Advantages of E-Resources

The reasons for actually embarking on the purchasing of electronic resources are
generally accepted because of the ease of usability, readability, affordability and
accessibility. The following are the advantages of e-resources over the print media
a) Multi-access: A networked product can provide multiple points of access at multiple
pints round the clock and to multiples simultaneous users.

b) Speed: An electronic resource is lot quicker to browse or search, to extract

information from, and to integrate that information into other material and to cross-
search or reference among the different publications.
c) Functionality: E- resources will allow the user to approach the publications to analyze
its content in new ways by clicking of the mouse on search mode.
d) Content: The e-resources can contain a vase amount of information, but more
importantly the material can consist of mixed media i.e. images, video, audio animation
which could not be replaced in print.
e) Mobility
f) Savings physical Space
g) Convenience
h) Saving time& money

Disadvantages of Electronic
Resources
Now, more and more people prefer e-resources to traditional ones, because it can save
their time and money. However, with various e-resources flooded in, more and more
people are aware of the disadvantages of e-resources.
a) The fact that, e-resources require special devices or personal computers can be looked
as a disadvantage. Many e-resources are typically produces to be compatible for certain
software which in turn may be not easily available. Since e-resources are dependent on
other equipments, certain hardware or software failure may affect it. Unless the
hardware, Internet connection or battery power that is required by an e-resource reader
is readily available, then its electronic document is useless. In addition, e-resources
depending on hardware and software and are more easily damaged than a printed book.
b) E-resource reading devices are surely more expensive than printed books. All devices
of e-resources require power. There is a growing concern that the e-resources at present
may not be accessible or compatible to the futureS e-resources software or devices.
c) Screen glare and eyestrain are a serious concern for many potential users of e-
resource technology. A major worry of reading from an e-resource reader could hurt the
eyes. The display resolution of computer screens and electronic devices is considerably
less than the print quality produced by a printing press.
d) Reading from a computer lacks the familiarity and comfort of reading from a book. A
paper book can be opened and flipped; through, while an electronic text is more difficult
to navigate.
e) E- Resources have unreliable life span. Paper has a much longer life span than most
digital forms of storage. Because of the rapid development of new computer systems it is
difficult to judge whether the software or hardware will become outdated. As new
hardware is developed, structures must be put into place to allow for the migration of
existing materials to the new platforms so that they can still be accessed. Methods of
 preserving the electronic document must also be developed. A high degree of reliability
of the equipment must be a part of the electronic devices that handle the replacements
for printed books.
f) Many titles that are available in traditional print books are not yet available in an
electronic book format.
g) New technologies always require time, experience, and money in order to take full
advantage of its capabilities.

Reference Article: Velumani, K. V. (2013). An investigation in to the impact of e

resources in modern Library and Information Centers.

Digital Libraries and E-Learning:

One of the natural responses to the challenges of e-learning environment is the

introduction of the digital library to support e-learning with resources network,
designed to meet the needs of the learners, in both individual and collaborative
settings, constructed to enable the dynamic use of a broad array of materials for
learning primarily in digital format, and managed actively to promote the reliable
access anytime and anywhere to quality collections and services, available both
within and outside the network.
The introduction of digital libraries into the education process was made easier
by distance education, which has developed over the years. With the Internet
and the World Wide Web, distance education programs can mount sets of
materials on web servers to support online courses. One of the basic ideas is to
aggregate the learning materials on various topics, written by many educators,
in a digital library of courseware. Digital libraries have the potential to
significantly change the fundamental aspects of the classroom in ways that could
have an enormous impact on teaching and learning. New pedagogical methods
should accompany digital libraries as an emerging technology for education to
reach the compelling vision of education. Therefore, for an ideal e-learning
situation, digital libraries are regarded as the hub of the library collections and
services that function together in the real e-learning environment.

Merits of E-Learning:-
E-learning is fast and easy to create.
It is interactive and collaborative.
Easy to track any given information.
It has the ability to merge text and graphics by enabling the instructors to
prepare quality learning materials.
It has the ability to serve the large members of students at a reduced cost.
It is consistent and cost effectiveness.
It is beneficial for working professionals who have no time for classroom learning.

E-learning components:
Depending on the course objectives with experience or expertise of learners, e-
learning may include some of these components like:
Defined learning objectives
High-resolution graphics.
Video/ animation sessions.
Authoring or programming
Simulations
Technology
Training

E-learning is required in Educational Institutes because:-

To increase the academic performance of students community.
To encourage independent learning.
To improve the quality of teaching by introducing various pedagogical methods.
To develop current learning, learning materials in interactive e-learning.
To determine the information needs of the students through e-learning.
To identify the appropriate existing multimedia systems.
To identify the appropriate existing infrastructure systems.
E-learning improves the quality of the learning experience of the students. The
driven changes are numerous and learning quality ranks poorly in relation to
most of them. A student who is learning in a way that uses information and
communication technologies (ICTs) is using an e-learning. These interactive
technologies support many different types of capabilities. Internet access to
digital versions of materials unavailable locally, internet access to search
transactional services, personalized information and guidance for learning
support, simulations or models of scientific systems, tools for creativity and
design data analysis, modeling or organization tools and applications. Over the
past few decades, the new information and communication technologies have a
huge impact on the world economy corporate management, globalization trends
and education at all levels, including higher education.

