In January 2005, the Digital Library Federation (DLF) renewed its commitment to developing a distributed open digital library by assigning a full time project director to lead the initiative. Called DLF Aquifer to symbolize the pooling of content into a community resource, and the piping or siphoning of content to meet specific needs, the collaboration amongst a subset of DLF member libraries has produced standards, reports, and prototypes over the past year. The work was accomplished through four working groups focused on services, technology/architecture, metadata, and collections, with additional participation by library staff at DLF Aquifer institutions. One prototype was created through a collaboration that extended beyond DLF membership. This project update highlights "Phase I" DLF Aquifer deliverables and provides a brief overview of future plans. Additional details, including the DLF Aquifer business plan, working group rosters, and mode of operation can be found on the DLF Aquifer web site. A list of participating institutions is included here, as an appendix.
