While there are extensive literatures on digital libraries and on virtual learning environments, relatively little has been published on the integration of the two. Practical experience is largely limited to rather superficial linking, such as a button in the VLE to link out to the digital library service. The area where most progress appears to have been made to date appears to be in the delivery of information skills tuition, although even here there is limited evidence of deep embedding. The issue is now receiving widespread attention and it may be expected that the picture will change significantly.
The LinkER project set out the current state of the art in a report in Higher Education Institutions within the United Kingdom primarily but also elsewhere regarding the linkages between digital libraries and VLEs. It did not report on either digital library or VLE activity where there was no explicit link between the two.(see the link in Additional Resources below)
The report included a review of current activity in UK HE which showed high levels of interest in the integration of library resources into the online learning environment in the institutions which responded to the survey. It was noticeable that most initiatives are library-led rather than responses to demand from academic staff or students.
The type and depth of integration of digital library resources into online learning environments varied quite considerably
In our view, the following issues need to be explored further:
The first two deliverable reports from LinkER are available in Microsoft Word 2000 format: