Library
Linkages Initiative (Digital Library Linkages) ISTEC's Electronic Document Delivery Project, which has over 50 participating members and 4 consolidated regional Digital Libraries groups, has facilitated installation of Internet based document transmission software, trained users to electronically research science and engineering databases, and coordinated electronic requests and transmissions of documents among ISTEC libraries for over 12 years. To date, projects within the Library Linkages Initiative have trained in excess of 6,000 people, transferred hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, created regional inter-library loan systems, established an on-line journal for Information Technology, established databases of information about members' services and collections, and developed software for document transmission. Other important efforts within the Digital Library Linkages initiative include enhancement of Library and Information skills through specialized events and trainings, ongoing Consortial Acquisition negotiations with major commercial information providers (EMS/ProQuest, Silverplatter, CSA, Institute of Physics Publishing), and participation in major international Electronic Thesis and Dissertations projects in conjunction with UNESCO and Virginia Tech. Several
successful outcomes have been documented. For instance, in Brazil,
ISTEC's Ligdoc network includes 18 of the most importantscience
and technology libraries working together to share collections tomaximize
their investments in collections and technology. Based on thisexperience,
the model is being replicated in Argentina (PREBI), Mexico(REDIBIMEX)
and Colombia (Red de Bibliotecas Digitales Colombianas). The Digital
Library Linkages initiative director edited Digital Libraries andVirtual
Workplaces: Important Initiatives for Latin America in theInformation
Age for the Organization of American States; wrote a chapterin The
Guide for Electronic Theses and Dissertations sponsored by UNESCO;
and coordinated the Spanish translation of the same. Digital Library
Linkages has placed promising young computer scientists at Los Alamos
National Laboratory to create digital library software products
of benefit to both our organizations and to fast track the careers
of these LatinAmerican students. For more information on this initiative
please contact info@istec.org
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