1. Introduction: The IT has almost converted the
whole world into a global village. The revolution in the IT sector is
influencing the information industry at its peak and revolutionized the concept
of libraries where it has been used extensively to record, store, and disseminate the information in the digital
form. Each and every library step by step shifts over to this dimension to meet
the demand put on it.
A digital library is nothing but a large database of
organized collection of information which are globally available directly or
indirectly across a network and eventually act as a portal site providing
access to digital collections held elsewhere for the people who are working on
hypertext environment.
2. Definition: In 1938 H. G. Wells dreamed of a world
encyclopedia in which all-human knowledge would be available elsewhere. Today,
Internet in collaboration with digital libraries are moving fast to fulfill the
dream of H. G. Wells.
The term Digital Library has a
variety of potential meanings, ranging from a digitized collection of material
that one might find in a traditional library to the collection of all digital
information along with the services that make that information useful to all
possible users. In simple, a digital library is a library having all its
holding in the digital form or in a form that can be stored, processed by the
computer system. It is nothing but a large database for the people who are
working on hypertext environment. It is a system of organized collection of
multimedia, data that are globally available directly or indirectly across a
network.
According to Lesk (1997) “Digital
libraries are organized collections of digital information. They combine the
structuring and gathering of information, which libraries and archives have
always done, with the digital representation that computers have made
possible”.
According to Arms, a digital library
is a managed collection of information with associated services where the
information is stored in digital format and accessible over a network.
The digital library federation in
the USA defines the digital library as organizations that provide the
resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer
intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and
ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they
are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of
communities.
A digital library is a library in
which a significant proportion of the resources are available in
machine-readable format (as opposed to print or microform), accessible by means
of computers. The digital content may be locally held or accessed remotely via
computer networks. It comprises digital collections, services and infrastructure
to support lifelong learning, research, scholarly communication and
preservation. It is an environment which supports full life cycle of creation,
storage, preservation, dissemination and use of data, and information. It is a
process of democratization of information.
3. Characteristic: A digital library is an organized
collection of digitized material or its holding in the digital form which can
be accessible by a computer on the network by using TCP/IP or other protocol.
The main characteristics of digital libraries are as follows
a) Functions
are Carried Out by Using Digital Technology: The function of acquisition,
storage, preservation, retrieval is carried out through the use of digital
technology.
b) Holds
Digital Collection: Organized collection of information objects may be a
digital text, image, audio or video.
c) Holds
Diverse Resources: The collection of online thesis or online
dissertations may not be called as a digital library as they hold only one type
of material. Again, the institutional repositories may not be called as a
digital library as all the resources are from a single institute. To be called
a digital library it should hold collection of diverse resources.
d) Access is
Available Over Network: Access to the entire collection is globally available
directly or indirectly across network.
4. Need for a Digital Library: Digital
libraries are needed to provide quality based service at the user desktop. Some
need and purpose of digital libraries are as follows-
a) To Satisfy Present
Generation Need: The new generation user becomes only happy when they
will be able to read from the computer screen. The new generation whose demand
for information is never met demands that traditional libraries should be
developed as a well equipped and interconnected digital library.
b) To Deal with Information
Explosion: Digital
library is expected to be able to handle the problem of information explosion
somehow. It will be able to handle and manage large amount of digital content
by simply providing link, without actually procuring the document.
c) To Overcome the
Searching Problem in Traditional Libraries: By using digital library one will
be able to retrieve information specifically for e.g. a particular image,
photo, a definition, etc.
d) To
Provide Services beyond Boundaries: Time is a major factor for each
modern user of the library which is otherwise spent in coming and going to the
library, but digitization will facilitate learning from home, office or other
places which are convenient to the users.
e) To
Provide Services round the Cloak: The digital library can be made open round the clock
so that the library user can access the information they need at the moment
itself.
f) To Overcome Limited
Buying Power of Libraries: The collection of every library is limited to only a
fraction of the total. Introduction of digital library will help to enhance the
collection considerably by acquiring the open access publications.