Though diverse varieties of digital libraries are being developed today, most of
them share a few common functional components. A basic understanding of the
key functional components will help in developing digital library. The key
components are briefly discussed below;
Selection and acquisition Typical process covered in this component include the
selection of document to be added, digitization and/ or conversion of these
documents to appropriate digital form.
Organization Key process involved in this component include the assignment
of metadata (e.g. bibliographic information) to each document being added to
the collection.digital-library
Indexing and storage This component carries out indexing and storage of
documents and metadata, for efficient search and retrieval.
Repository This is the digital library front-end used by the end-users to browse,
search, retrieve and view the contents of the digital library. This is typically
presented to the users as an HTML, page.
Digital library website This is the server computer that hosts the digital library
collection, and presents the collection to the user in the form of a website home
page. The user selects a suitable link on this page to go to the search and
retrieval front-end mentioned above. The digital library delivers the content
based on search and retrieval operations. The digital library home page itself
may be integrated with the library website through an appropriate hypertext link.
Network connectivity For online access, the digital library website computer
should have dedicated connection to the intranet and/ or internet, depending on
the target user community, access may be restricted to the intranet
(organizational LAN) or extended to the external users through the internet.
Reference:
Velumani, K. V. (2013). An investigation in to the impact of e resources in modern
Library and Information Centers.
Digitization (Definition):
Digitization refers to the process of translating a piece of information such as
book, sound recording, picture or video into bits. Bits are the fundamental units
of information in a computer systems. Turning information into these binary
digits is called digitization Digitization is one of the hot topics in librarianship
today. To build a digital library requires that the content of a collection be
available electronically. The rhetoric of the information highway has provided the
impetus to convert many existing paper-based (or sound, video) collection into
new digital media. The assumptions that digital collections will be more
accessible to a broader range of users, presumably through networking
techniques, and new efficiencies are to be gained in resource sharing and for
preservation.digitalization
Digitization Process

Digitization requires a basic process, which involves different sets of hardware

and software technologies at each step. Determining the appropriate technology
is directly linked to the anticipated use and purpose of the material being
digitized. For digitizing the text and other material, following four methods can
be used.
(a) Manual data entry Scanning;
(b) Optical Character recognition (OCR);
(c) Excalibur Technologies and pattern recognition technologies;
(d) Document Imaging.
a) The simplest method converting an image of a page (or the real page of text)
into digital text is to enter it manually. This is usually a time consuming method
but very useful from the point of view of information retrieval.
b) In the second method, scanners are used to take digital pictures of objects.
Scanners can be simple desk top machines or very large and complex systems
that process thousands of documents.
c) Another simple digitization process is of OCR i.e. scanning printed pages to
build a digital database of text. This process uses OCR (Optical Character
Recognition) software, which takes a picture of the page and then turns it into
digital text, which can be edited or fully indexed. OCR software must distinguish
between blank and white areas of text.
d) Excalibur Technologies and Pattern Recognition Technologies are the next
generation of OCRs, represented by Pixie, a product being developed by
Excalibur Technologies. This software uses a technology called Adaptive Pattern
Recognition, which attempts to mimic aspects of the neural patterns of the brain.
The software can be taught to recognize variations and relationships in pattern,
such as patterns of text rather than readable text. The retrieval of search terms
uses what Excalibur calls fuzzy matching.
e) Document Imaging, a simple method if capturing text, involves taking an
electronic picture of each page of text with the same type of scanner as one
would use for OCR. However, the difference is that the images are stored as
graphic files rather than text files. A similar technology is used for fax
transmission. Each page is stored as one picture. The text on the page cannot be
edited or indexed.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Digitization:

Advantages
Quick Delivery Time.
Costs can be favourable compared to in-house costs.
Range of scanning equipment bureau available
Bureau absorbs equipment depreciation and obsolescence cost.
Disadvantages
Copyright of digital images needs to be assigned to client in the contract, and
not returned by the bureau.
Lack of control over scanning environment;
Need to transport material;
Degree of trust involved in Quality Assurance;
Service level agreements needs to be right.
Preserving the Digitized Document

Rapid developments are taking place in both the hardware and software involved
in digitization. This means that the present technology will soon be
supplemented by newer technology. The stability of current systems and the
digitized products is thus questioned. Systematic efforts will be needed to ensure
that what we digitize today is not slide into obsolescence tomorrow. Migration to
newer systems and media and regular refreshment are two possible solutions.
However. they are both costly and time consuming; they also carry a risk of data
loss.

