Information Retrieval in Digital Libraries: Bringing Search to
the Net
Bruce R. Schatz
A digital library enables users to interact effectively with
information distributed across a network. These network information systems support search and display of items from organized collections. In the historical evolution of digital libraries, the mechanisms for
retrieval of scientific literature have been particularly important.
Grand visions in 1960 led first to the development of text search, from
bibliographic databases to full-text retrieval. Next, research
prototypes catalyzed the rise of document search, from multimedia
browsing across local-area networks to distributed search on the
Internet. By 2010, the visions will be realized, with concept search
enabling semantic retrieval across large collections.
The author is the Director of the Digital Library Research Program
in the University Library and the Research Scientist for digital
libraries and information systems at the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and
Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
61801 USA. E-mail: schatz{at}uiuc.edu, http://csl.ncsa. uiuc.edu
