DIGITAL LIBRARIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Current status of libraries in India

• education system largely does not encourage use of libraries• almost entirely paper-based• academic libraries often difficult to access, use• financial limitations• access to latest papers/articles very difficult

a digital library could help address some of these issues, but it needs to be part of a change in the way university education works

DIGITAL LIBRARIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

How would a digital library help?

• theoretically enable anyone with access to a computer to get to latest international research/publications• could be part of larger program to document and digitize local knowledge, research, publications, and make them more accessible to wider national & international community• could be part of Schoolnet-type project for rural areas

but…

DIGITAL LIBRARIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Potential hurdles/problems

• costs – access plus infrastructure (computers plus high-speed connections) •what about all current material (e.g., books) that is currently not digitally available• would this be yet another elitist facility, open only to English-educated upper-class people? Can it be any different, and if so how?

DIGITAL LIBRARIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

What are the issues in designing a digital library?- How might an Indian library differ from, say, the UC digital library?

- Cultural differences in the material included (customary knowledge, religious issues, politics…)

- “Practical” resources not easily put in text form, but that could be digitalized (images, video, spoken records…)

- Adaptation to locally variable needs (different parts of India may have different needs)- Multiple languages (not a single dominant

language)

DIGITAL LIBRARIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

What are the practical issues in designing a library?

- Where would the library be based?

- How would the library be accessed, in the great variety of Indian communities (cities, villages…),

and in the realities of literacy and living conditions?

- How would the library be updated and maintained?

- How would paper materials be digitalized?

- Who would have input into the design and management: villagers, schools…?

DIGITAL LIBRARIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

How to build such a digital library?

- Need significant funding ($50 million? $200 million?) and control by Indian actors

- Potentially, foundations such as the Gates Foundation or the Packard Foundation

- Role of Indian governments?