Digital Resources of Library and Information Center.

The resources of information which are available in the form of Digital or
Electronic format are known as digital resources. Digital resource is the
knowledge that becomes a dynamic resource for global sharing more easily than
knowledge in any form and lends scope for automated delivery mechanisms.
Information have been embedded in varieties of ways and forms in various kinds
of digital resources. Following are some of the digital resources of information by
which we can retrieve the required information with in reasonable time with
speed and accuracy:
OPAC (On-line Public Access Catalogue).
Electronic Texts and Journals.
CD-ROMs.
Computer Networks like LAN and WAN.
Multimedia.
Internet.
E-mail and Bulletin Board.
Audio-visual aids.
DL
Advantages for Digital Resources of Information:
Information that is digitized can become available to anyone anywhere in the
world at minimal cost and its source does not get exhausted with unlimited use.
Digital information obtains full networking capability.
Effective searching can be possible to retrieve a particular information.
Downloading of the required information is very easy.
Presentation of information through the digital resources can be done within a
reasonable time with speed and easy. Multiple access to electronic resources is
possible.
Access to information is instant.
It develops a distributed learning environment by which all the users can be
benefited at a large volumes of data can be stored in the digital resources and
made accessible to the users.
Remote access to information also can be possible.
Addition of information to the collection of digital resources is faster.
Cataloguing, editing, referring, indexing etc. can be done with ease and speed.
Education and Training can be provided through digital resources effectively.
Information transfer can be provided with speed and accuracy.
Career planning and related information can be accessible using the digital
resources of information.
Above all, the quality of information service can be improved and maintained
through the digital resources.

DL2
Figure: Digital Material Collection Process

How to Create and Manage Digital Resources In Libraries:

To create and manage digital resources, first of all libraries must be automated
by computer applications. The basic requirements for creating digital resources
are:
All the functions of the Library should be computerized.
Networking facilities like LAN and WAN must be available in the Library,
CD-ROM and Multimedia Workstations to be installed.
Internet connection must be provided.
Digital computer Scanner and CD-Writer facilities to be established.

Creation of Digital Resources of Information:-

Computerized Catalogues may be created and made accessible for the users by
maintaining separate computer systems through LAN Efforts have to be made to
produce all documents in digital form. This will reduce our expenditure in
converting texts to digital form. Creating texts in digital form would facilitate in
publishing of documents electronically either on the Web or in the form of CDs
etc. Information using the Electronic texts & Journals should be created and
provided through LAN or WAN or Intra/Internet facilities to the users.
Separate Web page. may be created by the Library highlighting its services and
collections on Internet which will support electronic publishing of reports
announcements, new additions notices etc., and increase the use of its resources
.Daily news, important Notices and Circulars, list of new arrival of Books and
Journals, Academic Advertisements, fellowships etc can be created and provided
through E-mail and Bulletin Board Service.
CD-ROM search ma be admissible to the uses by creating and managing
separate CD-ROM workstations for which a good collection of CD-ROMs and
Multimedia CDs should be purchased and kept at the libraries for accessing the
relevant information after getting signature and data about the CD-ROMs
searched by the users. For that a separate register should be kept to avoid
multuation or misplacement of CD-ROMs.
Using the Computer Scanners and CD-Writer, relevant and required images from
text books and journals and other primary documents may be scanned and
included in the required documents and they may be provided to the users on
demand with reasonable charges.
Internet access may be provided to the user for retrieving the required
information and fee may be collected for browsing the Internet and a separate
data and account may be maintained for the same.
Electronic Information Resources of a Library:

