DL.org: coordination action on digital library interoperability, best practices, and modeling foundations. Project Final Report

The goals of the DL.org Coordination Action on Digital Library Interoperability, Best Practices, and Modeling Foundations were to: ? Create a networked community of theoreticians and practitioners in the field of Digital Libraries in order to discuss the main problems faced when building large scale interoperable distributed heterogeneous digital library infrastructures. ? Improve and enhance the DELOS Digital Library Reference Model, a conceptual tool enabling the description of the digital library universe. ? Provide a conceptual framework within which to describe the main technical and organizational DL interoperability problems and solutions. ? Produce best practices, technology patterns, and guidelines in order to guide and assist the developers of interoperable digital library systems. ? Widely disseminate the project findings. ? Contribute to the education in the field of digital libraries. The core DL.org community has been developed by close engagement with international digital library theoreticians and practitioners, specifically through six Working Groups corresponding to the six main concepts of the Digital Library Reference Model (Content, User, Functionality, Quality, Policy, Architecture) and a Liaison Group comprising internationally recognized experts in the field of digital library. Additionally, strong links have been established with relevant DL projects and organizations as Strategic Alliances. Forty such alliances have been forged, twenty-seven of which are funded by the EC, representing six different Directorate General Units alongside two ESFRI projects. The core community has also been built by mobilizing the Library and Information Science community, educationalists, computer scientists, researchers and students at various stages in their academic careers, particularly through two international workshops, three national events (Greece, Italy and the UK), the Autumn School, alongside regular sessions and presentations at external events, illustrating the value of face-to-face interaction with target groups.