Integrating Digital Libraries and Traditional Libraries: A Model for Sustaining NSDL Collections

University Of North Carolina At Wilmington, Wilmington NC

Investigators

Abstract

This Targeted Research project is investigating the issues involved when integrating an existing NSDL repository (the iLumina digital collection) with a traditional research library (the Randall Library at UNC-Wilmington). Such an integration offers a model for sustaining the many digital collections that reside at institutions of higher education. As part of this effort the project is automating the conversion of IMS metadata to MARC data records via an implementation of Innovative Interface Corporation's XML Harvester software to transform IMS metadata compiled in iLumina directly into MARC data records used in the Randall Library catalog. As iLumina resources are listed within the Randall Library catalog, they become shareable with the OCLC WorldCat database, a national resource that serves over 43,000 libraries around the world. This substantially increases the accessibility of the digital resources housed in iLumina.