The Evolving Concept of "Digital Libraries"

Clifford Lynch will lead a discussion of the history and evolving forms of the idea of "Digital Libraries" from the 1960s onwards. The Bay Area and especially the Berkeley campus and the UC Office of the President have been heavily engaged in these developments: the School with its Institute for Library Research (through 1978) and subsequent studies; the UC Office of the President has made significant contributions through the Division of Library Automation, later the California Digital Library; and major campus based projects include the SEQUIOA project and the Digital Libraries Initiatives projects. However, we will try to establish an overall picture, not simply an account of local contributions.

Also, Niels Windfeld Lund, of the University of Tromso, Norway, will briefly describe two projects that he is engaged in. Both are seen as challenges to document theory and practice:

• Opera without an opera house: Using the internet to allow geographically dispersed singers and musicians to perform together; and
• Telemedicine as a challenge to collaboration among diverse parties centered on shared documents.