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This paper seeks to study the metadata requirements for setting up a digital repository in ceramics resources that would provide researchers and ceramic art professionals with access to the information as per their requirements.

The paper first reviews and analyzes various metadata standards and formats already available. Open software (Greenstone) is used to develop the repository and the paper discusses its metadata provisions. Thereafter, the paper focuses on ceramics resources and attempts to determine the metadata elements required to describe and organize ceramic resources. Existing controlled vocabularies to standardize content metadata of the repository are also reviewed.

The paper finds that selected metadata elements of Dublin Core and Categories for the Description of Work of Art can be used to describe and organize the ceramics resources. Local qualifiers are added when necessary to describe the resources. As Categories for the Description of Work of Art metadata standards are not provided in Greenstone, these were defined using GEMS to describe and organize ceramic art works. It also found that existing controlled vocabularies are not sufficient to standardize the content metadata of the repository.

A digital repository should also contain information resources such as video and audio‐video information resources. The study has not considered studying metadata requirements to describe such information resources.

This paper could be useful for others who want to develop their repositories in various disciplines.

This case study seeks to discuss the author's experience of providing e‐journal services to the scientists at the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute – a centre of excellence in the field of glass and ceramics situated in Kolkata, India. It describes the developmental activities involved in providing user access to the e‐journals and its impact on library operations.

The article begins with background information on the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute and its parent body, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and then goes on to discuss the development of e‐journal services within the library of the Institute.

The author shows that providing training to the staff as well as library users and managing services of the e‐journals were the most important issues. The author also shows that e‐journals have added enormous resources to the collection and improved the service of the library, enhanced access to journal literature, and decreased the demand for photocopy services as well as document delivery of single articles.

This case study of the Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute experience should be useful to others for deciding their activities to access e‐journals as well as the library community in general

The objective of the present study is to discuss the need for developing a digital library on ceramics.

The rapid growth of digital libraries together with professional publications and the popular press have created a lot of hopes as well as myths about digital libraries. Research on digital libraries began about a decade ago and a number of digital libraries were created as a result. The article begins with giving an overview of digital libraries, and then discusses the need for a digital library on ceramics, highlighting the importance of ceramics on society.

The paper shows that a digital library on ceramics is needed to provide students, scientists, artist and industrial community with an open and interoperable platform to help facilitate research and education, to promote ceramic art, to promote global cooperation, to foster economic development – including rural development, and to help facilitate archaeological research.

It is a paradox that, under circumstances where economic activity takes place at an increasingly global level, individual countries must give increased attention to their performance at the national level so that they can find a favored position within the world community. Since there has been little or no discussion on a digital library on ceramics in the library literature, the study would help developed and developing countries to develop digital library on ceramics.