-term access to Canadian digital library resources.

Objectives

Specific objectives include:

• formulation and implementation of strategies toward increased communication, awareness and education on digital library matters;
• identification and promulgation of digital library standards and best practices;
• exploration of licensing agreement issues;
• exploration of methods to better coordinate efforts among institutions and to avoid duplication in the development of digital resources;
• resolution of digital library issues that are particularly Canadian in context, such as bilingualism;
• preparation of guidelines for the application of present copyright legislation and the development of position statements with respect to intellectual property in a digital environment;
• establishment of relations with other stakeholders involved in the information chain from creation to archiving: creators and publishers; industry suppliers (software, hardware and telecommunications); users; archives, museums and cultural agencies; and government agencies at the federal, provincial, regional, and municipal levels; and,
• raising the profile of Canadian digital library activities, both within Canada and internationally.

Organizational Structure

Membership in the Initiative will be voluntary, and open to all Canadian libraries. Member institutions will be expected to furnish expertise, advice and/or willingness to work to resolve issues, to finance the participation of their staff member(s), and to provide an annual financial contribution towards the operation of the Initiative (see Resource Requirements, below).

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee will be made up of six members nominated annually by (and from) the Initiative's membership to represent the interests of the alliance, and one additional member representing the National Library. These individuals will collaborate to guide and coordinate the work of the Initiative. The steering committee's initial responsibilities will be to:

• provide planning direction to the Initiative;
• set policy regarding participation, funding, scope, duration and deliverables of the Initiative;
• encourage and facilitate broad membership, as well as promote active involvement by member organizations;
• oversee subcommittees and coordinate deliverables of the Initiative;
• consider and, as appropriate, pursue recommendations furnished by the subcommittees and the membership;
• ensure that membership is regularly apprised on the workplan and status of ongoing tasks;
• ensure that the Initiative's activities and its findings are made available on its public Web site;
• administer and account for funds; and,
• evaluate the efficacy of the Initiative's work and structure.

Working Groups

Working Groups, either standing or ad hoc, will be formed as deemed appropriate by the steering committee or the Initiative as a whole. Terms of reference will be developed by the steering committee, to which the working groups will be accountable. Normally, working group members will be from member institutions of the Initiative.

In general, the roles of the working groups will be: a) to monitor and report on trends, and b) to recommend or generate policy and best practices. these groups may form smaller working groups or may commission reports or position papers to focus on specific issues or activities. The work of other relevant digital library task forces or initiatives should be examined and adopted as appropriate.

The following is a proposed model for an initial working group structure.

Working Group on Creation and Production Issues

Mandate

Identify current practices in the creation and production of Canadian digital resources and set out Canadian standards for the development of digital resources, with a focus on "transferability", "interoperability" and "preservation".

Activities

1. Carry out an inventory of the current digitization practices in the Canadian libraries and evaluate the advantages / disadvantages of the various technological solutions. In short, one would start from the current practices before suggesting "ideal" practices. The final objective would be to evaluate the standards and best practices in order to assure the optimal exploitation of electronic texts and the durability of the resources produced.
2. Develop a "grid of analysis" that will allow members to identify more easily the advantages/disadvantages of the various technological solutions such as format PDF, SGML, HTML, XML and all other format(s) identified by the subcommittee.

This "grid of analysis" will be detailed enough to form part of a technical information kit intended for the managers of digital library projects or electronic publishing initiatives. The information kit will clearly identify and evaluate the software tools needed to support these standards and best practices identified by the Working Group.

In concordance with the general objective of the working group, this unit will present an official CIDL position concerning the recommended standards and best practises to use to develop digital resources in Canadian libraries.

Working Group on Organization and Access Issues

Mandate

The Working Group on Organization and Access Issues will work to ensure that digital resources are accessible to end users. Given the variety of hardware, software and networking technologies currently in use by end users, accessibility is not always straight forward and requires careful attention. Special attention will be paid to metadata issues, rights management issues and the implementation of standards-based systems for information retrieval.

Activities

1. develop guidelines for the use of metadata for the identification, the location and the description of electronic resources.
2. examine and recommend technical approaches to user authentication/authorization
3. promote the development or adoption of appropriate gateways and exchange protocols(eg - Z39.50)
4. review various methods for evaluating the use of digital resources

Working Group on Advocacy and Promotion

Mandate

The Working Group on Advocacy and Promotion will work in a coordinated way to raise awareness of CIDL's objectives and requirements within the private sector, federal, provincial and municipal governments and philanthropic organizations. This strategy is intended to "open the door" to funding opportunities and potential partnerships.

Activities

1. Develop a strategic communications plan designed to raise awareness and understanding of Canadian digital library initiatives. This strategic plan will serve to:
   • raise the profile of the CIDL Initiative within government, the private sector and the research community.
   • ensure that linkages are made with those institutions that control or influence expenditures or grants in this area. (e.g. CANARIE, Industry Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage)
2. Develop a clear and concise strategy statement or "message" that can be used by the Working Group, Steering Committee and the CIDL membership to raise awareness of CIDL activities and concerns.
3. Identify a list of organizations and agencies to target for potential collaboration, funding or partnership.
4. Develop an advocacy agenda or schedule that takes into account the schedules of the various funding programs.
5. Advise the CIDL Secretariat in the use of the CIDL web site and CIDL listserv to promote CIDL objectives and activities.
6. Work to develop models for collaborative funding within the Canadian library community or subsets of it.

Secretariat

A secretariat will be responsible for the internal communication, coordination and administration of the Initiative, as well as the initial development of the Web site for the Initiative.

Until the Initiative is well established and has generated resources to support its administrative and communications activities, the National Library will provide the secretariat as an in-kind contribution to the alliance.

Resource Requirements

It is estimated that the steering committee and working groups will meet formally at least 3 times a year, with electronic exchanges more frequently as needed. Individual participants' costs (travel, accommodation) will be paid by their home institution. To the extent possible, meeting and travel costs will be minimized by conducting the Initiative's business and communications electronically and holding in-person meetings in conjunction with major association conferences.

The National Library is prepared, at the outset, to support the Initiative by sponsoring its creation and by staffing its Secretariat.

To support the development and work of the Initiative and to offset administrative costs such as project development, translation and printing, an annual institutional membership fee will be required. The two classes of institutional membership are:

• Full (full voting privileges, eligible for steering and subcommittees): $1000
• Associate (no voting privileges, eligible for subcommittees): $300

The steering committee will be accountable for the expenditure of the Initiative's funds.

Conclusion

Constrained budgets, ever-increasing user expectations, and burgeoning systems, acquisitions, and other operational costs have caused libraries to look more and more at collective activity in recent years. The explosion of electronic information calls for concerted action to develop strong, vibrant, enduring and accessible digital collections in our nation's libraries. Collaboration will provide a greater return on investment and, from a client perspective, promises to increase exponentially the amount of digital information available through Canadian libraries to all Canadians. The Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries will foster Canadian digital library development by strengthening individual libraries' ability to meet the digital information needs of their users in the years to come.

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Digital Resources in Canadian Libraries:
Analysis of a National Library Survey, 1997

by Susan Haigh, Information Analysis and Standards

Earlier this year the National Library of Canada engaged in a national consultation on digital library resources in Canadian libraries. The first part of the process was a survey of selected Canadian libraries to investigate the current state of digital collections activities. The second part was an invitational meeting held at the National Library in Ottawa, March 21-22, the outcome of which will be reported in the July-August issue of National Library News.

Survey Methodology

In February 1997, the electronic French and English questionnaires were mounted on the National Library's Web site and an explanatory e-mail was sent to 112 libraries, including members of the Association of Parliamentary Librarians in Canada (APLIC), the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the Provincial and Territorial Libraries Directors Council (PTLDC), the Council of Administrators of Large Urban Public Libraries (CALUPL), and the Council of Federal Libraries (CFL) Steering Committee.

A total of 50 responses were received, which constitutes a response rate of 45 percent. The types of libraries were:

Overall Findings

Overall findings indicated that 66 percent of respondents (33) have engaged in digitization projects involving their print collections; 46 percent (23) are collecting and storing locally digital resources produced by external bodies; and 80 percent (40) are undertaking to organize links to external Web resources for the benefit of their clients. A wide range of technologies are used to support these activities. Most libraries have not fully resolved the management and funding issues of digital library resource development.

