Foreword--Digital Collections Inventory

Council on Library Resources
Commission on Preservation and Access

Digital Collections Inventory Report

Foreword

This report, the first to be commissioned jointly by the Commission on Preservation and Access and Council on Library Resources, informs and supports our digital library programs. Digital technology is central to both agendas, and the new affiliation between the Commission and Council enables such collaboration to investigate areas of common interest.

Each time librarians, or scholars, or technology experts meet--separately or together to discuss digital projects, someone invariably raises the question, "Are there any sorts of inventories of scanning projects?" There are,it seems, several incomplete lists or promises to start such lists, but no one could point to one authoritative source.

We concluded that a snapshot of scanning projects at a particular point in time might serve as a beginning for a more comprehensive, authoritative inventory to be maintained indefinitely into the future. To that end, we engaged a reliable and careful researcher to do as much as possible to collect information within a short time-frame and to provide a brief analysis of some of the questions and needs related to the development of an inventory tool. In discussions sparked by this report, we hope to determine ways to build on this snapshot to create an inventory that librarians, archivists, and scholars will turn to with confidence when seeking information about digital collections.

This report is shared as a way of stimulating discussion and soliciting further input on the potential usefulness, scope, and desired features of an online digital collections inventory. The Commission and Council welcome commends (in either paper or digital form) to Communication Program Officer Maxine Sitts, mksitts@cpa.org, fax (202) 939-3499.

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