Challenges for Developing a World Digital Library and Gateway: The Case of Global Memory Net
Ching-chih Chen · 2006
Abstract: With the exciting convergence of content, technology, and global collaboration in this digital era, there are unprecedented potentials as well as challenges for developing digital libraries of all kinds. In the case of Global Memory Net (www.memorynet.org), its newly developed Interactive Multimedia Content Retrieval System (tentatively called i-M-C-S) has managed to incorporate many innovative concepts and functions to meet the challenges of a world digital library and gateway. This paper will articulate these challenges, including those selected ones as listed: (1) Using the Web as a platform to integrate seamlessly all types of multimedia resources. (2) Digital images can not only be retrieved in traditional ways by metadata fields, but also by cutting-edge content-based retrieval methods (CBIR). (3) Once the desired image(s) is(are) located, associated sound, digital video, textual annotation, as well as expanded bibliographical and Web resources can be obtained by the simple clicks of the mouse. (4) Available resources can be retrieved by searching a single collection, or by cross-collection (or multi-collection) search. (5) Multilingual presentation as well as retrieval should be possible. (6) Geographical retrieval should be provided. (7) While universal access is the goal, the users should be possible to contribute their resources as well.