| SCOPE/AUDIENCE
1.1 Audience
The targeted user group for the Digital Library is anyone who undertakes
research or seeks information in the field of forced migration - that
is, students, academics, research institute staff, practitioners, librarians,
policy makers, members of the media, information providers, and forced
migrants themselves. In addition, the Digital Library will represent a
useful source of information for those who may not have ready access to
print collections and information centres.
1.2 Definition of Forced Migration
There is much debate about the nature of forced migration. The purpose
of having a working definition is simply to provide users with a reasonable
understanding of the subject areas they can expect to be covered by this
resource.
The Digital Library uses the same definition as the one promoted by the
International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM). That
is, forced migration is "a general term that refers to the movements of
refugees and internally displaced people (people displaced by conflicts)
as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical
or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects."
1.3 Subject Coverage
In the context of the working definition, the subject areas covered by
the Digital Library include:
- Causes of flight
- Conditions in countries of origin (e.g., human rights violations,
early warning, prevention, etc.)
- Responses to forced migration situations (e.g., emergency assistance,
relief programmes, legal protection/asylum, resettlement, international
humanitarian law, compensation, etc.)
- Experiences of forced migrants (e.g., adaptation, health, psychosocial
issues, racism, etc.)
- Special groups (e.g., gender issues, children, indigenous peoples,
etc.)
- Repatriation/return (e.g., post-war reconstruction, development/livelihood
programmes, etc.)
- Impact/consequences of forced migration (e.g., environmental, economic,
social, etc.)
- Organizations & actors (e.g., IGOs, NGOs, governments, aid workers,
agents of persecution, etc.)
1.4 Geographic Coverage
There are no geographic limitations.
1.5 Language Coverage
There are no language limitations.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING RESOURCES
The scope and audience of the Digital Library, as defined above are the
most important factors to be considered when selecting documents. At the
same time, since selection is undertaken by institutional contributors,
it will reflect their specific subject expertise in the field of forced
migration. Still, several general rules of thumb are applicable to the
selection process regardless of subject area:
First, consider the nature of a digital library:
- Documents are digitized. Deciding to scan a document inserts an extra
level of assessment into the selection process: What is the value to
the user of including a particular title - is it especially noteworthy,
authoritative, substantive? Does it include original thinking or does
it merely echo what has been reported elsewhere? The reputation of the
author, the length of the document, and the currency of the topic addressed
therefore may factor in more highly in the selection hierarchy.
- Digital collections tend to be smaller and more discrete. Building
a balanced collection therefore is particularly important; different
perspectives from different types of authors/publishers should be reflected
(i.e., governments vs. NGOs, practitioners vs. academics, etc.), different
geographic regions should be represented, and so forth.
Next, past experience has demonstrated that the following should usually
not be included:
- items that look published (e.g., glossy reports, photocopies of journal
articles, etc.);
- titles that you know have been published or that indicate they will
be published (e.g., conference papers that re-appear as journal articles
or chapters in books, etc.);
- papers that are marked as "draft" copies or that state they are "not
for citation";
- documents containing sensitive details, such as the names of asylum-seekers,
or other information that identifies individuals, such as conference
participants’ lists;
- documents that contain incitements to violence or that promote terrorist
activities;
- leaflets, brochures, press releases, or other ephemeral or purely
descriptive materials;
- items with very poor print quality, significant spelling errors, or
deficient language usage.
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