One project, Dunn says, proposes creating a "digital bookshelf" of research material for people writing about the history of Harvard and Radcliffe.

A group from the Yenching Institute has proposed digitizing photographs taken using an early photographic technique that makes the materials flammable, Dunn says. Digitizing the material would give students access to the photographs, which are currently kept locked away.

The list of possibilities goes on and on.

Cline says a digital library could help cut down on the number of books delivered to campus from the Harvard book depository. Specific book chapters or tables of contents could be digitized so students would be able to browse through them before ordering.

The Graduate School of Education has expressed interest in digitizing school district records that their students often use when doing research.

"They want to have that accessible around the clock--not just when their library is open," she said.

Still, the seven-person review committee will not be making final decisions about which groups will be allowed to dip into a $5 million incentive fund to digitize the proposed material until at least early December, Dunn said.

Libraries and museums will also have other opportunities over the next five years to bring a proposal before the committee.

Until then, Dunn says it is "too early to tell" which one of the projects will make it to the Web, especially since technical issues must be resolved for some of the proposals.

"The project is very much in its infancy," Dunn says. "In many ways, we're still feeling our way through the project to see what a digital library might be."

"The proposals we received cut across the spectrum, but we have no indication of what might receive support," she adds.

Making It Happen

But before archives and image banks become available at the fingertips of Harvard students, librarians and University faculty are spending the next five years simply laying the groundwork for the project.

In addition to the project review committee which Dunn chairs, LDI directors have also created an oversight committee that is, as its name suggests, overseeing the first phase of the project, which is expected to last five years.

LDI has also begun the search for software engineers and projects managers, looking for individuals who, Cline says, have "technical and information management techniques."

The process has been made easier, Cline says, because librarians and faculty members from each of the nine graduate schools and the College are working together on the initiative.