Digital Library

Apologies for cross-posting Dear Colleagues, numerous requests have persuaded us to grant an extension to the upcoming Special Issue on Foundations of Digital Libraries to Sunday, November 15, 2009. Best Regards, The Editors NEW SUBMISSION DEADLINE: November 15, 2009                          CALL FOR PAPERS          International Journal of Digital Libraries (IJDL)          Special Issue on Foundations of Digital Libraries A very challenging mission has characterized the Digital Library field since its conception, namely, to provide its clientele with an organ- ized content space and a number of services able to maximize synergies between content providers and content consumers and boost the knowledge production process. The pressing and rapidly growing demand for powerful Digital Libraries has pushed the field to undertake a pragmatic approach and to develop a plethora of systems by borrowing and mixing models, technologies and approaches from different disciplines, e.g. Library Science, Information Retrieval, and Human-Computer Interaction. As a result of this approach, during the Digital Libraries’ first 20 years, many systems have been developed, each with its own specificity, while little attention has been dedicated to establish foundations for the field. Today’s society is confronted with an ever growing load of heterogeneous information and with an increasing demand for data and knowledge, two aspects naturally addressed by Digital Libraries. This new challenge has newly rejuvenated the whole Digital Library domain that is now well aware of its potentialities but also of the problems generated by the lack of universally accepted foundations. Recently, the DELOS Network of Excellence on Digital Libraries has contributed to attack this issue by launching a long-term process aimed at introducing a foundational framework for the area. The core element of this framework is the Reference Model for Digital Libraries (www.delos.info/ReferenceModel). Such a model captures the main concepts and relationships needed to appropriately represent the various aspects characterizing the Digital Library Universe: Content, User, Functionality, Policy, Quality and Architecture. Each of these aspects requires careful modeling and subsumes many research challenges. A number of other initiatives have been set up in parallel to DELOS by other notable organizations and research centers (e.g. 5S Model - Virginia Tech University, e-Framework - JISC, Digital Library Service Framework - Digital Library Federation) and more recently by the European Commission (e.g. DL.org www.dlorg.eu) to address other specific foundational aspects. It is clear that the time is now ripe to make a definitive effort to transform the on-going activities from a theoretical exercise to a milestone governing the future developments of the DL research area. This can be achieved with the support and the consensus of the whole DL research community. Recognizing the importance of equipping the Digital Library area with a unifying foundational framework, the International Journal on Digital Libraries is organizing a special issue on foundations of Digital Libraries. This special issue will focus on high-quality original unpublished research, case studies as well as implementation experiences and survey articles in the area of Digital Library foundations. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to: * (Semi-)Formal Models for Digital Libraries * Theoretical Foundations of Digital Libraries * Models for Content, User, Functionality, Policy and Quality * Reference Architectures for Digital Library Systems * Digital Library Management Systems * Evaluation of current approaches in modeling Digital Libraries * Digital Library Interoperability Models and Methodologies * Preservation Models and Methodologies * Concrete exploitations and implementations of Digital Library models Instructions for submitting manuscripts: Manuscripts must be written in English and should include a cover page with title, name and address (including e-mail address) of author(s), an abstract, and a list of keywords. Submission must be properly formatted in the IJDL format. Papers will be subject to two rounds of review. Please indicate that you are submitting to the special issue on Foundations of Digital Libraries. Manuscripts must be submitted directly to the journal web site at http://www.editorialmanager.com/ijdl/ (please select “Special Issue on DL Foundations”). In case of any problems contact the editors at DLFoundations_IJDL AT research-infrastructures DOT eu Important Dates: * November 15, 2009 Due date for submission of manuscripts * January 15, 2010 Notification of acceptance/rejection * March 31, 2010 Due date for camera-ready version * June, 2010 Tentative date for publication of Special Issue Editors of the Special Issue: Leonardo Candela, ISTI-CNR, leonardo DOT candela AT isti DOT cnr DOT it Donatella Castelli, ISTI-CNR, donatella DOT castelli AT isti DOT cnr DOT it Edward Fox, Virginia Tech University, fox AT vt DOT edu Yannis Ioannidis, Univserity of Athens, yannis AT di DOT uoa DOT gr About the Journal: The aim of IJDL is to advance the theory and practice of acquisition, definition, organization, management and dissemination of digital information via global networking. In particular, the journal will emphasize technical issues in digital information production, management and use, issues in high-speed networks and connectivity, inter-operability, and seamless integration of information, people, profiles, tasks and needs, security and privacy of individuals and business transactions and effective business processes in the Information Age. More information about the journal can be found at http://www.dljournal.org/