It is a strong foundational text in the area, and provides enough theory and practice of digital libraries to be a useful postgrad textbook.

— Diane Rasmussen Pennington

...an interesting book bringing together many topics with which LIS professionals are likely to be familiar. It will appeal to students, researchers and professionals keen to further their professional development.

This well researched, easy to read text is a must have for those interested not only in digital libraries but in the future of libraries in general, as well as those seeking new ways to engage with their community and promote the value of libraries in challenging times.

— Australian Academic & Research Libraries

This book should be in all libraries serving LIS programmes, but is also a recommended read for all information managers involved with the development of digital libraries.

— The Electronic Library

...a thorough examination of the past, present, and future prospects of digital libraries, and I recommend it to students, scholars, and practising librarians.
— Portal

Because the book is packed with so many topics, it allows the reader to learn about areas that are often glossed over in the daily running of a library; this is partly because they occur seamlessly. This book allows readers to take away sections of information which can then be used to better integrate and make more interoperable the digital libraries they manage. This really is a must read for those working in the digital library environment and for those who wish to explore digital library concepts further.
— Online Information Review

The students studying Digital Libraries and Information Services Master's programme at our University are the first to whom I am recommending this book. I would suggest it also to other library and information science programmes as a course book - it addresses most of the topics related to digital libraries as collections and services. Practising librarians and information specialists should read it looking for examples of best practice and useful ideas for strategic planning and everyday work, but also for making sense of what is happening in the digital library world.

— Information Research

Despite all of the rhetoric about digital libraries over the past decade, what do we really know about their success? Calhoun uses hard data to determine which projects have been successful and which have not--and why. More importantly, she inspires all of to think about what digital libraries could be--again, not with aspirational language, but with hard evidence. This is the definitive statement of the development of digital libraries to date. Calhoun has been a leading thinker in designing the digital future, and, as it turns out, she is equally good at assessing our progress.
— Deanna Marcum

Exploring Digital Libraries fills a gaping hole in library science literature and textbooks. Supported by her own extensive professional experience, Calhoun traces the history and impact of digital libraries from the 1990s through today. Not only does she give a comprehensive history of digital libraries, but she also queries how the digital library might evolve in the future, as our knowledge and experience with the web and web-based projects deepen. From the “cloud” to “community,” and from the “mass digitization” to the “digital divide,” Calhoun has meticulously covered everything the reader needs to know in this clear, easy to follow textbook. Exploring Digital Libraries also transcends the traditional textbook, and will be incredibly useful to practicing librarians. Calhoun has meticulously gathered data on digital libraries and their respective projects, giving valuable insight into what worked, what did not work, and why. This is a book by a librarian for other librarians, and that really is what makes this book stand out. This is a must-have reference for the library, and it will be especially helpful to those librarians looking to understand where the digital library has been, where it stands now, where it may be going, and how we, as librarians, can most effectively employ digital libraries for our communities.

— VOYA

This book provides an overview of the digital turn in libraries. It is informed by the rich and varied professional experience of its author, by extensive research across several national and international contexts, and by a rare synthesizing ability. It fills a clear gap in the library literature, exploring technical and research developments from the perspective of evolving library services and organization.
— Lorcan Dempsey

[Karen Calhoun] has done an amazing job of capturing the digital library world from the 90's to today. She does this not as some sort of annotated bibliography, but as a conceptual evolution. You can see the development of digital libraries from collections of stuff, to communities of interest. She also merges the disparate worlds of computer science and library science together in a masterful way. She uses the history to create a robust platform for understanding digital libraries today…in essence making the field feel relevant and refreshed. If you have a chance I strongly recommend the book.

— R. David Lankes

Karen Calhoun B.A., M.S., M.B.A. is an internationally respected librarian and change leader who is currently at the University of Pittsburgh helping to develop community-centred services. She is an active researcher, writer, speaker and consultant on digital libraries and related disciplines and has just completed a celebrated tenure at OCLC.

1. Emergence and definitions of digital libraries 2. Outcomes of digital libraries’ first decade 3. Key themes and challenges in digital libraries 4. Digital Library Collections: Repositories 5. Hybrid Libraries 6. Social Roles of Digital Libraries 7. Digital Libraries and their Communities 8. The Prospects of Open Access Repositories 9. Digital Libraries and the Social Web: Scholarship 10. Digital Libraries and the Social Web: Collections and Platforms.

1. Emergence and definitions of digital libraries

• Overview
• The emergence of digital libraries (1991-2001)
• Early digital-library projects
• Definitions of digital libraries
• Conclusion

2. Outcomes of digital libraries’ first decade

• Overview
• A new field of research and practice
• The transformation of scholarly communication processes
• Technical innovations
• Digitization and digital preservation
• Metadata and standards
• Working digital libraries
• Conclusion
• References to websites in Table 2.1

3. Key themes and challenges in digital libraries

• Overview
• The key themes of digital library work
• Key challenges
• Conclusion

4. Digital library collections: repositories

• Overview
• The traditional library worldview
• Repositories, libraries and the web
• The evolution of digital library repositories
• Conclusion

5. Hybrid libraries

• Overview
• Changing information-seeking behaviors
• Libraries’ response: changing hybrid library collections
• Changing technologies for hybrid libraries
• Conclusion

6. Social roles of digital libraries

• Overview
• Introduction
• Foundations of digital libraries’ social roles
• A possible framework of social roles
• Conclusion

7. Digital libraries and their communities

• Overview
• Approach
• Successful, sustainable digital libraries
• Inception: Purpose and focus
• Inception: Branding and awareness
• Creation: Community and needs orientation
• Creation: User-centered design, ease of use and reliability
• Growth: Quality content
• Maturity: Funding and sustainability
• Conclusion

8. The prospects of open access repositories

• Overview
• Successful subject-based repositories
• The value of institutional repositories
• The policy and legal frameworks
• Deposit mandates
• Other issues with self-archiving
• ‘Google has won’
• Making institutional repositories more valuable
• Future of repositories
• Conclusion

9. Digital libraries and the social web: scholarship

• Overview
• Introduction
• Background: Web 2.0 and Library 2.0
• What is the social web?
• Digital libraries and the social web
• Digital libraries’ social evolution: a visual framework
• Scholarship
• From personalization to collaboration
• Scholarly collaboration on the social web
• Conclusion

10. Digital libraries and the social web: collections and platforms

• Overview
• Visualizing the shift from collections to platforms
• The dilemma of the national or local collections focus
• Optimizing the reach and visibility of digital libraries
• Mass digitization and digital libraries
• Large-scale digital libraries, portals and platforms
• Crowdsourcing and citizen science
• Conclusion