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ICADS (IFLA-CDNL Alliance for Digital Strategies)


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Overview

ICADS is a joint alliance of IFLA and the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) that was established in 2008. The focus of the ICADS alliance is strategic and state-of-the-art digital library developments at national libraries. Through a web directory of projects that resides within the framework of PADI, the alliance provides the international library community with current information, documentation and links to a wide variety of information about innovative digital projects in which partners are involved.

ICADS Subject Focus

There are 3 broad themes within the ICADS focus. These are:-

  • Creating and building digital collections
  • Managing digital collections
  • Accessing digital collections.

Under each of these themes, there are a number of topics which reflect the main areas national libraries are currently working in. (To explore the ICADS topics, use the 'Explore' links next to each topic below or the links at the bottom of the page.)

The ICADS topics (listed under corresponding theme) are:-

Creating and building digital collections:

  • Digitisation - Explore!
  • Web Archiving - Explore!
  • Digital Archiving - legal deposit, collaborative and commercial models - Explore!

Managing digital collections:

Accessing digital collections:

Governance of ICADS

An Advisory Board oversights the work of ICADS and meets annually at the IFLA conference. It comprises representatives at the CEO and senior officer levels from founding member institutions, the Chair of CDNL, plus two members nominated by IFLA. The Board is chaired on a rotating basis with the chairing institution also providing secretarial support.

The current members of the Advisory Board are:

Membership of the Advisory Board will be reviewed at the annual meeting in 2010.

Contributing to ICADS

Any national library can become a contributor to the ICADS directory of projects if they meet the eligibility requirements. To become a contributor libraries should:

  1. Be undertaking or have a lead role in innovative, leading edge projects that fit within the ICADS framework (see ICADS Subject Focus above).
  2. Eligible projects can be research or ideas-based or involve developments of new processes and systems. To be eligible there should be some aspect to the project that differentiates it from related more mainstream activities happening elsewhere.
  3. Apply for a contributor's password by sending an email to the ICADS Administrator at the National Library of Australia (see below for contact details). The email should include a brief outline of the project to be contributed and state why it is eligible for inclusion.
  4. The Administrator's role is to allocate passwords and maintain the currency of the ICADS website. She will monitor the contribution of entries against the criteria above. In the event that the Administrator has concern about the eligibility of a project, the request to contribute will be sent to the ICADS Advisory Board for decision.
  5. When a password has been allocated, contribute a brief entry for the project to the ICADS web site using the data contribution form.
  6. Entries should be no longer than 125 words per project and should summarise the objectives of the project and highlight its innovative aspects. This will allow people browsing the entries to make a quick decision on whether the project is of interest to them. Entries should also provide contact details.
  7. Provide more detailed information about the contributed project on their institution's web site and a link to this information from the ICADS entry, for people wanting to find out more about the project.

  8. Maintain the currency of the ICADS entry and the information on their institution web site.
  9. It is expected that contributing libraries would review their ICADS entries annually and update as necessary. (Date entry created and updated will appear in the ICADS entry.) Entries for projects that are no longer current or which have become mainstream should be removed. The ICADS website will be archived annually to maintain a record of the history of contributions.

ICADS Administrator contact details

The ICADS Administrator is Maxine Davis, National Library of Australia (madavis@nla.gov.au).

Current contributors

Libraries with entries in the ICADS projects directory include:

ICADS relationship with IFLA

To further promote its focus of activity, the alliance also works with IFLA divisions and sections to present an annual programme of events at IFLA conference.

Background to ICADS

ICADS was established in August 2008 as a successor to ICABS (IFLA CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards) which was established as a national libraries initiative in 2003. The ICABS work plan supported a number of goals relating to the development and use of bibliographic standards, resource access and managing electronic resources. Since 2003 it has become increasingly clear that a major challenge for most national libraries is managing digital resources. In response to this development, IFLA and CDNL wanted to see a stronger focus by ICABS on digital library issues. Consequently, a new framework was developed by the ICABS Advisory Board to provide a more comprehensive view of the wide range of issues related to digital library management and within which to represent relevant innovative projects and initiatives. The new framework was renamed ICADS to reflect the increased concentration on digital library development and management.

For further information please contact:

Secretary

Ms. Mandy Stewart
Resource Discovery Research and Projects Manager
British Library
Boston Spa, Wetherby
WEST YORKSHIRE LS23 7BQ
United Kingdom
Tel.: +(44)(1937)546194
Fax: +(44)(1937)546586
Email: mandy.stewart@bl.uk

Explore ICADS topics

Details about the activities listed under topics are provided by partner libraries themselves using the ICADS contribution form.

ICADS Topic: Digital Archiving
ICADS Topic: Digital Ingest & Storage
ICADS Topic: Digital Preservation
ICADS Topic: Digital Resource Discovery
ICADS Topic: Digital Rights Management
ICADS Topic: Digitisation
ICADS Topic: Web Archiving

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