Current Focus

Beginning in fiscal year 2005, LDI will focus project work in five initiative areas:

1. Integration Projects.
   These will be predominantly oriented towards integrating library digital resources and services with Harvard's central academic computing initiatives: the iCommonc/ICG course platform, and the iSites portal tool. The intent of this initiative is to encourage the use of library materials by presenting them conveniently and prominently in the web environments used by Harvard's students and faculty.
2. Targeted Digital Resources.
   These projects will create or acquire digital resources of immediate utility to Harvard students or faculty. The key focus will likely be on materials for use in instruction, although materials in demand for current research initiatives with strong faculty input will also be eligible. This initiative must be integrated with the current presidential initiative to fund the creation of digital course materials: Fund for Instructional Technology.
3. Archiving Born-Digital Material.
   There is increasing interest across the libraries to begin collecting and preserving born-digital materials. Areas of interest include: digital materials included in archival collections; Harvard web materials; smaller publications, grey literature; and materials created by Harvard faculty.
4. Digital Preservation.
   Harvard is in the forefront of digital preservation activities nationally. The next 5 years will certainly see an increasing amount of activity in this domain both nationally and internationally, including many cross-institutional projects. Harvard will maintain an ability to participate in these as appropriate. For more information about current digital preservaion activities, see Digital Preservation.
5. Assessment and Measurement.
   By the end of the next phase of LDI, the library must be in a position to document the utility of the initiative to Harvard students and faculty. Doing meaningful assessment and measurement is not simple, and it requires the dedication of noticeable resources. A common problem is that work in this domain never quite reached the top of the pile, with effort directed to doing the next new thing rather than evaluating what has already been accomplished. A dedicated program in this domain will insure activity.

For more information contact Wendy Gogel, Digital Projects Program Librarian, via or (617) 495-3724.