Is Digital Different?

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 systems

Security: managing online risk

Long term curation and preservation

Rights and the Commons

Finding archived records in the digital age.

Is Digital Different?