3.1. Digital libraries as content, collections and communities
Digital library research builds upon a long history of related work in information retrieval,
databases, user interfaces, networks, information seeking, classi®cation and organization,
library automation, publishing and other areas. It dates back several decades or centuries,
depending on what is included for consideration. We include in the research community
scholars studying information-related problems that they or others have labeled `digital
232 C.L. Borgman / Information Processing and Management 35 (1999) 227±243
libraries'. Most of these scholars are aliated with academic departments or research groups in
computer science, library and information science, or information studies, but some are located
in related areas such as sociology, psychology, communication or economics, or in application
areas such as education, geography, health sciences or the arts and humanities.
De®nitions of digital libraries arising from the computer and information science research
community have evolved in scope and content throughout the 1990s. The two initiatives
funded by the multiple U.S. federal agencies (National Science Foundation, 1993, 1998)1 were
particularly in¯uential in de®ning the boundaries of digital libraries research. The de®nitions
were not established by the funding agencies alone. Rather, they arose from the many research
workshops and conferences that took place before and during the initiatives, as well as from
publications by researchers.