In fact, much of the activity to date has been exploratory -- discussing issues, planning and obtaining approvals and funding, and undertaking and evaluating pilot projects. The body of materials, especially of major Canadian research resources, in online digital form is not yet significant. However, there is clearly strong interest and commitment to continuing to build digital library resource collections.

Digitization Activities

Selection Criteria

Of the 33 responding libraries indicating that they have engaged in digitization projects, most (26, or 79 percent) indicated that they selected material for digitization based on criteria such as the following:

Two institutions noted that their digitization was strictly to meet client demand for document delivery.

Media/Type of Material

Respondents are engaged in digitizing a wide range of material, as follows:

In the "other" category, respondents noted theses, government documents, postcards, book and newspaper indexes, and complete journals and newspapers.

Language

English-language material has been digitized by 97 percent of respondents (28 of 29). In these collections, English-language material constitutes an average of 80 percent of the collection. French-language material had been digitized by 59 percent of respondents (17 of 29); and the average level of French material in these collections is 34 percent.

Subject

The material being digitized varies widely in subject and, as one might expect, tends to reflect the type of library and its primary clientele:

• Public libraries tend to digitize material of local history or interest. One, the North York Public Library, was creating digital audio children's stories.
• University library digitization projects tend to be based on special collections, such as the E. Pauline Johnson Archive at McMaster University and Loyalist history manuscript materials at the University of New Brunswick; or are based within broad disciplines such as architecture, music, law, education, economics, or history.
• One legislative library, that in Nova Scotia, has begun digitizing their province's legislation and sessional documents.
• The Saskatchewan Provincial Library is digitizing Saskatchewan municipal and provincial government documents.
• Special libraries' efforts reflect their specialized audiences: for example, the library at the Atlantic Forest Service is digitizing in the areas of forestry, entomology, soil science, and related subjects; IDRC library is digitizing materials related to sustainable development.

Canadian subjects or documents appear to be specifically targeted at approximately 20 of the 33 libraries that responded (61 percent). Five libraries are at this point digitizing only their own publications, in-house finding aids, student guides, and similar documents.

Scale of Projects

A number of Canadian institutions reported large-scale digitized output to date. Some of these include:

• 18,000 documents at the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec (storage not reported);
• 4,100 documents at McGill University (1.9 GB, i.e., gigabytes);
• 2,500 documents at the University of Toronto (75 GB);
• 2,400 at the Nova Scotia Provincial Library (23 MB, i.e., megabytes);
• 1,600 at McMaster University (130 MB);
• 1,000 or more at Simon Fraser University (ca. 2 GB); and
• 18,000 photographs at the University of British Columbia (storage not reported).

Bibliographic Access

Twenty-two respondents indicated the type of descriptive bibliographic access they were providing to their digitized collections. Of these, 12 respondents (55 percent) reported cataloguing the material according to AACR/MARC; but almost equally prevalent was non-standard access, at nine respondents (41 percent).

The pattern was very similar with subject access: 12 of 25 reported classifying material according to LC or Dewey Classifications, and non-standard access was provided in nine cases. Twenty-two percent of libraries (six of 27 respondents) listed all their digitized material in their OPACs; some material was listed by 37 percent of respondents; and none by 41 percent.

Intention to Archive

Nine respondents (of 28, or 32 percent) stated that they do not intend to retain the digitized material in perpetuity. In these cases, the digitized material was either scanned for document delivery requests or was ephemeral, library-produced material. Most respondents (21 of 24) acknowledged an intention to archive the material, but many (17) have not yet developed concrete plans to accomplish this objective. Two institutions cited SGML as a means to ensure long-term accessibility.

Future Plans

The majority of respondents (28 of 34, or 82 percent) indicated they planned to continue or expand their digitization activities, with only six libraries reporting no plans for further projects at the current time. Examples of planned projects include:

• The Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions, in partnership with Université Laval, the University of Toronto, and the National Library of Canada, will be digitizing 5 000 pre-1900 Canadiana microform titles in the subject areas of Native studies, Canadian women's history, and Canadian literature. The project will last from 1997 to 1999.
• An Electronic Text Centre (ETC) for commercial and public domain texts, possibly using the SGML Text Encoding Initiative Document Type Definition (TEI DTD), is planned at the University of Waterloo. An ETC is already operational at the University of New Brunswick. Digitization of theses is included in the plans of both.
• The University of British Columbia also plans a project relating to theses and is investigating the use of the SGML Encoded Archival Description (EAD) DTD to make their photographic collection findings aids available.
• The Nova Scotia Legislative Library plans to digitize the Statutes of Nova Scotia dating from 1758 to 1950 as well as the Journals of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.
• The Manitoba Legislative Library is considering digitizing the Manitoba Newspaper Checklist.
• The University of Saskatchewan plans to complete the Saskatchewan Newspaper Index and expand its digitized Native studies collections.
• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Library plans to digitize White Papers and Royal Commission reports on Native affairs.

