Understanding Digital Libraries

By Michael Lesk

This fully revised and updated second edition of Understanding Digital Libraries focuses on the challenges faced by both librarians and computer scientists in a field that has been dramatically altered by the growth of the Web.

At every turn, the goal is practical: to show you how things you might need to do are already being done, or how they can be done. The first part of the book is devoted to technology and examines issues such as varying media requirements, indexing and classification, networks and distribution, and presentation. The second part of the book is concerned with the human contexts in which digital libraries function. Here you’ll find specific and useful information on usability, preservation, scientific applications, and thorny legal and economic questions.

• Thoroughly updated and expanded from original edition to include recent research, case studies and new technologies
• For librarians and technologists alike, this book provides a thorough introduction to the interdisciplinary science of digital libraries
• Written by Michael Lesk, a legend in computer science and a leading figure in the digital library field
• Provides insights into the integration of both the technical and non-technical aspects of digital libraries

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Jan 20, 2005
• ISBN: 9780080481517

Michael Lesk

Michael Lesk joined the computer science research group at Bell Laboratories after receiving his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Physics in 1969. He went on to manage the computer science research group at Bellcore, where he is now a chief research scientist. He is best known for his work in electronic libraries, but has worked in document production and retrieval software, computer networks, computer languages, and human-computer interfaces as well. Past chair of the Association for Computing Machinery’s special interest groups on Language Analysis and Information Retrieval, Lesk was Senior Visiting Fellow of the British Library in 1987 and is currently Visiting Professor of Computer Science at University College London. Lesk has been recently elected to the US National Academy of Engineering, in recognition of his contributions to UNIX applications, information systems, and digital libraries.

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Reviews for Understanding Digital Libraries

[martyr13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting book about the history, present, and future of digital libraries, but I probably wouldn't be reading it from cover to cover if it wasn't assigned material.

[aardvarkofhate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Understanding Digital Libraries, Michael Lesk explains a new method of distribution and preservation in a dry, informative, even-handed and almost academic fashion. His book, while unlikely to capture the imagination of the average layperson, is a reasonably successful textbook, which might be of interest to students and professionals alike.If I had to lobby a complaint against the book it would be that the book does not always delve deep enough into its topics. The book is an excellent primer, but I often felt that I had only a cursory idea of the subjects it explained rather than then a genuine understanding. For example after reading Understanding Digital Libraries’ chapter on knowledge representation schemes, I have a basic of idea of XML’s function in representing data on the web; however, I wouldn’t be able to use it myself.Of course, this deficiency in the book is merely a result of its purpose, not a fault in execution. As an introductory text, it is perfectly functional. However, for someone looking to work with digital libraries in the field it will almost certainly need to be supplemented by other books.