The invitational workshop brought together approximately 35 prominent researchers from a wide range of disciplines who worked with the UCLA research team to draw up a comprehensive new research agenda for understanding and implementing digital library technology in various social contexts.
Christine Borgman, chair of the Department of Information Studies (DIS), was the principal investigator for the project. Other members of the UCLA team included Workshop Coordinator Anthony Maddox, visiting professor in Information Studies; DIS faculty members Marcia Bates, Michèle Cloonan, Anne Gilliland-Swetland, Gregory Leazer, and Education Assistant Professor Yasmin Kafai. LIS Associate Professor Leah Lievrouw also participated in the workshop.
The workshop was the first joint project between the two departments to receive extramural funding. As a National Challenge project of the NSF's National Information Infrastructure Program, the workshop was designed to examine the social and community contexts of digital libraries -- a major social/technological issue targeted currently by NSF and other federal agencies.
Workshop Coordinator Maddox explained, "Information and education are two of the most important issues of our time. The combination of Information Studies and education enables GSE&IS to create unique partnerships that can result in more funded research and greater visibility in many interdisciplinary research communities. We see the UCLA/NSF Digital Libraries Workshop as the first of many opportunities for our faculty to integrate their expertise to address the very complex technological and social problems ahead."
The workshop team and the international group of invited participants focused on two main elements of the issue: first, identifying the real information needs of digital library users, and second, designing digital libraries which might meet those needs effectively. The February event was one in a series of NSF-sponsored workshops on digital libraries intended to identify specific questions and issues for future research.
The GSE&IS team's approach emphasized "thinking outside" the scope of existing digital library systems and projects, imagining new possibilities and frameworks for collaborative research about the ways that knowledge is created and shared in society. They use the term "library" to stand not only for existing services and organizations, but also new forms that blend information types, media and uses with various professional and disciplinary points of view.
The UCLA Workshop team now is drafting a report summarizing the framework and research agenda that were forged in the workshop. Presentations about the workshop and the report will be made at two upcoming professional conferences: Digital Libraries '96 and the American Society for Information Science. Copies of the report will be distributed widely in the research community and will be made available to interested GSE&IS faculty and students.
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