Sandeep
Kumar
Asstt. Librarian
Dyal Singh College, Karnal
Abstract
Digital libraries are quite new- about 20
years of age. At the same time, there is no doubt in denying the fact that they
have been growing at a rapid speed. Digital libraries store, preserve,
distribute and protect contents in different formats as well as allow
interaction between the user and the contents. These digital libraries always
aim to psesent both graphically and overtime. By using digital mode, they can
work internationally known, enhancing referencing and citations. The present
work analyses some of the important aspects of digital libraries that make them
suitable tools to support higher education.
Paper
A digital
library is a special library with a focused collection of digital
objects that can include text, visual material, audio material, video material,
stored as electronic media formats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media), along with
means for organizing, storing, and retrieving the files and media contained in
the library collection. Digital libraries can vary immensely in size and scope,
and can be maintained by individuals, organizations, or affiliated with
established physical library buildings or institutions, or with academic
institutions. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely
via computer networks. An electronic library is a type of information retrieval system.
The term digital
libraries was first
popularized by the NSF/DARPA/NASA Digital Libraries Initiative in 1994
These draw heavily on Vannevar
Bush's essay As We May Think (1945), which set out a vision not in
terms of technology, but user experience. The term virtual library was initially used interchangeably
with digital library, but is now primarily used for
libraries that are virtual in other senses (such as libraries which aggregate
distributed content). In the early days of digital libraries, there was discussion
of the similarities and differences among the terms digital, virtual, and electronic. Many digital libraries offer recommender systems to reduce information overload and help their users discovering
relevant literature. Some examples of digital libraries offering recommender
systems are IEEE Xplore, Europeana, and GESIS Sowiport. The recommender
systems work mostly based on content-based
filtering but also other
approaches are used such as collaborative
filtering and citation-based
recommendations.
Typically, digital libraries develop and
maintain their own recommender systems based on existing search and
recommendation frameworks such as Apache
Lucene or Apache Mahout. However, there are also
some recommendations-as-a-service providers specializing in offering a
recommender system for digital libraries as
a service.
Advantages
The advantages of digital libraries as a means
of easily and rapidly accessing books, archives and images of various types are
now widely recognized by commercial interests and public bodies alike.
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 it As such, the cost of maintaining a digital library can be much lower
than that of a traditional library. A physical library must spend large sums of
money paying for staff, book maintenance, rent, and additional books. Digital
libraries may reduce or, in some instances, do away with these fees. Both types
of library require cataloging input to allow users to locate and retrieve
material. Digital libraries may be more willing to 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; conventional libraries may consider that providing online access to
their OP AC catalog is sufficient. An important advantage to digital conversion
is increased accessibility to users. They also increase availability to
individuals who may not be traditional patrons of a library, due to geographic
location or organizational affiliation.
No physical boundary: The user of a digital library need not to go to the
library physically; people from all over the world can gain access to the same
information, as long as an Internet connection is available.
Round the clock availability: A major advantage of digital libraries is that people can
gain access 24/7 to the information.
Multiple access: The same resources can be used simultaneously by a number
of institutions and patrons. This may not be the case for copyrighted material:
a library may have a license for "lending out" only one copy at a
time; this is achieved with a system of digital
rights management where a
resource can become inaccessible after expiration of the lending period or
after the lender chooses to make it inaccessible (equivalent to returning the
resource).
Information retrieval: The user is able to use any search term (word, phrase,
title, name, subject) to search the entire collection. Digital libraries can
provide very user-friendly interfaces, giving click able access to its
resources.
Preservation and conservation: Digitization is not a long-term preservation solution for
physical collections, but does succeed in providing access copies for materials
that would otherwise fall to degradation from repeated use. Digitized
collections and born-digital objects pose many preservations and conservation
concerns that analog materials do not. Please see the following
"Problems" section of this page for examples.
Space: Whereas traditional libraries are limited by storage
space, digital libraries have the potential to store much more informations,
simply because digital information requires very little physical space to
contain them and media storage technologies are more affordable than ever
before.
Added value: Certain characteristics of objects, primarily the quality
of images, may be improved. Digitization can enhance legibility and remove
visible flaws such as stains and discoloration.
Digital libraries are hampered by copyright law because, unlike with traditional
printed works, the laws of digital copyright are still being formed. The
republication of material on the web by libraries may require permission from
rights holders, and there is a conflict of interest between libraries and the
publishers who may wish to create online versions of their acquired content for
commercial purposes. In 2010, it was estimated that twenty-three percent of
books in existence were created before 1923 and thus out of copyright. Of those
printed after this date, only five percent were still in print as of 2010.
Thus, approximately seventy-two percent of books were not available to the
public.
