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The
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
National Digital Library Program (NDLP) is assembling a digital library of reproductions of
primary source
In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...
materials to support the study of the history and culture of the United States. Begun in 1995 after a five-year pilot project, the program began digitizing selected collections of
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
archival materials that chronicle the nation's rich cultural heritage. In order to reproduce collections of books, pamphlets, motion pictures,
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
s and sound recordings, the Library has created a wide array of digital entities: bitonal document images,
grayscale
In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a grayscale image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample representing only an ''amount'' of light; that is, it carries only intensity information. Graysc ...
and color pictorial images,
digital video and
audio
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
* Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
* Digital audio, representation of sou ...
, and searchable
e-text
e-text (from "''electronics, electronic text''"; sometimes written as etext) is a general term for any Electronic document, document that is read in digital data, digital form, and especially a document that is mainly text. For example, a compute ...
s. To provide access to the reproductions, the project developed a range of descriptive elements: bibliographic records, finding aids, and introductory texts and programs, as well as
index
Index (or its plural form indices) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index''
* The Index, an item on a Halo megastru ...
ing the full texts for certain types of content.
The reproductions were produced with a variety of tools:
image scanner
An image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting or an object and converts it to a digital image. Commonly used in offices are variations of the desktop ''flatbed scanner'' ...
s,
digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile device ...
s, devices that digitize audio and video, and human labor for rekeying and encoding texts. American Memory employs national-standard and well established industry-standard formats for many digital reproductions, e.g., texts encoded with
Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and images stored in
Tagged Image File Format
Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word process ...
(TIFF) files or compressed with the
Joint Photographic Experts Group
The Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) is the joint committee between ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 and ITU-T Study Group 16 that created and maintains the JPEG, JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, JPEG XT, JPEG XS, JPEG XL, and related digital image standards. It ...
(JPEG) algorithm. In other cases, the lack of well established standards has led to the use of emerging formats, e.g.,
RealAudio
RealAudio, or also spelled as Real Audio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks and first released in April 1995. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fi ...
(for audio),
QuickTime (for moving images), and
MrSID
MrSID (pronounced Mister Sid) is an acronym that stands for ''multiresolution seamless image database''. It is a file format (filename extension ''.sid'') developed and patented by LizardTech (in October 2018 absorbed into Extensis) for encoding o ...
(for maps). Technical information by types of material and by individual collections is also available at this site.
[National digital library program. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2015, from Library of Congress website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dli2/html/lcndlp.html]
Vision
The
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
is trying to extend its brick and mortar library services to include services to the entire web. While the original Library was focused on the needs of the US Congress, it now struggles with dealing with the whole world through the Internet. The collection includes an eclectic mix of documents, images, videos and sound recordings. Images include maps, sheet music, handwritten documents, drawings and architectural diagrams. The goal of a Library of Congress
Internet Library
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
should be to provide access to those materials unique to the Library of Congress as well as a clear guide to any internet materials related to the United States.
If you search "digital library project" + "library of congress" on the web, you will get a cluttered view of what the Library of Congress is providing. The Library of Congress
Global Gateway at site:international.loc.gov has about 200,000 documents currently. The main page provides links but no context. The
American Memory
American Memory is an internet-based archive for public domain image resources, as well as audio, video, and archived Web content. Published by the Library of Congress, the archive launched on October 13, 1994, after $13 million was raised in ...
at site:memory.loc.gov has about 350,000 documents. The main page is similarly vague.
An Internet Library is more than a haphazard collection of materials on an internet server. It serves an entire world, not just those who can afford subscription feeds, or who receive grants through US government agencies. Likewise it does not discriminate against very young users, or languages other than English. Its purpose, scope, and contents are readily understood at any location within the site. It is not needlessly repetitive. It recognizes the value of the users' time, and makes every effort to constantly improve performance and the users' success.
Because materials are available to anyone – of any age or background, in any country – an Internet Library needs to be ''more'' open and inclusive. LoC is just beginning to serve the needs of the world's internet users.
Topics Mentioned:
*America – Industry, Technology, Cities, Towns, Culture, Literature, Performing Arts, Music, Folklife, Architecture, Landscape, Environment, Sports, Recreation,
*America – Government, Military, Law, Religion, Advertising, Conservation,
*America – Presidents, Women's History, African American History, Native American History, American Expansion, Immigration, War
*Missing – Sciences, Universities, Occupations, American Resources other than LoC, Agriculture, Arts,
*Missing – Wiki tools, User communities to improve the site, Internet Maps,
Content Mentioned:
Bibliographic databases
A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records, an organized digital collection of references to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications, ...
,
Online Catalogs, current issues of favorite journals, new acquisitions, indexes to journal literature, references from scholarly publications, lists of readings,
classroom presentations
A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...
,
lesson plans
A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction or "learning trajectory" for a lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class learning. Details will vary depending on the preference of the teac ...