National Register

Thirty-one respondents of 33, or 94 percent, favour establishing a national register of digitization projects or digitized products, so as to avoid costly duplication of digitization effort.

Digital Collections of External Resources

Twenty-three respondents (44 percent of the total) are engaged in collecting information published by external sources. Thirteen (57 percent) of these are university libraries. ("Collecting" in this case was defined as acquiring and storing on local servers, as opposed to linking to resources on remote servers.)

Selection Criteria

Selection of electronic resources was in some libraries governed by the same collection development policies that govern print acquisitions collections (5 of 23). Others cited specific criteria such as subject, language, demand, requests from faculty and support to institutional/research mandate (15 of 23 respondents mentioned one or more of these). A few noted the additional considerations of price, ease of networkability, and ease of access.

Type and Subject of Material

The following types of material were prevalent in electronic collections:

Among the most frequently noted types of information collected were statistical and financial data files (such as Statistics Canada's Data Liberation Initiative), reference resources such as indexes (e.g., CBCA Kiosk), dictionaries and encyclopedias, and full-text databases such as the Chadwyck-Healey poetry database. Generally, subjects tended to reflect the mandate of the institution, but were less focussed on Canadian and local resources than were digitization projects.

Language

English material was collected by all respondents at a average level of 91 percent of their total collection. Among the nine respondents collecting in French, French-language materials constituted an average of 20 percent of their electronic collections.

Scale of Projects

A few institutions have already built substantial online digital collections. These include:

• 2,500 titles at Queen's University (15 GB)
• 2,000 titles at the University of Toronto (storage not reported)
• 1,500 titles at Carleton University (9 GB)
• 1,000 titles at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (storage not reported)
• 212 titles at the National Library of Canada (1 GB).

Access Restrictions

The universities tend to restrict access to their licenced commercial electronic titles to their own communities. The National Library's electronic collection currently consists of Canadian-published electronic journals and monographs that are accessible on networks without restriction or charge.

Bibliographic Access

The pattern of bibliographic access for external digital acquisitions is similar to that cited above for digitized materials, with 56 percent of respondents cataloguing the material according to AACR/MARC, and 55 percent classifying the material in LC or Dewey Classifications. Eighty-six percent of respondents list all (5 of 21) or some (13) of their external digital resources on their OPAC.

Intention to Archive

Most libraries have decided against (6 of 18 respondents), or have not resolved (8), the issue of archiving in perpetuity their electronic collections of external materials. Of the four institutions that plan to archive their materials, only one (Queen's University) has undertaken any migration from older to newer storage media.

Future Plans

Libraries' plans for the future range from uncertain (6 of 23), to continuing with current levels of electronic collecting (5), to expanding their digital acquisitions program (8). A few respondents prefer to provide access to remote resources than to acquire the material (4); others acknowledged concern over achieving the appropriate balance between providing access to remote materials and local ownership (2). The University of Toronto noted that it is a stated goal to deliver 25 percent of information electronically by the year 2001.

Web Resource Access Services

Staff and Public Internet Access

Thirty-two (of 41) libraries reported that all of their staff had Internet access (78 percent). Public access Internet terminals are provided at 84 percent (32 of 38) of responding libraries. The number of public access terminals at these libraries ranged from one terminal at the National Library, Agriculture Canada, and the Nova Scotia Provincial Library to 500 terminals at the University of Manitoba. Other universities with a large number of public Internet terminals were the University of Alberta (175), Queen's University (165), the University of Saskatchewan (125) and Simon Fraser University (125).

Type of Resource Accessible

The 43 respondents to this section offer a range of Web services:

Twenty-six respondents (65 percent) make their catalogue available through either a Web interface or Telnet; 13 currently offer both.

