What is a digital library
According to Cunha and Cavalcanti (2008),
the term digital library is appropriate to define the provision of content in
digital format that can be accessed remotely. Digital libraries combine the
structure and collection of information in its traditional, analog form with
the digital resources offered by information technology (CUNHA, 2008). Thus, an
informational resource in digital format can be accessed by users remotely and
retrieved from various access points, provided they are organized.
Therefore, when we talk about a digital
library, we are referring to access to digital content made available through a
specific technological platform, which allows users who are duly registered and
have authorized access to borrow different types of content available in the
library.
This content can include digital books,
audiobooks, podcasts, periodicals, or various other formats that each library
offers its users based on its characteristics and objectives.
When it comes to digital libraries, there
are several types:
Public library – The modern public library
is currently conceived as a project for educating citizens...it aims to work on
three fronts to promote social and human development: reading, information, and
culture (Rodríguez Santa María, 2013, p. 10). By nature, the public library is
not intended for a restricted audience, but is open to permanent user
membership. In addition, the public library focuses on contemporary and
non-technical literature.
Virtual library – According to Cunha and
Cavalcanti (2008), the virtual library can be understood as a collection of
links. These links can be to websites where the content is available, or to
files stored on local servers.
School library - Its main objectives are to
build knowledge, stimulate a desire for reading in individuals from their early
school years, provide a cultural resource, assist teachers with the
informational material necessary for classroom teaching, and update knowledge
in all areas of learning. It consists of bibliographic, audiovisual, and other
media materials and makes them available to an educational community.
University library - In a higher education
institution, the library aims to be essential for the education of individuals
who study and produce scientific knowledge. As such, the university library is
a repository of licensed content for student education, but it is also a
repository of internally produced content, as a result of research and
investigation carried out by students, teachers, and researchers at the
university.
The dimensions of a public digital
library
The different types of libraries mentioned
above have distinct characteristics. In this case, empirical experience in
public libraries has revealed that there are four observable dimensions in
public libraries:
- House of words. The library is a place
for reading and literature (written and oral). Reading and literature should
not only be present in their written form, but should also reproduce orality,
as a means of transmitting knowledge and information, but also as a tool for
accessibility for all library users.
- Cultural square. The library should be a
place for meetings and exchanges of ideas. As a meeting place, the library
allows for planned or spontaneous encounters. It is also a place for exchanges,
for sharing experiences, migrations, life experiences, origins, and
destinations.
- Autonomous construction of knowledge. The
library has no place for censorship. It is a place for free and independent
information seeking.
- Third place. Home is considered the first
place. The workplace is the second place. The library is the third place, a
place of freedom, welcome, listening, and leisure. It is a place of rest,
movement, sounds, and silence.
Why invest in a digital library
Because it is a strategic way to promote
the formation of communities of practice (CoPs), a concept coined by Wenger
(1998) as communities that bring together people informally united by common
interests in learning and, above all, in its application, which can be the
production and sharing of information and the formation of reading communities
and new readers. Digital libraries allow the building of communities of
interest that access, but also generate information and share with each other.
But digital libraries can also serve as
spaces for digital networking, where communities of interest seek to expand
their network of contacts, exchange knowledge and experiences, and share
feelings and emotions about what they have learned through reading and
literature.
This is because physical libraries are
local and have restricted access. Digital libraries are an extension of
physical libraries and connect them to the world. The digital library is not
intended to be, nor is it configured as, a replacement for the physical
library. It is important to demystify the still prevalent and fearful idea,
even among library professionals, that the library and the digital book can be
compared to the library and the physical book from the point of view of which
of the two offers the best experience for the reader. The digital library and
book are a different reading experience from the physical one. Seen in this
light, we can objectively state that between the physical and the digital there
is an enriching and complementary experience that broadens the experience of
accessibility, connection with reading and other content and information, which
together (physical + digital library) enhance the reader's experience.
Because technological progress and digital
inclusion in access to culture, literature, and information is also a mission
of the digital library. The digital library, due to its intrinsic
characteristics, is an ideal environment for the development of actions and
programs for training and guiding users on digital technologies. The digital
library must ensure that all people who use it have the necessary skills to use
these technologies in a meaningful way. In this process, we can also include
the need for literacy in the use of Artificial Intelligence. Libraries are
organizations whose function is to serve the communities connected to them. As
organizations that are responsive to their users, they must propose to educate
and train them in the understanding, critical, and responsible use of
Artificial Intelligence.
Because it guarantees the strengthening of
democracy by promoting access to quality information and the formation of
critical and free citizens. Jason Stanley (2018), in his book How Fascism
Works, reports that governments that align themselves with some form of fascism
work hard to deconstruct the past and recreate a mythical past to support their
views of the present. This way of rewriting history can generate misconceptions
and a fragmented perception of reality, promoting misinformation and denial of
the truth.
Because it is a strategic way to promote
access to reading, literature, and books, and contribute to the formation of
reading communities and readers.