g) To Overcome Storage
Problem in Traditional Libraries: Libraries are spending much of its budget by way of
maintaining the collection in a usable form that also demands a huge physical
space. Digitization hopes to overcome this as digital Medias come with a huge
storage capacity.
h) To Cut the Budget in
Running the Library: The cost of technologies is much more less than that
of traditional libraries and it made it possible for the libraries to manage
digital collection at a much cheaper rate than that of managing the traditional
collection.
i) To Provide Multiple
Accesses to the Same Information: In case of digital libraries by
using hypertext it is possible to structure and organize the same digital
information in a variety of ways which serve multiple functions.
j) To Provide Access to
Online Publication: As more and more information are published over
internet, digital library needs to procure and provide link to the online
publication and other important sources of information.
k) To Save the Environment: The use of
digital libraries is one of the cleanest technologies to fulfill the slogan
“Burn a CD-ROM save a tree”.
l) To Make People Easy to Understand: The visual or graphical information system of digital
libraries is more popular as compared to text based information system of
traditional libraries.
5. Requirement for Digital Libraries: The
internet and World Wide Web provide the impetus and technological environment
for the development and operation of a digital library. The internet provides
the TCP/IP and or its associated protocol for accessing the information and web
provides tools and technique for publishing the information over internet.
Still, for introducing any digital libraries, the following infrastructure will
be needed:-
a) Electricity: Electricity,
Inverter, U.P.S., etc.
b) Computer Hardware: Server, P.C. with multimedia, etc.
c) Computer Software: Any suitable software from EPrints,
Greenstone Digital Library Software (GSDL), DSpace, etc. or other suitable
platform.
d) Network: LAN, MAN, WAN, etc.
e) Scanner: Overhead scanner, H.P. Scan jet,
flatbed, Sheet feeder, Drum scanner, Slide scanner, Microfilming scanner,
Digital camera, Barcode scanner etc
f) Printer: Laser printer, Dot matrix, Barcode
printer, Digital graphic printer, etc.
g) Storage Devices: Optical storage device, CD-ROM, juke
box, etc.
h) Other Audio Visual Aid: Color T.V., V.C.R., D.V.D., Sound
box, Telephone, etc.
i) Humanware: Well trained
manpower for online help, to manage the collection, etc.
The use of search
engines, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and metadata will allow digital
library to operate.
6. Resources of a Digital Library: The
resources of a digital library are those, which the computer can store,
organize, transmit and display without any intervening conversion process. The
resources of a digital library mainly consist of e-book, v-book, electronic
tax, map, image, sound, and video. The digital material may be of multimedia
types or any other i.e. only digital audio, video, full text information,
photograph, drawing, digitized sound, 3D representation, etc. The collection
may include structured / unstructured text, scanned images, graphic audios,
video recording, etc. In the digital environment anyone who has access to the
internet can be a publisher by merely posting messages to an online discussion
group or other. So, digital library’s collection should also be enhanced with
links to such resources. The resources of a digital library can be grouped into
the following categories
a) Online
Resources: The online resources may be free resources available over the web or the
subscribed resources by the library.
i) Subscribed Resources: The
subscribed bibliographic and full text database, E-Journal, E-Books, etc.
ii) Free Resources: Electronic resources accessible on
the web for free are undeniably major and important constituent of a digital
library. To build a digital library all these resources need to go through the
process of selection, acquisition (by way of linking) and management. The
information contents of a digital library, depending on the media type, may
include a combination of structured / unstructured text, numerical data,
scanned images, graphics, audio and video recordings. Different types of
resources need to be handled differently in digital library environment. Local
database of traditional books in machine-readable form, E-book, v-book,
electronic tax, map, image, sound, video, and multimedia, E-journal, etc. can
also be liked from the digital library.
b) Off line
Resources: The offline resources can be of the following
types:
i) Born
Digital: The Library may have a section
devoted to accessing the growing collection of computer readable materials,
C.D-ROM, Juke Box, etc.
ii) Make Digital: A twenty first century library at
least should digitize the portion of the collection whose copyright expired and
make available to the user.
