Setting the foundations of digital libraries - The DELOS Manifesto

The term "Digital Libraries" corresponds to a very complex notion with several diverse aspects and cannot be captured by a simple definition. A robust model of Digital Libraries encapsulating the richness of these perspectives is required. This need has led to the drafting of The Digital Library Manifesto, the aim of which is to set the foundations and identify the cornerstone concepts within the universe of Digital Libraries, facilitating the integration of research results and proposing better ways of developing appropriate systems. The Manifesto is a result of the collaborative work of members of the European Union co-funded DELOS Network of Excellence on Digital Libraries.1 It exploits the collective understanding that has been acquired, over more than a decade, on Digital Libraries by European research groups active in the Digital Library field, both within DELOS and outside, as well as by other groups around the world. This article presents the core parts of the Manifesto that introduce the entities of discourse of the Digital Library universe.