Michael Doob:Talk
Michael Doob: New hardware/software and some implications for smaller digital libraries
ABSTRACT
Smaller online mathematical libraries, such as those from smaller mathematical societies, are constructed and maintained under special constraints: manpower is meagre, specialized hardware is nonexistent, funding is low, any economies of scale disappear, outsourcing is impossible and expectations are for perfection. The motto of the maintainer quickly becomes, "If software is available for a task and it can be done by computer, then it must be done by computer."
In parallel, the expectations of users have been ever increasing: the images should be as good as the print version, searching should be available and instantaneous, internet transmission speeds should be superb, and everything should be available 24/7.
Yet this is not a sorry picture. Recent changes, both in hardware and in software have changed the environment, mostly for the better. In this talk we'll look at some of these changes and some of the implications for smaller online libraries.
- Slides for talk [ djvu, 0.5 MB | pdf, 8.2MB ]
(Please consider using the djvu file, as it is by a factor of 16 smaller than the pdf, hence faster downloaded. Free djvu viewers are downloadable from DjVuLibre. )