There is a dilution of responsibility that
occurs as a result of the distributed nature of digital resources. Complex
intellectual property matters may become involved since digital material is not
always owned by a 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. An estimate of the number of distinct books still
existent in library catalogues from 2000 BC to 1960, has been made.
The Fair
Use Provisions (17 USC § 107) under the Copyright Act of 1976 provide specific guidelines under
which circumstances libraries are allowed to copy digital resources. Four
factors that constitute fair use are "Purpose of the use, Nature of the
work, Amount or substantiality used and Market impact." Some digital
libraries acquire a license to lend their resources. This may involve the
restriction of lending out only one copy at a time for each license, and
applying a system of digital
rights management for this
purpose (see also above).
Digital preservation
aims to ensure that digital media and information systems are still
interpretable into the indefinite future. Each necessary component of this must
be migrated, preserved or emulated.
Typically lower levels of systems (floppy disks for example) are emulated, bit-streams
(the actual files stored in the disks) are preserved and operating systems are
emulated as a virtual machine. In
this regard Thomas.H.Lapter says: “Only where the meaning and content of
digital media and information systems are well understood is migration
possible, as is the case for office documents.”1 However, at least one
organization, the Wider Net
Project, has created an offline digital library, the e Granary, by reproducing materials on
a 4 TB hard drive. Instead of a bit-stream
environment, the digital library contains a built-in proxy server and search
engine so the digital materials
can be accessed using an Internet
browser.[26] Also, the
materials are not preserved for the future. The e Granary is intended for use
in places or situations where Internet connectivity is very slow, non-existent,
unreliable, unsuitable or too expensive. But, it also pose for the risk of
online hazards which could be disastrous as the physical natural calamities.
Effective ways of prevention like that of maintaining a backup system are hence
very much essential.
Copyright and licensing
Digital libraries are hampered by copyright law because, unlike with traditional
printed works, the laws of digital copyright are still being formed. The
republication of material on the web by libraries may require permission from
rights holders, and there is a conflict of interest between libraries and the
publishers who may wish to create online versions of their acquired content for
commercial purposes. In 2010, it was estimated that twenty-three percent of
books in existence were created before 1923 and thus out of copyright. Of those
printed after this date, only five percent were still in print as of 2010.
Thus, approximately seventy-two percent of books were not available to the
public.
Pymm Bob Says in this connection: “There is a
dilution of responsibility that occurs as a result of the distributed nature of
digital resources. Complex intellectual property matters may become involved
since digital material is not always owned by a library.”2 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. An estimate of the number of distinct books still
existent in library catalogues from 2000 BC to 1960, has been made.
The Fair
Use Provisions (17 USC § 107) under the Copyright Act of 1976 provide specific guidelines under
which circumstances libraries are allowed to copy digital resources. Four
factors that constitute fair use are "Purpose of the use, Nature of the
work, Amount or substantiality used and Market impact."
Some digital libraries acquire a license to lend
their resources. This may involve the restriction of lending out only one copy
at a time for each license, and applying a system of digital rights management for this purpose (see also above).
The Digital
Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
was an act created in the United States to attempt to deal with the
introduction of digital works. This Act incorporates two treaties from the year
1996. It criminalizes the attempt to circumvent measures which limit access to
copyrighted materials. It also criminalizes the act of attempting to circumvent
access control. This act provides an exemption for nonprofit libraries and
archives which allows up to three copies to be made, one of which may be
digital. This may not be made public or distributed on the web, however.
Further, it allows libraries and archives to copy a work if its format becomes
obsolete.
This is what Van Le Christopher says when he
asserts “Copyright issues persist. As such, proposals have been put forward
suggesting that digital libraries be exempt from copyright law. Although this
would be very beneficial to the public, it may have a negative economic effect
and authors may be less inclined”3
In traditional libraries, the ability to find
works of interest is directly related to how well they were cataloged. While
cataloging electronic works digitized from a library's existing holding may be
as simple as copying or moving a record from the print to the electronic form,
complex and born-digital works require substantially more effort. To handle the
growing volume of electronic publications, new tools and technologies have to
be designed to allow effective automated semantic classification and searching.
While full text search can be used for some items, there are
many common catalog searches which cannot be performed using full text,
including:
References
1. Ltaper, Thomas H. "Where Next? Long-Term Considerations for
Digital Initiatives." Kentucky
Libraries 65(2)(2001):12-18.
2. Pymm, Bob. "Building Collections for All
Time: The Issue of Significance." Australian
Academic & Research Libraries. 37(1)
(2006):61-73.
3. Van Le, Christopher, "Opening the Doors to Digital Libraries: A
Proposal to Exempt Digital Libraries From the Copyright Act," Case Western Reserve Journal of
Law, Technology & The Internet, 1.2 (Spring 2010),145
