Gold at the end of the digital library rainbow: Forecasting the consequences of truly effective digital libraries

This paper contemplates a truly effective digital library from the user's point of view. It will contain vast amounts of information, comparable to, but different from, the public web; it will help the user make real sense of that information by organizing, evaluating, and testing the reliability or authenticity of needed information; it will help the user manage, adapt, and reuse the information gathered. We will have to understand the digital library as both consumer of information and as publisher and partner with the scholarly author. Digital preservation is and will be a paramount concern.