Organized Links to External Resources

Almost all respondents (40 of 43, or 93 percent) offer some form of organized arrangement of external Web links for the benefit of their users. The types of resources they link to are diverse:

Two notable sites of organized links are the National Library's Canadian Information by Subject (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/caninfo/ecaninfo.htm) and the Metropolitan Toronto Public Library's World Vue, which has organized approximately 1,100 sites by subject but is available only on the library's on-site computers.

Other Digital Resource Access Services

Six university libraries mentioned providing electronic data services such as the Data Liberation Initiative or the Geographic Information Survey. (Other university libraries had mentioned these earlier in the survey as part of their collections of external resources.) Other services mentioned include electronic reference services; electronic requests for document delivery, holds, renewals, rush cataloguing, etc.; provision of digital copies; provision of Web-based guides and tutorials; a listserv for clients; and the provision and maintenance of various directories.

Future Plans

Of 33 respondents, only five indicated they currently have no firm plans regarding services to access digital resources. Fourteen respondents have expansion plans, and seven indicated that they will be pursuing increased integration of services such as linking their electronic resources with their OPACs. Plans for new services included an electronic reserve service (University of Alberta), an Electronic Data/Text Service (McMaster University), providing finding aids coded according to SGML Encoded Archival Description (University of British Columbia), implementing document delivery to faculty desktop (Queen's University), and mounting a database of evaluated Internet resources useful to public library reference staff and users (Library Services Branch, BC).

Technical Infrastructure

Type and Speed of Network Connection

Most respondents (26 of 31, or 84 percent) have a dedicated leased line for Internet access, with four (13 percent) having dedicated dial-in access, and nine (29 percent) having casual dial-in access. Half of respondents (18 of 36) have a T1 line. At the other end of the scale, modem speeds of 56, 28.8, and 14.4 Kbps were each cited by 11 percent of respondents.

Operating Systems

Eighty-three percent of respondents (33 of 40) reported using more than one operating system to support digital library work. The breakdown was as follows:

Type of Server Software

Thirty-three respondents indicated the types of server software they have, as follows:

Network Types

Ninety-seven percent of responding libraries (35 of 36) have local area networks (LANs), 47 percent (17) have a wide area network (WAN), and 25 percent (9) reported one or more Intranets.

Protocols Used

The rate of protocol usage among the 30 libraries that responded to this question is as follows:

Management Issues

Policy Framework

Policies to govern digital library resources have not yet been fully defined in most libraries. Whereas 88 percent (23 of 26) of respondents stated that they had written policies and procedures to govern the acquisition of digital materials on a physical carrier (e.g., CD-ROM), only 62 percent (16) had such a policy to govern acquisition of online (non-physical) digital materials. Only half of these (8) had defined criteria for selecting such material. Policies to govern the long-term availability of electronic resources (e.g., archiving policies) have been developed in 15 percent (4) of responding libraries.

Consultation

Several respondents (6 of 30) have used formal consultation mechanisms such as focus groups and questionnaires to establish their users' needs and preferences regarding digital library collections and services. More often, however, libraries reported seeking project or program direction approval from their boards or advisory committees (15), and many seek informal feedback to projects or products through mechanisms such as inviting comments on a Web site comments or via e-mail (10). Several mentioned making presentations to groups of users or stakeholders and participating in industry fairs and exhibitions as mechanisms both for promotion and for soliciting input and feedback.

Costs

Half of respondents (16 of 32) noted that they have not been tracking the costs of their digital library resource activities; another four were somewhat able to calculate costs, and 12 stated that they had been tracking costs. The National Library of Canada has estimated, based on three Industry Canada Digital Collections projects, that their digitization costs were approximately $5.50 per page (calculated towards the end of a text digitization project, when the students were fully trained and working efficiently), and $1.50 per database record.

Cost-Benefits

One respondent noted that they had determined that the costs of two Industry Canada SchoolNet Digital Collections Program-sponsored digitization projects outweighed the benefit of these projects for their users. Another noted that their evaluation of costs versus value had led them to "watchful moving ahead". But the majority of respondents (20 of 31) have not attempted to evaluate cost-benefits or to assess user satisfaction. Five respondents indicated they gathered and evaluated usage statistics; and six respondents indicated they had done some assessment, usually on a project basis.

