The cooperative digital library project between Cornell University and the University of Michigan illustrates the two prevailing implementations of the digital library” concept. According to these two approaches, a digital library can be either an information gateway to the wider world of all types of knowledge or a repository for highly specific and finite collections of information resources. Though both universities initially were moving toward the latter variation of digital libraries, they have since followed divergent paths.
Phase One of the project, which ended in 1996, was a massive effort to digitize and index old journals and books, research papers, and manuscript inventories. The most significant aspect of this first phase was the “Making of America” project. Both Cornell University and the University of Michigan scanned hundreds of thousands of pages of the complete runs of several nineteenth‐century journals. Although the full‐text of each issue was not indexed for searchability, volume indexes were keyed into an appropriate searchable format. The collective body of these digitized journals was freely available via the World Wide Web as primary source materials.
When Phase One ended, however, the existing relationship between the two universities’ digital initiatives is no longer apparent. Cornell University has maintained the philosophy that a digital library is a specific storage and retrieval repository for specific information resources. Using a traditional menu and search window interface that functions satisfactorily on standard Web browsers, the Cornell Digital Library has expanded to include the framework for online access to a collection of old math books, engineering dissertations, other electronic journals, and a searchable inventory of the Ezra Cornell Papers. Disappointingly, the functionality does not include the ability to retrieve scanned portions of any of Ezra Cornell’s papers.
Cornell’s site is based upon a simple, very dependable structure that will not surprise users. Much of the site has not grown since Phase One ended in 1996; and future funding priorities are not evident from the site. Whether this digital library project is able to continue of not, the amount of work already achieved constitutes a significant resource online. I would recommend it as a good example of using current technology and established standards to empower remote users of primary resources.
The University of Michigan Digital Library Project represents the cutting edge in online information retrieval. Thanks to extensive governmental and private support from such agencies as NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Science Foundation, Kodak, IBM and Apple, and Elsevier Science publishers, this digital library prototype incorporates the most advanced search mediator on the Web. The current interface is laden with images and the entire JAVA search engine is rather slow; but the cost in time is well worth the opportunity to glimpse such a capable information gateway. Before attempting to use, it, however, make sure you have a recent release of a standard Web browser.
This project is definitely not adhering to the philosophy followed by Cornell University. Once users create a unique account with the ARTEMIS search engine, they can simultaneously search, by keyword or topic, all the resources within both the University of Michigan and the World Wide Web as a whole. The search interface can even provide suggested search terms.
Although the functionality of the University of Michigan Digital Library appears complete, the actual content and indexes are not yet complete. Based upon what is already in place, however, I would highly recommend this site as a general information gateway.
Both Cornell University and the University of Michigan have invested considerable effort into their digital library initiatives. Their focus and value to potential users, depend on the type of research being conducted. While both are very good interpretations of what a digital library should be, the enhanced searching functionality and electronic mediation of the University of Michigan Digital Library Project guarantee a wider body of users than the current Cornell University Digital Library.
