Advantages of digital libraries

       Advantages of digital libraries

    A digital library is an organized collection of digitized material which can be easily accessible from a computer on the network. The user can get his/ her information on his own computer screen by using the Internet.

     Advantages:

1. No physical boundary.
       ~ The user of a digital library do not go to the library physically, people from all over the world could get access to the same information, as long as an Internet connection is available.

2. Round the clock availability.
       ~ Digital libraries can be accessed at any time, 24 hours a day and 365 days of the year.

3. Multiple accesses.
       ~The same resources can be used at the same time by a number of users

4. Structure approach.
        ~ Digital library provides access to much richer content in a more structured manner.

5. Information retrieval.
        ~ The user is able to use any search term bellowing to the word or phrase of the entire collection.

6. Preservation and conservation.
        ~ An exact copy of the original can be made any number of times without any degradation in quality.

7. 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.

8. Networking.
        ~ A particular digital library can provide the link to any other resources of other digital library very easily.

9. 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 maintains, rent, and additional books.

The Future of Information is Digital

    As our world keeps moving toward the future so does the way we read, or search for text and information. The internet has made it possible for us to search or read the text that we want with just a click of a button from our computer or other devices like amazon kindle. A decade ago, if you wanted to do research on particular subject it was time consuming, but now with everything online that information can be searched in a short amount of time. With the availability of digital libraries, we can access this text or information anytime and anyplace as we want. 

  The digital library is definitely the future for  information because it's not just text or documents that are available, but also audio, video, or photograph can be accessed or downloaded instantly. Today, almost everyone has access to the internet which means all the information or text that we need can be reached within seconds. Another positive about digital libraries is that it can eliminate the space needed to store all the physical books, audio, or video. 

 

Creating and producing digital libraries is challenging, and costly. It requires large amounts of data to be stored. It also requires a scanner to copy and transfer text and documents to digital form.  Digital libraries also need to be in standard format in order operate smoothly. With all the available technology we have, and funds from the government, making it available and free for all will definitely benefit us all. 

Scanner Machine

Have you heard of  bookmobile?

  Bookmobile is  a place where you can download books at a very low cost. It is set up in a car, van, or truck with satellite internet which is needed to access content online. In addition, not only can you download books, you can also download music, and video! 

By: Neisan Salinas, Kevin Nay, Deborah Brower, Kevin Samuels, Taylor Balastias, Harrison West

49er's Very Own Digital Library

49er's Very Own Digital Library

 

 

One digital library that all Charlotte 49ers should be familiar with is our very own

J. Murrey Atkins Library

Most students only use the physical library on campus, but we have a pretty vast digital library that is easily accessible at

http://library.uncc.edu/

UNCC’s digital library is very helpful to the busy college student who has to juggle school, work, and extracurricular activities. From my own experiences with certain classes teachers won’t really accept websites as a source and if they do the amount you can use as references are limited. Teachers are pushing for students to use books and articles from primary sources or secondary sources as references in our research.

Other benefits of Charlotte’s digital library include a

24 hour live chat for students to receive help with navigating through the site because it is a lot to take in and sometimes students need help on narrowing down their findings or filtering the actual types of resources they are allowed to use or need to use. The good thing about having a digital library is that you can filter what you’re looking for whether it is a book, article, or video. You can even go as far as filtering whether those selected items are downloadable for continued use offline or peer reviewed for credibility.

 

 

It’s a great convenience for me because as a college student I have so many other things going on in my life. Yes the library is open 24 hours most days but does that really mean I want to walk all the way over there when I can simply find almost the exact thing in their online

digital library? I can find even more because when searching through the database I can set my search to find my topics in the Libraries Worldwide section or I can look specifically into the material that only UNCC’s library has to offer. Now with UNC Charlottes digital library I still have the ability to go online to find the information I need and please my teachers, but its less of a hassle and I end up acing my assignment.



Public vs Digital

Public vs. Digital

DID YOU KNOW??

Despite the recent increase in personal technology usage, such as tablets, and smart phones, printed books are still more popular than digital books. 

• 69% of Americans read a printed book last year
• However, those who read an e-book increased from 17% to 28%

Take a look for yourself:

Cited

50% of adults use an e-reader. Nonetheless, majority of Americans prefer to use a public library. These reasons include:

• Access printers and the internet
• Youth programs
• Job search assistance
• Librarians ( personal hep)
• Research resources

These are just a few of the factors that differentiate public libraries from digital libraries. But digital libraries have a few positives as well, including:

• 24 hour access
• Ease of access
• Easy retrieval

Personally, I prefer printed books over digital. They are easier on the eyes and just feel more authentic. To add to this, I love the quiet and stillness of a library. 

Let us know which you guys prefer below!!

The Start of Our Journey- Digital Libraries

W e l c o m e Readers!

We would like to invite you to learn, experience, and share with us as we dip our toes into the world of digital libraries and their information services

This blog will be a collection of our mutual thoughts and findings as we discover more about virtual libraries. More importantly, we would like to write about them from the college student perspective...

• What are they? What purpose do they serve? 
• Why are they useful to us as students? 
• How can we take advantage of them and use them to our benefit?

These are just a couple of the questions you might have, and us too!

First to get started, a general definition so you get an idea of what we are talking about here…

A DIGITAL LIBRARY IS...

"A managed digital collection of information, and associated services, that is systematically organized and available through a network."

* * *

-Notice that these libraries are managed. Man-made. They are created to provide electronic knowledge to the population. 

- Also take notice that they are networks. They serve as an exchange of data among people.

* * *

What kind of data do they share?

A few types of the data exchanged includes but is not limited too...

1. Text Information
2. Visual Material
3. Audio Material
4. Video Material

EXAMPLE:

Among our research, we stumbled upon the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Not to get into too much detail, but here is a basic overview of the organization and the service and information they provide. As we continue the blog, we hope to dig more into their corporation and learn more about them… So tune into following posts for that!

Digital Public Library of America:

Launched in April of 2013, DPLA is both a portal and an innovative platform. Developer's make apps that use the library's data in a variety of ways. Here you can explore 8,417,029 different items from libraries, archives, and museums. They consider themselves a portal that gives students, teachers, scholars, and the public incredible resources no matter of their location.It's not just a search engine- it utilizes technology to strengthen the public option that libraries make available in their communities.  

Check out their website and see for yourself here: http://dp.la 

It is actually quite amazing the feat this website has become. In just a few short years, the creators have become well on their way to accomplishing their goal of providing open and coherent access to our society's digitized cultural heritage. And it does not seem to have an end in sight! They recently just published their strategic plan and goals for 2015-17.