SCOPE OF STUDY

By design, this study provides a review of status and trends in digital libraries and their enabling technologies in Japan. The objectives are to compare research underway in Japan with that in the United States, to identify opportunities for collaboration, and to suggest ways to refine the thrust of U.S. research programs. The term &"digital information organization&" is meant to include digital libraries and related information access technologies and systems. Of special interest are Japanese infrastructure and policies to promote these new technologies; new Japanese experimental facilities established for the development and evaluation of new information access technologies, including digital libraries; new search engine technologies; and human interaction technologies.

While the library provides a convenient metaphor, the sponsors, NSF and DARPA, were more broadly interested in technologies for computer-based information creation, access, and management that are under development to improve the transfer of information to and from information systems; in the ability to conduct efficient and effective searches of databases; and in the quality of content in those databases. These technologies can address problems such as information overload, insufficient speed of information processing, multi-language information, and intellectual rights protection. The recent large-scale Japanese experiments in electronic libraries, museums, and commerce were to be examined as means of integrating these technologies and delivering the results.