Over the past decade, the development of international digital library activities has been steadily increasing. Grounded in the successes of the U.S. digital library programs – Digital Library Initiative-1 (DLI-1), Digital Library Initiative-2 (DLI-2), and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) program – many international and national digital library research projects have been actively developed by national libraries, public and university libraries, and various research institutions. In addition to significant technological advances, new multimedia digital content, significant cultural repositories, and indigenous knowledge and language assets are being developed and are making a significant impact on knowledge preservation and content delivery in various countries.

Three significant and vibrant international conferences have grown out of this international digital library movement – the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL, http://www.jcdl.org) in the US, the 2005 European Conference on Digital Libraries (ECDL, http://www.ecdl2005.org), and the International Conference on Asian Digital Libraries (ICADL, http://www.icadl.org). The three conferences help create stimulating and collegial forums for reporting significant digital library research and development activities.

The International Conference on Asian Digital Libraries (ICADL), which began in 1998 and has rotated annually among the Asian-Pacific countries, has become one of the premiere meetings in digital libraries. Since its humble beginnings in Hong Kong (ICADL 1998), the meeting has been held in the following locations:

• Taipei, China (ICADL 1999)
• Seoul, Korea (ICADL 2000)
• Bangalore, India (ICADL 2001)
• Singapore (ICADL 2002)
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (ICADL 2003)
• Shanghai, China (ICADL 2004)
• Bangkok, Thailand (ICADL 2005)
• Kyoto, Japan (ICADL 2006)
• Hanoi, Vietnam (ICADL 2007)
• Bali, Indonesia (ICADL 2008).

The 2010 conference will be held in Australia, June 21-25, 2010, and will be a Joint JCDL/ICADL International Digital Libraries Conference. Check the conference website for themes and submission deadlines. There was no meeting in 2009.

The ICADL meetings draw researchers and professionals from library and information science, computer science, social science, information systems, law and policy, education and learning, and various other academic disciplines. Research topics range from digital library technologies and information systems; to content management, service models, and cost and sustainability issues.

The ICADL meetings are planned and facilitated by a group of volunteers, who are experienced in digital library research and international community building; and have contributed significantly to ICADL-related activities.

This website has been designed to facilitate easy access to information regarding past, present and future ICADL activities. To suggest additional content, please contact Ms. Cathy Larson at cal@eller.arizona.edu.