The (Digital) Library Environment: Ten Years After

By Lorcan Dempsey

Introduction

We have recently come through several decennial celebrations: the W3C, the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, D-Lib Magazine, and now Ariadne. What happened clearly in the mid-nineties was the convergence of the Web with more pervasive network connectivity, and this made our sense of the network as a shared space for research and learning, work and play, a more real and apparently achievable goal. What also emerged - at least in the library and research domains - was a sense that it was also a propitious time for digital libraries to move from niche to central role as part of the information infrastructure of this new shared space.
However, the story did not quite develop this way. We have built digital libraries and distributed information systems, but they are not necessarily central. A new information infrastructure has been built, supported by technical development and new business models. The world caught up and moved on. What does this mean for the library and the digital library?
In this article I will spend a little time looking at the environment in the early and mid-nineties, but this is really a prelude to thinking about where we are today, and saying something about libraries, digital libraries and related issues in the context of current changes.
Because, in a tidy calendrical symmetry, we are now again at a turning point. Ten years ago we saw the convergence of the human-readable Web with increased connectivity. This time, we are seeing the convergence of communicating applications and more pervasive, broadband connectivity. We are seeing the emergence of several large gravitational hubs of information infrastructure (Google, Amazon, Yahoo, iTunes, ...), the streamlining of workflow and process integration in a Web services idiom, and new social and service possibilities in a flatter network world. The world is flatter because computing and communications is more pervasive of our working and learning lives: we create, share and use digital content and services.
I focus on the UK, given Ariadne's scope, but will draw in other examples as appropriate. The Ariadne story, and the UK digital library story, mesh with the JISC story in various ways. The JISC development agenda brings together digital libraries, e-learning, and e-research, reflecting the broad entry of academic activities into a network space over this time. One of the main stories of this period is how the library will develop to support changed research and learning behaviours. As I am focusing on libraries, I will discuss these changes in the context of their impact on the library.
Here is how this article develops: I talk about the library environment ten years ago; this includes a look at the digital library programmes of the time. Then I spend some time talking about the environment in which libraries now have to work, before looking at the current library situation and some trends. Finally, I return to some thoughts about 'project' working, leading up to a brief conclusion.