The digital library, as we have already
said, broadens the experience of reading and accessing books, due to its
intrinsic characteristics of not being restricted to space and time. But as a
library, it also has a function of preparing readers to take an interest in
books and reading. In my opinion, the formation of readers should be an
experience that begins from the moment of conception. There are several
scientific studies that prove the importance of reading to babies still in the
womb from 20 weeks or the fifth month of pregnancy, a period when their hearing
is developing and they begin to be stimulated by sounds from outside the womb
(Infância e Maternidade magazine, 2022). Reading is important not only for
creating a bond between mother and baby, but also for the baby's cognitive
development. After that, the formation of readers is encouraged and built at
home. Parents should be responsible for creating a reading habit for their
children from childhood. This happens when stories are read to children, when
they are given the experience of touching, licking, and playing with books.
When you take your children to the library
and involve them in events that discuss books and reading. After home comes
school. Teachers take on and represent this role of fostering the habit of
reading by encouraging, proposing, and presenting reading opportunities and
book suggestions in a playful and free manner to students. Then comes the
library. Etymologically, the word library means box/cabinet of books. Guardian
of human knowledge. With the proliferation of books, libraries gradually
acquired exhibition characteristics, also concerned with disseminating the
knowledge acquired. But with the arrival of new technologies, library
professionals sometimes fail to realize that educational activities with their
users are more important than the mere management of the collection and
organization of library activities.
Libraries and books are memory and
world-building, but it is important to think more explicitly about reading, a
fundamental element in working with collections. Readers have needs that did
not exist in the past, both in terms of access to information and support in
its use. As a result, libraries also have to adapt to this new demand, offering
services and activities that promote the pleasure of reading to their readers.
How to create a digital library
To create a digital library, it is
important to start with advance planning regarding the type of library you want
to create, its objectives, its geographical scope (whether it will be
restricted to a group or number of users, or whether it will be open to a
larger number of users), the human and financial resources available, and,
based on this, develop a strategic plan.
In strategic planning, you can start by
thinking about a pilot project for a digital library. That is, a library for a
smaller number of users, with a reduced number of books. After a period
(perhaps one year) of testing and evaluating results, you can move on to
implementing a permanent library.
A project manager can assist in drafting a
Project Charter (TAP), a document that defines the details of the project, the
list of stakeholders, the macro schedule, and considerations about the project,
including project risks. This step will be crucial in helping to clarify what
type of platform should be contracted for library management. At this point, it
is important to note that there is the option of developing your own platform
or using open source repository systems already available on the market, such
as Joomla, DSpace, Omeka Classic, Omeka Semantic, Wix, or Wordpress.
Regarding objectives, although a library is
a public facility, it is important to define short-, medium-, and long-term
goals. What registrations do you want to achieve, how many loans, and other
important variables to measure the project's objectives.
The geographical scope of the library is a
structural issue when considering the creation of a digital library. This step
will have decisive implications for the library's territorial reach and number
of users, but it will also impact the budget over time.
When talking about the human and financial
resources available, it should be made clear that a digital library requires a
qualified technical and management team with skills in librarianship, digital
technologies and social media, marketing, and communication, as well as a
budget that will meet the previously established objectives.
Strategic planning will contain the
library's vision for the present and the future. It will be necessary to think
about and develop a strategic plan that will structure the demands and response
strategies for the coming years. For this reason, strategic planning is crucial
to keeping the library alive, meeting and exceeding the defined objectives and
goals. This strategic plan will also contain a vision for the future, seeking
new content and incorporating innovative technological solutions supported by
Artificial Intelligence. Strategic planning will allow us to think about
methodologies for evaluating projects and programs, the team and their ongoing
training and qualification needs, the development of new content, and the
collection itself.
What are the positive impacts of a
digital library?
Digital libraries have very important
positive impacts. According to Professor Francisco Paletta in his paper
presented at the National Seminar on University Libraries in 2018, entitled:
“Digital Library: Information Technology Management,” he mentions the following
positive impacts of digital libraries:
Cost reduction - User service environments
are rapidly changing to mobile, global, and virtual research locations that are
culturally diverse and costly to maintain and support. By consolidating
hardware, applications, and support processes within their work environments,
digital libraries can manage and reduce IT costs while improving return on
investment.
Increased productivity of information
professionals. To achieve this goal, digital libraries are seeking ways to
increase collaboration and teamwork by creating a borderless, reliable, and
secure work environment that provides connection and access to information
anytime, anywhere.
Reducing IT
complexity - A lack of standardization within the computing environment can
increase the time and costs required to manage and support it. At the same
time, as computing environments become more complex, the level of knowledge and
expertise required to support them increases. IT lifecycle management tools
enable hardware platform standardization; reduce redundant devices; simplify
and automate computing processes; and manage support functions and build the
flexibility and stability that enable the dynamic conditions of digital
information management.
Furthermore,
digital libraries enable a network of possibilities for accessing a wide
variety of content and information, more quickly and in a single location, as
we can see from some examples of digital libraries around the world.