Organizational structure changes

Fifty-eight percent of respondents (21 of 36) indicated their libraries had made some organizational changes owing to digital library activities. Those that had not made such changes were generally smaller libraries or libraries that had not embarked in large-scale projects to date, although a few (e.g., Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, Metropolitan Toronto Public Library) were large and active but had presumably chosen to incorporate digital library activities into existing organizational structures.

Conclusion

Some final questions in the survey asked what issues merit national discussion and, potentially, national coordination. In general, responses fell into the following categories:

• What to digitize: selection criteria and priorities
• How to assure long-term access and preservation of digital resources
• How to avoid duplication of effort
• Development and application of appropriate standards
• Approaches to copyright and licensing issues
• Libraries' role in equitable network access
• Approaches to funding digitization efforts and digital acquisitions
• What technology is required, and how to fund it?
• Approaches to staff and user training

These issues provided a general framework for discussion at the national consultation meeting in March, at which a national strategy was developed that will be reported in the next issue of National Library News.

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Participants' Report and Record of Decisions

National Consultation on Digital Collections held at the National Library of Canada
March 21-22, 1997

Present:

Havelin Anand, Secretariat of the Federal Digitization Task Force
Pam Bjornson, Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions
Claude Bonelly, Univeristé Laval
Alan Burk, University of New Brunswick
Anita Cannon, Mount Allison University
Gary Cleveland, National Library of Canada
Lynn Copeland, Simon Fraser University
Marju Drynan, McMaster University
Lyn Elliot Sherwood, Canadian Heritage
Gwynneth Evans, National Library of Canada
Darlene Fichter, University of Saskatchewan
Liz Fox, Queen's University
Barbara Freeze, Canadian National Institute for the Blind
Chantal Gauthier, National Library of Canada
Susan Haigh, National Library of Canada
Mark Haslett, University of Waterloo
Nora Hockin, Industry Canada
Doug Hodges, National Library of Canada
Aldyth Holmes, Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information
Ernie Ingles, University of Alberta
Yvon André Lacroix, Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
David McKnight, McGill University
Lucie Molgat, National Research Council
Carole Moore, University of Toronto
Jill Nicholson, Leamington Public Library
William Oldfield, University of Waterloo
Doug Poff, University of Alberta
Daniel Prémont, Université Laval
Jane Pyper, North York Public Library
Marianne Scott, National Library of Canada
Mary Jane Starr, National Library of Canada
John Teskey, University of New Brunswick
Jane Thacker, National Library of Canada
Karen Turko, University of Toronto
Bridget Turner, Nova Scotia Provincial Library
Johanna Wellheiser, Metro Toronto Public Library
Martha Whitehead, University of British Columbia
Frank Winter, University of Saskatchwean

Chairpersons:

Claude Bonnelly, Université Laval
Johanna Wellheiser, Metropolitan Toronto Public Library

Introduction

Following the analysis of responses to a detailed questionnaire on the management of digital collections in Canadian libraries, National Library staff invited institutions with experience to discuss the need for and preferred approach to the development of digital library resources in Canada. The libraries represented had experience in 1. the conversion of materials in fixed format to digital format; 2. the management of full-text collections of digital materials; 3. linking to collections managed by other institutions.

The agenda of the meeting allowed for two presentations: Overview of Digital Libraries: Definitions, Issues and Challenges by Gary Cleveland and Digital Activities in Canadian Libraries: Summary of Responses to the Questionnaire by Susan Haigh and a series of plenary and small group sessions, aimed at eliciting the experiences learned in the networked environment and the direction that Canadian libraries planned so that areas for coordinated action might surface.

The presentations provided a context for the discussions and emphasised that the Internet is not a digital library, nor will it be any time in the near future. Digital libraries are, in fact, libraries with the same purposes, functions, processes, and goals as traditional libraries, and will incorporate both fixed and electronic materials. Building digital libraries will be a difficult, expensive, and long-term effort requiring the skills of both librarians and computer scientists, as well as co-ordination among many libraries.