, "valuable materials", articles, textbooks
User Categories Mentioned:
School teachers
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...
,
scholars, students,
internet users
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
,
User Purposes Mentioned: Term papers, presentations, reports, online projects,
Digital library users
In 1989, to help launch the American Memory pilot project, a consultant surveyed 101 members of the Association of Research Libraries and the 51 state library agencies. The survey disclosed a genuine appetite for on-line collections, especially in research libraries serving higher education. The American Memory pilot (1990–1995) identified multiple audiences for digital collections in a special survey, an end-user evaluation and in thousands of conversations, letters and encounters with visitors.
The most thorough audience appraisal carried out by the Library of Congress consisted of an end-user evaluation conducted in 1992–1993. Forty-four school, college and university, and state and public libraries were provided with a dozen American Memory collections on
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
s and videodisks (these formats are no longer being supported). Participating library staff, teachers, students and the public were polled about which digitized materials they had used and how well the delivery systems worked. The evaluation indicated continued interest by institutions of higher education as well as public libraries. The surprising finding, however, was the strong showing of enthusiasm in schools, especially at the secondary level. Library Science students however should be more wary of such a development given the potential for unwarranted changes being made to the collection.
The evaluation team learned that recent reforms in education had created a need for primary-source historical materials such as those in the Library's incomparable collections. Teachers welcomed digitized collections to aid in the development of critical thinking skills; school librarians used the electronic resource to inculcate research skills. These findings have been validated in the educational outreach program initiated by the Library of Congress in 1995 and initially funded by the
W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Educational outreach
In 1995, in conjunction with the launch of the Library of Congress National Digital Library Program, the Library brought together leading history and social studies K-12 teachers and librarians to consider how archival on-line resources could best be used in the nation's schools. The participants at this Educator's Forum validated earlier findings: that while the primary sources were in great demand, for teachers to be able to make effective use of them, they needed additional materials to frame the collections and the topics represented in the collections. To this end in 1996, the Library of Congress developed The Learning Page—a gateway to the digital collections, which provides contextual material, search help and evaluate their materials under development. The Library continued the American Memory Fellows Program in the summer of 1998 with the goal of building champions for their collections in schools across the country.
See also
*
Data format management Data format management (DFM) is the application of a systematic approach to the selection and use of the data formats used to encode information for storage on a computer.
In practical terms, data format management is the analysis of data formats ...
*
Digital curation Digital curation is the selection, preservation, maintenance, collection and archiving of digital assets.
Digital curation establishes, maintains and adds value to repositories of digital data for present and future use. This is often accomplished ...
*
Digital library
A digital library, also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, or a digital collection is an online database of digital objects that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital documents, or other digital me ...
*
Digital preservation
In library and archival science, digital preservation is a formal endeavor to ensure that digital information of continuing value remains accessible and usable. It involves planning, resource allocation, and application of preservation methods and ...
*
Digital Preservation Coalition
The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) is a UK-based non-profit that works with global partners to provide the necessary resources to educate various public and private entities on the best practices for long term digital preservation.
Backgr ...
*
Global legal information network
*
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
*
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
*
List of digital library projects
This is a list of digital library projects.
See also
* Bibliographic database
* List of academic databases and search engines
* List of online databases
* List of online encyclopedias
* List of open-access journals
* List of search engines
Re ...
*
Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard
The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS) is a metadata standard for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata regarding objects within a digital library, expressed using the XML schema language of the World Wide ...
(METS)
*
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
(NARA)
*
(NDIIPP)
*
National Geospatial Digital Archive The National Geospatial Digital Archive (NGDA) is an archive of cartographic information funded by the Library of Congress through the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP) in collaboration with the University ...
*
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
(NSF)
*
Open Archival Information System
An Open Archival Information System (or OAIS) is an archive, consisting of an organization of people and systems, that has accepted the responsibility to preserve information and make it available for a Designated Community. The OAIS model can ...
*
Open Archives Initiative
The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) was an informal organization, in the circle around the colleagues Herbert Van de Sompel, Carl Lagoze, Michael L. Nelson and Simeon Warner, to develop and apply technical interoperability standards for archives t ...
(OAI)
**
Protocol for Metadata Harvesting The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) is a protocol developed for harvesting metadata descriptions of records in an archive so that services can be built using metadata from many archives. An implementation of OAI-P ...
(PMH)
*
Pandora Archive
References
*
External links
Global GatewayLC 21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of CongressLibrary of Congress, American MemoryThe Library of Congress, Sustainability of Digital FormatsThe Library of Congress, Web Capture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Library Of Congress National Digital Library Program
Ebook suppliers
American digital libraries
National Digital Library Program
The Library of Congress National Digital Library Program (NDLP) is assembling a digital library of reproductions of primary source materials to support the study of the history and culture of the United States. Begun in 1995 after a five-year p ...
Supercomputer sites
University of California, San Diego
Web archiving initiatives