"We all want the same end result: to generate good, useful content for the academic programs at Harvard," she said. "We would wind up competing for funds and personnel when a lot more could be accomplished together."

Funding for LDI comes primarily from the University's Capital Campaign. In addition to the $5 million allocated to Dunn's committee, LDI has $7 million earmarked for the next five years.

Still, Cline says she hopes to attract more private donors.

"As we make more choices as to what will be included in the digital library," she said, "we should be able to increase the number of donors."

In August, Sidney Verba '53, Pforzheimer University professor and director of the University library, wrote an appeal to Harvard alumni, asking them to help the University's libraries stay ahead of other institutions who already have digital libraries in the works.

"Like Janus, the Roman god who looked in two opposite directions simultaneously, we must take care of the materials we already have (mostly printed, and primarily books) and at the same time prepare ourselves for a digital era that is transforming how information is created, acquired, stored and disseminated," Verba wrote.

"I must tell you that the Library is one of several areas of the campaign that are simply not receiving the support they deserve," Verba continued. "If we do not rise to this challenge, the campaign will not be success it should be, and Harvard cannot remain the educational leader into the next millennium that is has been for the past 360 years."

Of all the funds within the Capital Campaign, the library fund has lagged the most behind expectations. In June, the library was at 44 percent of its goal. Over-all, the $2.1 billion campaign was at 87 percent of completion.

But while the University is eager to keep up with other institutions such as the University of California system and the University of Michigan which already have digital libraries online and accessible, their digital-information counterparts at the University of California-Berkeley said the field is so new, no one can be expected to be that far ahead in the game.

"We're all at the starting gate," says Roy Tennant, digital library project manager for the University of California-Berkeley. "There's so much to be understood. It's just that all of a sudden, digital libraries have become a very sexy topic."

What About Widener?

And while the digital library Tennant has helped organize for University of California-Berkeley students may feature never-before published photos of early California history, Tennant is quick to say that the kind of libraries he maintains are not meant to replace the stacks undergraduates have grown used to.

"Every library is interested in using whatever technology is available to help us complete our objectives," Tennant said. "This has been going on ever since we used the typewriter to help create card catalogues. In a sense, the digital library project has been going for decades."

Last February, in a packed conference room in Lamont Library's Forum Room, Verba made the same appeal to faculty members and staff who had come to hear about LDI.

"We changed the name of our project from 'The Digital Library' to 'The Library Digital Initiative' partly to make the point that we aren't trying to create a new library," Verba said. "We want to create an integrated library of traditional print resources and new digital networks and other resources."

And from her office in Widener Library, Cline says she is not worried that a digital library would give students the incentive to never venture into the stacks again.

"I'd be surprised if we become totally reliant on digital resources," Cline said. "There's just something about traditional libraries and books."