7. Examples of Digital Libraries: Most of the
libraries started providing OPAC terminals to the user to access the
bibliographic records of the library holdings. Internet browsing and searching,
E-Mail, Chat, Video Conferencing facilities are also provided under the broader
term of Internet Section in the library. Along with the access to the internet,
it also provides access to the subscribed databases. The downloaded articles
from the subscribe databases can be printed upon request. Back issues of
selected journals and newspapers are also available in some library as digital
or microfilm copies, with readers and printers provided for access. Some
libraries already more or less switched over to digital mode i.e. they are
making the digitized images of printed books, periodical which are not
available in electronic format and there after no new procurement are being
made on print media. Some of the digital library initiatives in India and
abroad are mentioned below-
a) Project
Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org): Project Gutenberg is a volunteer
effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to encourage the creation and
distribution of eBooks. It was founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart and is the
oldest digital library. As on 30th January, 2017, Project Gutenberg offers
over 53,000 free ebooks collected from free epub books and free kindle books.
The ebooks are downloadable or can be read online.
b) Word Digital Library (http://www.wdl.org): The World
Digital Library (WDL) is a project of the U.S. Library of Congress, carried out
with the support of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific
Organization (UNESCO), and in cooperation with libraries, archives, museums,
educational institutions, and international organizations from around the world.
The WDL makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual
format, significant primary materials from all countries and cultures. The
project brings together on single website rare and unique documents – books,
journals, manuscripts, maps, prints and photographs, films, and sound
recordings – that tell the story of the world’s cultures. The site is intended
for general users, students, teachers, and scholars.
c) Google
Books (http://books.google.com): Google Book previously known as Google Book Search
and Google Print is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of
books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical
character recognition, and stored in its digital database. Books are provided
either by publishers and authors, through the Google Books Partner Program, or
by Google's library partners, through the Library Project.
d) Ancient
World Digital Library (http://dlib.nyu.edu/ancientworld/): AWDL is an
initiative of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York
University. AWDL identify, collect, curate, and provide access to the broadest
possible range of scholarly materials relevant to the study of the ancient
world.
e) Universal
Digital Library (http://www.ulib.org/):
Universal Digital Library also known as the Million Book Project, was a
book digitization project, led by Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer
Science and University Libraries. Working with government and research partners
in India (Digital Library of India) and China, the project scanned books in
many languages, using OCR to enable full text searching, and providing
free-to-read access to the books on the web.
f) Digital
Library of India (http://www.dli.gov.in): Digital Library of India, part of
the online services of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and partner
in the Million Book Project, provides free access to many books in English and
Indian languages. The scanning of Indian language books has created an
opportunity for developing Indian language Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
software. The publications are mainly in PDF or QuickTime format.
g) National
Digital Library (https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in): Ministry of Human Resource
Development under its National Mission on Education through Information and
Communication Technology has initiated the National Digital Library (NDL) pilot
project to develop a framework of virtual repository of learning resources with
a single-window search facility. Filtered and federated searching is employed
to facilitate focused searching so that learners can find out the right
resource with least effort and in minimum time. NDL is designed to hold content
of any language and provides interface support for leading vernacular languages
(currently Hindi and Bengali). It is being developed at IIT Kharagpur.
8. Advantages of the Digital Library: A digital
library is not confined to a particular location or so called building, it is
virtually distributed all over the world. The user can get his/ her information
on his own computer screen by using the internet. Actually it is a network of
multimedia system which provides finger tip access. The spoken words or the
graphical display of a digital library is again having a different impact from
the words that are printed. In the new environment owning a document will not
be problem for the library because the library can provide a link to it and the
the user will pay for its uses if required.
a) No
Physical Boundary: The user of a digital library need not to go to the
library physically; people from all over the world could gain access to the
same information, as long as an Internet connection is available.
b) Round the
Clock Availability: Digital libraries can be accessed at any time, 24
hours a day and 365 days of the year.
c) Provide Multiple
Accesses: The same resources can be used at the same time by a number of users.
