The concept and principal projects of digital libraries

RESEARCH INTO THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES IS GROWING WORLD-WIDE. AS PART OF THIS TREND, NUMEROUS INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY PROJECTS ARE UNDER DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION. AMONG THE MOST ADVANCED AND REPRESENTATIVE OF THESE IS THE DIGITAL LIBRARY INITIATIVE (DLI) FOUNDED JOINTLY BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF), THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) AND THE DEPARTAMENT OF DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (DARPA). THESE PROJECTS ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF ANALYSIS, RETRIEVAL, MANAGEMENT AND ADDRESSING TOOLS. THE THRUST OF THIS PAPER IS TWOFOLD: FIRST TO IDENTIFY AND CLARIFY THE CONCEPT OF THE DIGITAL LIBRARY AND SECOND TO ANALYZE THE DLI PROJECTS.