Agent services for users of digital libraries

This paper describes an architecture for digital libraries that introduces the notion of agent services. Agents are a powerful abstraction through which users may interact with a complex data universe by delegating tasks involving objects or events of interest. In the proposed architecture, termed AGS, providers of information define agent services to which patrons may subscribe. On the server side, classes of agents are specified that describe automated tasks to be carried out based on both the digital library information resources and the patrons' information needs and personal preferences. On the client side, patrons assign and control tasks by instantiating agents of available classes. We present a prototypical implementation of the agent services architecture that demonstrates the major concepts introduced by AGS. We also discuss the applications of AGS and the potential of agent-based user interfaces as an alternative style of interaction with digital libraries. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.