In the United States, digital library research is guided, and even de- fined, through the projects supported by Digital Library Initiatives (DLI) . The DLI are funded by a consortium of government agencies under the leadership of the National Science Foundation (NSF). DLI-1 (19941998), funded by three agencies, involved six large projects. DLI-2 (1999-2003), funded by eight agencies, involves approximately sixty large and small projects. There are also large research digital library initiatives funded, among others, in the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and regionally by the European Union. This article concentrates on the efforts in the United States while recognizing the existence of many other efforts in many other countries and regions