Using distributed objects to build the Stanford Digital Library Infobus

For digital libraries to thrive, the providers of information and informati on processing services must be able to evolve their systems autonomously. H owever, as the complexity of their offerings increases, software tools more sophisticated than existing Web facilities are needed. Distributed object technology may be the answer. The availability of high-volume, increasingly sophisticated information is making the need for metadata facilities more urgent. Traditional, library-b ased approaches break down when used in an advanced digital library. More m odular mechanisms are needed, and the CORBA system is one approach. Digital libraries are affected at a deep technical level by the widely diff ering user traditions of Web users and library patrons. The challenge and o pportunity of digital libraries will be the synthesis of these traditions. Four pears ago the authors of this article set out to create a technical in frastructure to support the construction of digital libraries. In their vie w a digital library comprises widely distributed resources that can be main tained autonomously by different organizations and will not require adheren ce to uniform interfaces.