Role of Digital Libraries in Education

Authors: Dr. Anil Mirchandani , Dr. Vishal Mehta

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Abstract

Library is fundamentally an organized set of educational resources, which include human services as well as the entire spectrum of media. Digital libraries have the following characteristics – they store, preserve, distribute and protect contents in different formats and at the same time, they allow interaction between the user and the contents; they are always present, both geographically and over time. They can make the research work internationally known, enhancing referencing and citations; they can publicise the products of the educational process and let them be used as inputs for further learning. This work addresses some aspects of digital libraries such as easy accessibility, availability, interaction, customization and reuse that make them suitable tools to support the higher education.

Introduction

Since centuries, libraries have been there as keepers and distributors of books, journals, maps and other materials that are being used by students in the learning process. They have been the legal deposit of part of the products of scholarly Publications – Theses & Dissertations, Articles, Technical Reports, etc. In general, students are patrons of the libraries of their institutions. In order to make more contents available and to benefit the students and the members of faculty, pools of institutions have engaged in commuting items and/or their copies. There is no reason for digital libraries not to have the same functions of traditional libraries, except that they can add functions and value due to their digital and networked nature. Books and traditional items have been kept and distributed by the university libraries and on the other hand, class notes, simulators, spread sheets and other materials created by faculty have traditionally been made available by their authors through copies in an informal distribution situation. The use of ICT – Information and Communication tools has changed the informal distribution to computer and networked based solutions

Conclusion

Libraries have been the companions of education since many centuries. They have not only preserved but also gave access to all sorts of materials – books, manuscripts, rare documents, journals, maps, etc., that have supported the learning process. The digital libraries have also been the keepers of materials prepared by students, members of faculty and researchers – Graduate and Post Graduate projects, theses & dissertations, technical reports, etc. In this sense they have functioned as the institutional collection. It is important to remark that for the materials prepared by the educational institutions, the library has to grant access while preserving the documents as an archive. Theses and dissertations are scientific works but at the same time, are parts of the history of the research institution.