Why go via expensive solutions, when you can GoDirect?: a description of how CERN Library integrates digital content

In the digital world the creative solutions have to be implemented far quicker than what was required in the era of printed publications. In such a context many vendors take advantage and offer the library community simple computer applications to outrageous prices as if the products were highly sophisticated information systems that would be impossible to develop and maintain in-house. The CERN Scientific information Service has chosen not to join this game, partly due to that commercial solutions were not available at the time when first needed, partly due to that lots of the solutions actually can be implemented and run with already available resources within the library and the informatics support. Using only inhouse developed solutions, digital content at CERN is today being integrated to the highest possible level in order to meet the high requirements of the particle physics community. The paper gives an overview of the steps CERN has made towards the digital library from the day the laboratory conceived the World Wide Web to present.