What is Massive Digital Libraries (MDLs)

Massive Digital Library (MDL) is a term coined to define a class of digital libraries gathering mass-digitized print books and monographs, which rival the size of brick-and-mortar libraries. Specific examples of MDLs, including Google Books, HathiTrust, DPLA, Internet Archive, et al., are presented. The issues raised by MDLs include the following: mass-aggregation of digital content and the ability to maintain source-material accuracy and veracity; copyright, Fair Use and the mass-digitization of materials not in the Public Domain; and disparities in the level of diversity, especially with regard to Spanish-language, Japanese-language, and Hawaii-Pacific materials. Finally, the impact of MDLs on Digital Humanities, especially with regard to the Google Books digital corpus and the Google Ngram Viewer, will be investigated.