This working session will be based around the report of a D-Lib workshop in March 1996 on interfaces between digital library repositories. The focus is on technical issues, but they are closely linked to legal, technical, social, economic and political questions.
A fundamental building block for digital libraries is the development of a coherent model for the coexistence of independently repositories. Digital libraries will require: support for different types of object (e.g., simulations, databases), authentication and security, management of intellectual property, improved performance and efficiency, coexistence with legacy systems, interfaces with personal, group and wide area services, etc., etc.
One community is striving towards these goals by building on Web components. Some of the extensions are major developments. Other researchers, including several of the DLI projects, are stepping beyond evolution of the Web. Several of these projects are also experimenting with advanced software engineering methods, such as distributed object systems.
Background materials for this session are at: http://www.dlib.org/repositories.html.
wya/reb-a
Last revised: February 1, 1996