This digital library is created in fulfillment of requirements for the Information and Library Science degree program ILS655 Digital Library class at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven Connecticut. The aim of this project is to use the information garnered from the entire semester into a workable digital library design. It is hoped to combine the library science theory acquired throughout the program with the technical and theoretical issues learned in the digital library class.

 The theory behind this digital library is to make it accessible to multiple user groups of different levels of computer knowledge and to make it educational and interactive. The following sections describe these ideas in detail.

Possible Multiple User Groups

The digital library it is intended for people interested in immigration history. These people may be of differing levels of computer and english language knowledge. The user interface is designed to be simple and easy to use and a language translation feature is included. Because the digital library is on the internet it might be viewed by almost anyone anywhere, locally and internationally. The language component makes the library more accessible. 

Interactive Component

The intent is both didactic and interactive. For those seeking information on immigrant history that are not available in this collection there is the Lycos search engine to look in other places. For those that need language assistance there is the Altavista language translator link. For those that need online reference help there is a page for reference. For adding information there is a

form to fill out and for those who want to give feedback there is a form, and

email options on a specific page and scattered throughout the library.

For the general public with a known immigrant history in the family there is the opportunity to add their own information, photos, and recorded oral history. This component is included to enhance collection development and to make the library more open to the public user. 

ONGOING EFFORTS AND FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Ongoing efforts include systematically adding different ethnic group immigrant histories and languages to keep broadening the scope of the library and its universal accessibility.

Links to other digital libraries, websites, museums addressing the American immigrant experience will be added as they are found.

Improvements include making this library accessible to all individuals regardless of visual, audio or physical impairments. Specifically in terms of design and interactive features.

In the future, Microsoft ASP.NET will be implemented to improve the access to different languages used and the ease of including new languages to the library.

As a digital library it would be good to add information for children of elementary grades. As well as resources and teaching aids for teachers.

Exhibition space will be added in the future to showcase special collections or topics ofinterest to the community.

Because this digital library represents multi ethnic groups it is appropriate to make it accessible to a wider community. The ethnic groups that came to the United States came from different countries. It would broaden the educational content to have links to libraries and web pages from those countries accessible directly from this library so that the user can see where these immigrants came from. And to have it available in many languages for better accessibility.

At the same time it is possible to translate the content of the library into many languages so that users in other countries can use the library from their end and see where their ancestors came to and what they experienced as immigrants. The digital format enables access to international collections and many languages. Also, many of the interviewers may still only speak their native language or many feel more comfortable in speaking in their original language.

For the library science student this could be used as a hands on experience in digital libraries with students adding content and working on the library as interns. There are many opportunities for the library student in digitizing projects, in evaluation projects in upgrading and adding to the technical infrastructure of the project. In particular the students could evaluate the historical information provided by the public in the public component of the