Europeana is a
virtual library managed by the Europeana Foundation and co-financed by the
European Union (EU). It is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. It was made
available to the public in 2008 and aims to "make the cultural and
scientific heritage of the 27 Member States available in 29 languages, with a
scope ranging from prehistory to the present day." (WINER; ROCHA, 2013, p.
113).
EU countries
provide their collections through their digital libraries to Europeana, through
content aggregation. Europeana, in turn, makes Europe's cultural heritage and
its diverse collections available in the public domain: newspapers, books,
letters, manuscripts, diaries, archival documents, photographs, paintings,
drawings, maps, images of museum drawings, television programs, news
broadcasts, films, sculptures, crafts, music, oral speeches, records, radio
broadcasts, sheet music, and musical recordings made available by libraries and
museums across Europe (Europeana, 2015). By 2010, this content had already
reached the mark of 20 million digitized documents and more than 20,000
European Union organizations (WINER, ROCHA, 2013).
Another good
example comes from Germany. The German Digital Library is a network of cultural
and scientific institutions whose purpose is to provide access to Germany's
cultural and scientific heritage and memory. The beta version was launched in
2012, making available over 5 million records of different content (images,
films, texts, and audio) in partnership with libraries, museums, archives, and
film libraries. (Deuttsche Digitale Bibliothek, 2015).
The Latin
American Memorial Foundation maintains the Victor Civita Latin American
Library, which manages the Virtual Library of Latin America. This library
offers a variety of content, such as video collections and bibliographic
archives, including links to publications edited and digitized for the portal.
The library also maintains a directory of events held by the Memorial, a
directory of Latin American countries, and a directory of selected and indexed
websites on topics related to this geographic area (Virtual Library of Latin
America, 2009).
In Portugal, we
have BiblioLED - Public Library, a public library for free reading and digital
lending of books in digital format from participating libraries belonging to
the National Network of Public Libraries. It is part of a network of 400
municipal libraries within the Network.
In Colombia, we
have G8 Libraries, a very interesting project that integrates more than two
million bibliographic materials, eight participating universities, and more
than 100,000 users. Furthermore, the network has a diverse and shared cultural
and educational agenda, managed by the network itself.
In Brazil, we
have the example of BibliON, which, according to the 2023 Cross-Sectional
Survey report (page 112), averaged 7.4 books read in the last three months,
above the average number of books read in physical libraries (5.6) or the
general population, according to the Reading Portraits Survey (2.6).
These examples
reveal the many positive impacts that digital libraries can have. As we've
seen, digital libraries enable the development of technological innovation,
which reduces operational costs, reduces technological complexity, and
increases team productivity.
On the other
hand, digital libraries enable the creation of networks for sharing data,
collections, and other content, which brings benefits in terms of accessibility
for users, allowing for reduced information retrieval time, diverse access to
different media programs in a single location, and access to a vast and diverse
network of other libraries and their content on a single platform.
This dynamic and
current trend in digital libraries may be resulting in a new way of reading and
the development of new readers worldwide. Research data has shown that digital
libraries are facilitating access to reading, which may contribute to more readers
reading more books. Time and more in-depth research, bringing more insights
from different reading communities in digital environments connected to
libraries, will help us better understand this new reading paradigm and the
positive impacts offered by digital libraries.
Bibliography:
PALETTA,
Francisco Carlos. Digital Library: Information Technology Management. Available
at: Digital Library_Information Technology Management_Francisco Paletta.pdf.
Accessed on: August 11, 2025
REIS, Juliana
Menezes; BACKES, Luciana. Digital Libraries and E-Books: A Brief Global
Overview of Free Collections.
Available at:
Digital Libraries and E-Books. A Brief Global Overview of Free Collections.pdf.
Accessed on: August 14, 2025
BECKER, Caroline
da Rosa Ferreira; GROSCH, Maria Selma. Reader Development through Libraries.
Literacy and Information Science as Prerequisites.
Available at:
file:///C:/Users/jabma/Downloads/diego,+artigo3_carolinabecker.prn.pdf.
Accessed on: July 20, 2025
SANTOS, Marcos
Pestana; LOPES, Jurema Rosa. Challenges for Libraries in the Face of Social
Media in the Process of Reader Development.
Available at:
file:///C:/Users/jabma/Downloads/diego,+905+-+Desafios+da+biblioteca+OK.pdf.
Accessed on: July 20, 2025
The Digital
Librarian. Available at:
https://the-digital-librarian.com/2024/09/27/talking-change-emerging-technologies-and-libraries/.
Accessed: July 25, 2025
Childhood and
Motherhood Magazine. Reading to Babies in the Womb: Benefits of Reading During
Pregnancy.
Available at:
https://quindim.com.br/blog/leitura-para-bebes-na-barriga/. Accessed: July 20,
2025
CONTACTS:
ESSAY AUTHOR:
Joaquim Alfredo Bento Matusse
Email:
jmatusseconsultoria@gmail.com
Cell
Phone/WhatsApp: +55 11 95001-8215
Profession:
Project Manager and Library Consultant