The libraries with their traditional holdings in print format, are now being added
with electronic information resources in various formats like CD-ROM and DVD-
ROM databases, On-line databases, E-Journals and plenty of Internet or Web
resources. The content of these sources varies from bibliographic or factual to
full text.
1. CD-ROM Databases:
CD-ROM databases are increasing day by day in almost all fields due to their
many advantages in information storage and retrieval. Majority of publishers of
books and journals, on-line vendors and various learned societies are bringing
out new titles in CD format with powerful, user-friendly retrieval software.
Electronic information resources in CD format include abstracting and indexing
services, encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, yearbooks, back volumes,
patents, standards and many other reference works. The CD-ROM technology has
given ample opportunities for information professionals to introduce more
information services to end-users.
2. DVD-ROM Databases:
The advent of DVD- Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc, with its 17 GB of
high data storage capacity, has made it possible to include more multimedia
elements like video and sound and to integrate many reference sources on a
single disc. The other features like higher quality of sound and video, higher
rate of data transfer, data security etc., are making DVD more viable option than
CD-ROM. But, at present due to some problems like lack of standards among the
manufacturers of DVDs and drives, need for extra hardware on PCs and their
higher prices are making the growth of DVD technology slow. Some DVD
reference sources include Britannica DVD 99, Websters International DVD
Encyclopedia-2000, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Eyewitness World Altas
DVD-ROM Deluxe Edition, The Complete National Geographic on DVD-ROM etc.
3. Online Databases:
The recent growth of Internet and the popularity and ease in use of Web are
making libraries to subscribe to online information services. The online database
services like Dialog (KR Information) and STN are now moving towards being
webcentric. The usage of online databases against their CD-ROM counterparts
has to be evaluated and decided on the basis of cost effectiveness and timeless.
Few Online information services are KR ScienceBase and STN. The KR
ScienceBase which includes information sources like BIOSIS, CA Search, Elsevier
Science Publishers, Reuters, NTIS etc. The STN international provides a complete
collection of in-depth databases in science and technology which gives quick,
direct links to the literature, patents and chemical catalogues, chemical, Abstract
Service, producer of the worlds largest and most comprehensive database of
chemical information, offers several databases on STN like CAplus, INSPEC,
MEDLINE, SCISEARCH, TOXLIT ETC
4. E-Journals:
E-Journals or Electronic Journals are gaining more importance with the
emergence of Internet. The Publishing world is undergoing a revolutionary
change as more and more publications are becoming WEB centric. Most of the
publishers are choosing WEB as a an access medium using HTML to mark up the
journal content so that it can be read using a web browser. These are also as
networked E-Journals. Other publishers have chosen to use additional access
software in conjunction with the WEB. the most popular being Adobe Acrobat and
its associated Portable Document Format (PDF) file type
Internet as an Electronic Information Resource:

The INTERNET and its World Wide Web (WWW) have given a paradigm shift to
information management. The information available on net is increasing rapidly
and the task of providing relevant information to patrons is gaining paramount
importance in all types of libraries. Most of the reputed publishers, learned and
commercial societies are hosting their products on net and also all libraries are
sharing their internal and external information resources by means of web pages
and Web-OPACs. The powerful search engines over net are aiding the information
location quite efficiently. The Internet services like E-mail, Bulletin Boards,
Newsgroups, Discussion Lists, etc are gaining importance in libraries and are
becoming indispensable resources for the users. Due to impact of Internet, there
is a swift migration from offline to online, as Web is becoming a popular user
interface for providing access to remote and frequently updated resources.
Selvakumar, A. (2002). Acquisition and preservation of digital library resources.
University.

Collection development is systematic planning and rational building of library

material. The term includes all activities involved in assessing the users need,
evaluating the present collection, determining the selection policy, coordinating
the selection of items, re-evaluating and storing parts of the collection and
planning for resource sharing. It is not a single activity, but an agglomeration of
activities (Parameswaran, 1997). Similarly ALA Glossary of Library and
Information Science (1983) defines collection development as, a term which
encompasses a number of activities related to the development of the library
collection, including the determination and coordination of selection policy,
assessment of needs of users and potential users, collection use studies,
collection evaluation, identification of collection needs, selection of materials,
planning for resources sharing, collection maintenance and weeding Shipman,
(1975) has also defined it as the sum total of library materials; books,
pamphlets, manuscripts, punched cards, serials, government documents,
microfiches and computer tapes, etc. that makes up the holdings of a particular
library. In other words, it is planned; systematic development of an already
existing collection.
Collection development is a plan which can be implemented and evaluated.
The process involves three main aspects:
Collection planning- a design to acquire documents.
Collection implementation process of making documents available.
Collection evaluation -examining and judging the relevance in relation to goals
and objectives.
Collection development is actually a blueprint for the maintenance and
expansion of the librarys collection in all formats. It is based on a strategic policy
which is responsible for selecting materials for the library to understand the
philosophy and rationale that guides the development of the collection. With this,
the library is able to allocate acquisition funds wisely, shape a strong collection
and inform the user community about the nature of the collection. University of
Connecticut School of Law (2003) also defines collection development as It
evolved to emphasise the needs of users and to assess their changing attitude
towards the collection. Collection development is sometimes considered as
synonymous to `collection building which means that there is already a nucleus
(the central and most important part of an object, movement, or group, forming
the basis for its activity and growth) of collection in the library and the librarian is
going to build up the collection.
Since the beginning libraries have been providing various services such as
issuing books and personally guiding users to the actual source. The vast array
of services that most of the libraries provide consists of circulation, reference,
reprography, translation, current awareness and selective dissemination of
information etc.; but now the mode of services have been drastically changed to
provide access to resources rather than providing the documents itself. This
paradigm shift is because of the ICT revolution that has compelled libraries to
modify the existing mode of services. This developmental change has not only
occurred in Academic Law Libraries, but also court libraries and government law
libraries in Delhi.