During the two-day meeting, it became evident that there was momentum in the digitization of locally held collections, in the creation of digital resources through publishing, and in the central management of and access to full-text files in different types of libraries across Canada. Participants considered that enough experience had been gained to develop a coordinated and coherent approach to questions of national concern. Moreover, they wished to address the questions collectively, so that the choices made at the local level were based, where appropriate, on accepted standards and best practices. A coordinated approach, it is hoped, will optimize interoperability and facilitate long-term access to Canada's digital library resources.

By the close of the first day, the participants had chosen to group their concerns under three headings: Structure for a Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries; Standards and Best Practices; Communications. Moreover, the framework for coordinated action, which emerged during the meeting was based on the following principles:

1. Canadians have a right to the information they need;
2. Libraries facilitate access to the information needed by ensuring that it is organized, comprehensive, accurate and provided in a timely, affordable and efficient manner, regardless of format;
3. Canadian libraries play a significant role in providing access to the Information Highway and in ensuring Canadian content on it;
4. Canadian libraries work with other information providers to maximize the potential of the technologies and to ensure that all Canadians have access to the information they need, based on principles of equity, universality and affordability.

Structure for a Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries

The National Library was asked to sponsor the creation of a group of self-selected institutions, whose mission will be to coordinate and facilitate the development of Canadian digital libraries resources and to resolve issues surrounding it. The name given to the project by the participants was the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries.

As a first step, the participants requested that the National Library prepare a document of purpose for the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries, circulating it first for comment to the institutions represented at the first consultation and then disseminating it more widely to the Canadian library community.

The document will be a "call to arms" which, following a declaration of vision, mission and objectives, will include a general plan of action and resource requirements. The document will be used as the basis for inviting institutions to join the Initiative on a self-selecting basis, recognizing that a commitment of funds, expertise, advice and/or willingness to work to resolve issues would be expected from the members.

From the perspective of the meeting participants, the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries will work first and foremost for Canadian libraries, recognizing the need for established relations with other stakeholders involved in the information chain from creation to archiving: archives, museums and cultural agencies; creators and publishers; industry suppliers (software, hardware and telecommunications); users; and government agencies at the federal, provincial, municipal, and regional levels.

The issues that deserve the immediate attention of the Initiative were identified as follows:

• the identification and implementation of strategies toward increased communication, awareness and education on digital library matters;
• the identification and promulgation of digital library standards or best practices;
• the exchange of information and use of licensing agreements;
• the articulation of roles and responsibilities for institutions to ensure coordination and to avoid duplication in the development of digital resources;
• preparation of guidelines for the application of present copyright legislation and the development of position statements with respect to copyright in a digital environment.

Standards and Best Practices

A number of guiding principles were drafted as the basis for standards work in the following areas: 1) content creation; 2) identification and description, including informal author description, formal description, full text searching and structured text searching; 3) preservation; 4) access and searching; and 5) interoperability and exchange.

The principles are as follows:

• groups of experts should identify and promote best practices (whether from Canadian or other jurisdictions), in the five areas above; using international standards where appropriate
• libraries must work with those in the creation and production processes, so that appropriate standards (e.g. identification, access) are incorporated from the outset;
• discussion and promotion of standards and best practices should be based on consensus, not coercion; on experience, not theory;
• the needs of the Canadian context (e.g. bilingualism) must be taken into account in the choice of standards/best practices.

Communications and Awareness

There were a number of areas in which communications on Canadian activities could be coordinated and strengthened. Among the communications mechanisms suggested were a register of digital collections, as well as those in preparation or being planned: a clearinghouse of information on workshops and training opportunities, standards and best practices. It was, therefore, agreed that a strategic communication plan be developed with and in support of the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries. Within that plan, the roles and responsibilities of libraries would be described.

It was agreed that, as a first start, the National Library would disseminate a news release on the results of the two-day consultation.

Next Steps

In order to launch the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries, the participants requested that the National Library undertake the following steps:

• Dissemination of the Participants' Report and News Release (by April 10)
• Draft statement of purpose for the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries (May 15)
• Send out membership information and sponsor the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries (June-July)
• Encourage the formation of small groups to define the appropriate best practices and to develop plans for the promotion and application of these practices (work begins in May)
• Compile and disseminate a list of digital projects based on input of participants (replies to be in by end of April)
• Examine the options for a site to act as a clearinghouse on information related to the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries, including information on workshops, training, projects, standards and best practices, etc. (mid-summer).