d) Provide Structured
Approach: Digital library provides access to much richer content in a more
structured manner i.e. we can easily move from the catalogue to the particular
book then to a particular chapter and so on.
e) Post Coordinate based Information Retrieval: The user will be able to use any
search term belonging to the word or phrase of the entire collection. Again,
digital library will provide very user friendly interfaces, giving clickable
access to its resources.
f) Protection against Damage: An exact
copy of the original can be made any number of times without any degradation in
quality.
g) Save Space: Whereas
traditional libraries are limited by storage space, digital libraries have the
potential to store much more information, simply because digital information
requires very little physical space to contain them. When the library had no
space for extension then digitization is the only solution.
h) Help in Networking: A
particular digital library can provide the link to any other resources of other
digital library very easily. Thus a seamlessly integrated resource sharing can
be achieved.
i) Save Cost: The cost of
maintaining a digital library is much lower than that of a traditional library.
A traditional library must spend large sums of money paying for staff, book
maintenance, rent, and additional books, digital libraries do away with these
fees.
9. Disadvantages of the Digital Library: The following are the disadvantages of digital library-
a) Violate Copyright Laws:
Digitization of copyrighted materials without permission violates the existing
copyright law.
b) Exposing
to the Plagiarism: In the digital
environment the thought content of one author can be freely transferred by
others without his / her acknowledgement.
c) Slow Speed
of Access: As more and more computer is connected to the
internet its speed of access is reasonably decreasing. If new technology will
not evolve to solve the problem then in near future internet will be full of
error messages.
d) Initial
Cost is High: The infrastructure cost of digital library i.e. the
cost of hardware, software, leasing communication circuit is generally very
high.
e) Decreasing Bandwidth: Digital
library will need high bandwidth for transfer of multimedia resources but the
band width is decreasing day by day.
f) Focus on More Retrieval than the Accuracy: With the much larger volume of
digital information, finding the right material for a specific task becomes
increasingly difficult.
g) User of Print Information are Still There: Digital
libraries cannot reproduce the environment of a traditional library. Many
people also find reading printed material to be easier than reading material on
a computer screen.
h) Quick Degrading Properties of Digital Information: Due to technological
developments, a digital library can rapidly become out-of-date and its data may
become inaccessible. The different display standard of digital product and its
associated problem are another dimension.
i) Health
Hazard Nature of Digital Library: The health hazard nature of the radiation from
monitor is another problem of the digital libraries.
10. Role of Librarian in Digital Environment: Though the
digital environment is built as a system which can be used by its ultimate end
user directly from their desktop, laptop, hand held devices but the role of
librarian cannot be overlooked. In the digital environment, the librarian will
be more or less a hypertext engineer. In digital environment also the librarian
and information scientist will be needed for
a) Packaging
and Repackaging of Information: In the new environment a whole lot of resources will
be available in each field of knowledge. In such an environment, the librarian
may help the user in providing pin pointed information by packaging and
re-packaging of existing information.
b)
Electronic Publishing: The librarian in the digital environment needs to
assist the authors in electronic publishing.
c) Reference
Purpose: The job of
identifying, locating and obtaining document not procured by the library.
d) User
Education: To advice
the user about the strategy to identify relevant electronic sources, etc.
11. Conclusion: Digital libraries are not going to
replace the physical existence of document completely but no doubt to meet the
present demand, to satisfy the non local user digitization must be introduced
so that at least libraries becomes of hybrid nature. The initial cost of
digitization is high but experiment shows that once digitization is introduced
then the cost to manage this collection will be cheaper than that of any
traditional library. Day by day the cost of digitization is also decreasing,
the online publication is increasing, the need of users are shifting towards a
different environment so it is needless to say that in future all library will
shift over to digital mode, if not fully at least to some extent. So it is the
pick time to all library and informational science professional to gear
themselves in building digital library and taking it as a challenge.
How to Cite this
Article?
APA Citation, 7th Ed.: Barman, B. (2020). A comprehensive book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications.
Chicago 16th Ed.: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. Guwahati:
New Publications, 2020.
MLA Citation 8th Ed: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications, 2020.