For immediate release
January 28, 2008
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DLF Aquifer Receives Grant from The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation to Evaluate MetadataTools for Improved Access to Cultural Heritage Materials

Washington, D.C.—The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation has awarded $18,000 to the Digital Library Federation (DLF) to study methods for enhancing access to cultural heritage materials. The assessment will be done within DLF Aquifer, a Digital Library Federation initiative focused on making digital content—especially cultural heritage materials pertinent to American culture and life—easier for scholars to find and use. The grant will enable a metadata librarian and a library school intern to identify tools that could be used to improve metadata for digital material that is difficult to find and use. 

“DLF appreciates The Delmas Foundation support for this key activity,” DLF President Carol Mandel said.  “Results of this assessment will benefit the entire cultural heritage community.” 

DLF Aquifer has developed a set of implementation guidelines designed to make metadata more effective in aggregations. To assist libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage organizations in meeting the guidelines, DLF Aquifer proposes to offer a range of mapping and remediation services. Although a number of discrete prototypes such as date normalization and topical clustering tools have been developed, these tools are not yet robust enough to be used in production for reliable results.  DLF proposes to inventory existing tools and examine the feasibility of developing these tools into production services.

The Digital Library Federation, founded in 1995, is a partnership organization of research libraries and related organizations that are pioneering the use of electronic-information technologies to extend their collections and services. Through its strategic and allied members, DLF provides leadership for libraries by identifying standards and "best practices" for digital collections and network access; coordinating research and development in the libraries' use of technology; and incubating projects and services that libraries need but cannot develop individually. More information about DLF is available at <http://www.diglib.org/>.