Distributed library: Difference between revisions

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[[File:New library.JPG|alt=An example of a private library where the user could lend books from to others.|thumb|350x350px|An example of a private library where the user could lend books from to others. ]]

A '''distributed library''' is a collection of materials available for borrowing by members of a group, yet not maintained or owned by a single entity. The [[library catalog]] is maintained on a database that is made accessible to users through the [[Internet]]. An early example of thisThis style of library (ifis notstill the first ofin its type) is the [http://www.nongnuinfancy.org/dlp/ DistributedAdministrative Librarysoftware Project] ofcontinues theto [[Sanbe Franciscodeveloped Bayand Area]]distributed.

ThisAn early example of this style of library is(if stillnot inthe first of its infancytype) is the Distributed Library Project of the [[San Francisco Bay Area]].<ref>[http://www.nongnu.org/dlp/ Distributed Library Project]</ref> While distributed libraries are being established in several cities worldwide, the San Francisco Bay Area library still only has a few hundred members. Administrative software continues to be developed and distributed.

Another example, which takes a slightly different approach, is the Unlibrary.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unlibrary.com/index.pl?rm=tour1 |title=Unlibrary (archived version of website) |access-date=2011-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022122620/http://www.unlibrary.com/index.pl?rm=tour1 |archive-date=2011-10-22 |url-status=live }}</ref> In this system, users are free to create communities of any size and scope, rather than a single city-widecitywide community. For instance a church might have its own community, with church members all able to borrow from each other. Users can also have private, invite-only groups.

Another example is the digibruted library of Geneva.<ref>[https://digilioge.wordpress.com/ Digilioge: The Digibruted Library of Geneva]</ref> The name digibruted is coined from “Digital” and “Distributed”. It does not mean that the library is brutalized by digital attacks, but rather that theThis library is a digital construction, indexingthat realindexes assets (books in this case) distributed in thefor reallocal worlddistribution. The difference from Unlibrary is that the books are freely given to readers, who act also as librarians, in a kind of peer-to-peer schema.

==Early Concepts==

A precursor is the [[Tabard Inn Library]] established in 1902 where travelers could check out books at one station and return them at another, with each station operated by a different individual.<ref>{{Cite journal

|title=Tabard Inn Library Promotion for Patrons

|journal=The Minneapolis Journal

|author=William Donaldson & Company

|date=September 9, 1904

|page=5

|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tabard_Inn_Library_ad.png

|access-date=2025-02-18

}}</ref> To patrons, the library appeared as a distributed library. The Book Lovers Library based in Philadelphia, PA rented the books to each exchange station.<ref>{{Cite journal

|title=Tabard Inn Library Promotion for Vendors

|journal=The American Magazine

|volume=42

|issue=6

|date=October 1906

|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tabard_Inn_Library_ad_1906.png

|access-date=2025-02-18

}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[BookCrossing]]

==References==

== External links ==

{{Reflist}}

* [http://www.communitybooks.org/ The SF Distributed Library Project]

* [http://dlpdev.theps.net/ListOfExistingDlpNodes?v=fep A List of Distributed Libraries]

* [http://unlibrary.com Unlibrary.com]

* [http://digilioge.wordpress.com/ The Digibruted Library of Geneva]

[[Category:Library science]]

[[Category:Libraries by type]]

[[Category:Types of library]]