Muddiest Point

I could use some clarification in regards to the design report accompanying our final projects. I am not sure what information to include in some of the categories, particularly user requirements, conceptual design, data collections, and sample information access scenarios. I have a general idea of what these might mean, but examples would be very helpful. Is there a finished report we could look at?

Muddiest Point: Digital Preservation

There has been a lot of talk about what would happen to a library's licensed digital resources if the vendor went under -- since nothing is physically on the shelves, access to all those materials could be lost as though it never was. But I have heard that some vendors offer guaranteed continued access through third-party permanent repositories, and that some institutions are partnering with each other to build and maintain the same. Can you point to any examples of these types of ventures?

Muddiest Point (Access in Digital Libraries II)

Point 1: OAI-PMH seems to rely on consensus amongst all participants as to which metadata standard to use (i.e. Dublin Core). However, I imagine it is difficult to convince people to provide DC metadata if they are using a different standard for their own purposes -- it's just more work. What I wonder is whether it is easier to try to get people to agree on one standard, or whether it is possible to develop a new protocol that is capable of recognizing and harvesting multiple metadata schemas.

Point 2: If Z39.50 is not designed for full-document retrieval, is there a different standard in the works that addresses that growing need? Is there any institution that has successfully implemented a different system?

Week Three Muddiest Point

I was really interested in the discussion of different file types and their different features and uses. I'm wondering if there's a good, clear, concise resource online somewhere that outlines all of them? I'd love to have a quick comparison chart or something to refer to when choosing which to use.

Week Two Muddiest Point

I could still use some practical examples/demonstrations of interoperability between separate digital libraries to understand how that functions.

Week One Muddiest Point

First post for the class, and my muddiest point is a question that may not have an answer. What is the functional difference between a digital library and a digital collection? Is there a difference, or are they two terms describing essentially the same thing? If a digital collection is one aspect of a larger physical library, can it be considered a digital library? I guess the the first assignment is intended to address this ambiguity.