Networked Digital Libraries-Vision-Realidade-Desafios-e-Lições

Youre Right But What Happened to Networked Digital Libraries Robert E Kahn Vicky J Reich Johns Hopkins University and Corporation for National Research Initiatives Paper submitted September 2 2003 This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No IIS0324955 Neither the United States government JHU nor CNRI have any responsibility for the views herein Please address correspondence to Vicky Reich VSRcnriresearchorg 1 Introduction The term networked digital library has almost disappeared from the contemporary lexicon of digital library research It was popularized in the mid1990s and used to describe initiatives that made digital libraries interconnected through networks forming an integrated global facility for information Early projects like the National Science Digital Library NSDL and the Digital Library Initiative DLI conceptualized libraries as nodes in a larger networked ecosystem enabling users to discover and access diverse resources seamlessly Initially the idea was to build a system that would enable not just isolated digital libraries but interconnected services that provided a rich and unified view of knowledge Over time however the focus shifted towards more narrowly defined digital collections and platforms often siloed and lacking interoperability This paper revisits the original networked digital library vision analyzing why it has not fully materialized and discussing what lessons can be learned to advance toward truly networked systems The paper also identifies ongoing challenges related to metadata standards resource discovery access models and usercentric design proposing a renewed commitment to open architectures and collaboration 2