MIT launched DSpace, which is basically a searchable repository for digitized research reports. Apparently, this is just the beginning. The search seems to work well. The documents are abstracted so you don't have to waste time downloading .pdf files you might not need. It's a promising start in an attempt provide some persistence to digital creations, which have a tendency to disappear as technologies change or webservers are shut down, moved, or rearranged.
The software for the library is open source, so other organizations won't have to pay royalties to create their own digital library using the MIT (developed with Hewlett-Packard) software. It's the first link in what they hope will be a consortium of digital archives.
The one drawback that I've noticed is there is no way to tell if the contribution has been peer-reviewed before being accepted into the depository.
More information about digitized research archives: "College Archives 'Dig' Deeper."
Posted by Lee at November 11, 2002 12:04 PM | TrackBack