Witten, Ian H.McNab, Rodger J.Jones, SteveCunningham, Sally JoBainbridge, DavidApperley, Mark2008-03-192007-05-152008-03-191999-02-01Witten, I. H., McNab, R. J., Jones, S., Apperley, M., Bainbridge, D. & Cunningham, S. J. (1999). Managing complexity in a distributed digital library. IEEE Computer, 32(2), 74-79.https://hdl.handle.net/10289/88As the capabilities of distributed digital libraries increase, managing organizational and software complexity becomes a key issue. How can collections and indexes be updated without impacting queries currently in progress? How can the system handle several user-interface clients for the same collections? Computer science professors and lectors from the University of Waikato have developed a software structure that successfully manages this complexity in the New Zealand Digital Library. This digital library has been a success in managing organizational and software complexity. The researchers' primary goal has been to minimize the effort required to keep the system operational and yet continue to expand its offerings.application/pdfenThis article is available online at the webpages of IEEE Computer.Journal Article10.1109/2.745723