Is Digital Different?

Book excerpt: This edited collection brings together global experts to explore the role of information professionals in the transition from an analogue to a digital environment. The contributors, including David Nicholas, Valerie Johnson, Tim Gollins and Scott David, focus on the opportunities and challenges afforded by this new environment that is transforming the information landscape in ways that were scarcely imaginable a decade ago and is challenging the very existence of the traditional library and archive as more and more resources become available on line and as computers and supporting networks become more and more powerful. By drawing on examples of the impact of other new and emerging technologies on the information sciences in the past, the book emphasises that information systems have always been shaped by available technologies that have transformed the creation, capture, preservation and discovery of content. Key topics covered include: - Search in the digital environment - RDF and the semantic web - Crowd sourcing and engagement between institutions and individuals - Development of information management system - Security: managing online risk - Long term curation and preservation - Rights and the Commons Finding archived records in the digital age. Is Digital Different? illustrates the ways in which the digital environment has the potential to transform scholarship and break down barriers between the academy and the wider community, and draws out both the inherent challenges and the opportunities for information professionals globally. Readership: This book will be of particular to students, particularly those on information studies programs, and academics, researchers and archivists globally.