Digital library

Categories: Digital libraries | Library and information science

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. In libraries, the process of digitization began with the catalog, moved to periodical indexes and abstracting services, then to periodicals and large reference works, and finally to book publishing. Some of the largest and most successful digital libraries are Project Gutenberg, ibiblio and the Internet Archive.

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Advantages

A major advantage of digital libraries is that people from all over the world can gain access to the information at any time, as long as an Internet connection is available. This also eliminates the logistical problems inherent in organizing and lending print materials.

Whereas traditional libraries are limited by storage space, digital libraries have the potential to store much more information, simply because digital information require very little physical space to contain them. As such, 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.

Digital libraries can immediately adopt innovations in technology providing users with improvements in electronic and audio book technology as well as presenting new forms of communication such as wikis and blogs.

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Disadvantages

Some people have criticized that digital libraries are hampered by copyright law, because works cannot be shared over different periods of time in the manner of a traditional library. The content is, in many cases, public domain or self-generated content only. Some digital libraries, such as Project Gutenberg, work to digitize out-of-copyright works and make them freely available to the public.

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. Also, due to technological developments, a digital library can rapidly become out-of-date and its data may become unaccessible.

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See also

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External links

fr:Bibliothèque en ligne it:Biblioteca digitale nl:Digitale bibliotheek ja:電子図書館 pt:Biblioteca digital