Sources: Exploring Digital Libraries: Foundations, Practice, Prospects

Exploring Digital Libraries: Foundations, Practice, Prospects. By Karen Calhoun. Chicago: ALA Neal-Schuman, 2014. 320 p. Paper $95 (ISBN: 978-1-55570-985-3).

Librarians today, particularly those of us who have been in the profession for less than a decade, often take for granted the vast resources that are available online. Whether we're at the reference desk, teaching a class, or consulting with a faculty member on research, we turn initially, and often exclusively, to our computers. Although many of us are familiar with the rich digital library collections available at our fingertips, we are often less cognizant of how these collections were created and developed over time. In Exploring Digital Libraries: Foundations, Practice, Prospects, Karen Calhoun describes the innovations and technologies that have shaped digital libraries and offers a vision for how they might become further engaged with the communities they serve.

This authoritative analysis begins by looking as far back as 1965 to trace the fascinating history of the technologies, innovations, and visions for the future that laid the foundation for the ambitious digital library projects that began in the early 1990s. In-depth accounts of both successes and failures shed light on how digital library efforts around the globe have evolved in relation to advances in areas such as digitization and open-access initiatives as well as changes in scholarly communication. In the second half of the book, she explores the potential for a shift from a focus on collections toward a more community-oriented perspective that leverages the social web.

The author's knowledge and experience in this field is considerable. However, rather than rely exclusively on her own expertise, she has conducted extensive research and consultation with others in the field to present a work that is authoritative and international in scope. This is evidenced early on with her considered evaluation of the changing ways in which digital libraries have been defined. She charts definitions from the early 1990s to the present and reflects on how these definitions have evolved while also offering her own interpretation of what constitutes a digital library. Additionally, in chapters addressing the social roles of digital libraries, she interviews nine well-known digital library experts to examine key factors that make digital libraries successful.

Exploring Digital Libraries offers insight into the emergence, progress, and future of digital libraries and will meet the needs of any reader with an interest in the topic. Calhoun's work makes the complexity of digital libraries comprehensible to non-experts while also contributing new research to the field. It will undoubtedly serve as an essential work in the field of digital librarianship.—Amanda Dinscore, Public Services Librarian, California State University, Fresno, California