Multimedia Information Collection in Digital Libraries

Book excerpt: In the information age, digital media have significantly impacted our lives and overloaded information systems worldwide. As the needs and expectations of library users change in the digital environment, libraries are trying to find the best ways to define their user communities, understand what they value, and evolve digital library collections and services to meet their demands. Digital libraries are large collections of multimedia information that are usually created with the purpose of supporting learning or knowledge acquisition. They have extended access to many types of collection form all points o the globe. These collections include film and video archives, news material, oral histories, museum images and digitized special collections. In this book an attempt has been made to synthesise all aspects of digital library collections. It enables the readers to understand the process of electronic dissemination of information, the emerging trends in digital libraries and the changing responsibilities of library professionals. The book will be useful to practicing librarians, information scientists, teachers and students of library and information scientists, teachers and students of library and information science and to those concerned with the digitisation of library resources.