"If You Build It, Will They Come?" - Lessons Learned From The Workshop On Participant Interaction In Digital Libraries

A workshop in early February 2004, hosted by the Math Forum, brought together over thirty experts from the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) program and representatives from online communities to discuss and identify promising models of participant involvement for the NSDL and NSDL-funded projects [see pidlworkshop. comm.. nsdl. org]. The workshop leveraged the expertise of attendees to identify tools and reporting mechanisms, develop strategies and formulate recommendations that will help NSDL projects incorporate, support and grow the communities who use their digital libraries. Workshop attendees also provided a rich set of examples of how users are currently involved in building and maintaining NSDL digital libraries and the potential impact of their involvement. Participant involvement is a critical factor not only in developing educational digital libraries, but: also in sustaining the resources, the technology and most importantly, the communities who use them. Without converting casual or one-time users into recurring, involved participants, or even members of a community, educational digital libraries will simply be yet another example of, "If you build it, will they come".