Digital libraries

International audienceThis title brings together a wide range of perspectives on the rapidly developing field of digital libraries, covering both the opportunities and challenges that this innovation provides for both users and providers. Individual chapters focus on the changing role of the librarian caused by digital libraries and what role (if any) they will perform in the future, as well as the experiences of users of digital libraries, including the change in usage of libraries that digitization has caused and the user demography of the digital library. Attention is also given to the options and challenges presented to publishers by digital libraries, along with the effect on library catalogs and classification structures, and also the advantages and disadvantages of digital information systems.Several chapters provide case studies of user and provider experiences of digital libraries, providing the reader with real-life scenarios to complement the theoretical discussion. As such, anyone interested in this exciting and highly significant area will find this book to be a valuable resource