Over the years, the world has turned its eyes from books to the computer or smartphone screens. A large number of populations from around the world spend hours and hours in front of the screens of their devices. Ever since the internet has been introduced, anyone and everyone can access multimedia content anytime and from anywhere. More than books, learning is proven to be better by watching videos. But to keep the skill of writing and reading alive, it is important for schools to encourage students to read books. Most of the schools have a library for students but ever since the world has been struck by COVID 19, libraries have been shut as a precaution for safety. Schools have been conducting online virtual classes to keep the flow of learning uninterrupted. The world has been discussing ways to set up a digital library in schools.
In ‘Manifesto for Digital Libraries’, UNESCO and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) point out that
“The mission of the digital library is to give direct access to information resources […] in a structured and authoritative manner and thus to link information technology, education and culture in contemporary library service.”
The Solution:
Even though students can attend virtual classes and give tests online, it is still hard to access the library. This is where digital libraries can fill up the gap. Digital Library management systems with advanced features can help to encourage the students to read and learn more through eBooks. These platforms also allow administrators to upload multimedia content apart from eBooks.
According to UNESCO,
“In India, the relatively young National Digital Library of India (NDLI) – headquartered at IIT Kharagpur – has established itself the country’s largest online learning platform. A premier gateway to over 48 million e-books and knowledge products across disciplines, it has nearly 3 million regular users today.”
Before looking into the points on how to set up a digital library in schools it is important to know how it can increase productivity. There are many benefits of Digital Libraries for Schools and to understand them, let us take an in-depth looking into the concept of Digital Libraries.
What is a Digital Library?
A digital library is an online database of content that includes text, images, audio, video, and files of other digital media formats. The system also provides automated storage, organization, searching, and retrieval of content. Users can access all content stored in the system by registering and creating their profiles. A digital library can be used by educational institutes as well as for areas like cities and towns. Digital Libraries provide seamless access to knowledgeable content from any electronic device which can access the internet. Here are some of the important advantages of a digital library that you should know about.
Why Do Schools Need A Digital Library?
It is important to know how a digital library can benefit your School to properly utilize its benefits. Digital libraries help training students in managing and using digital content. The world is transforming digitally and it is important for the students today to get training using electronic devices. Almost all the businesses and services function digitally using electronic devices. It is essential to know how to do tasks on a computer to get multiple job opportunities in the future.
Apart from futuristic benefits, Digital Libraries also help in keeping the importance of literature alive. The digital libraries also help in storing important and antique books without the cost of maintenance. As compared to the traditional library, a Digital Library offers much more at a very less cost. It is the best learning solution for schools that lose a huge amount on maintaining a library.
Benefits of Setting Up a Digital Library for Schools
Digital Libraries can be easily set up in a school system but a lot of important pointers can help you make the experience more effective for your users. Here are a few points that can help in setting up a digital library that can help in utilizing the best of the features that a digital library can offer.
Appealing Content
Students will only pay attention to only those things that they will find interesting. Just like it is a task for the teachers to teach students in a way that the subject seems interesting to them, it is important for you to provide attractive and gripping content so that the student engage in learning. Not only will this increase the engagement of the students but also enhance their learning experience.
Personalized Content Recommendations
The best way to engage your learners is by showing them content from the area of their interest. With proper optimization in your digital library, your users can get content recommendations based on what they have been reading and searching. Just like many other popular content websites, the digital library can also have the same feature of personalized suggestions of content for users. Another benefit of having this feature would be making the searching of content easy for the user.
Multimedia Format Support
It is important for the system to support multimedia formats so you can provide a better learning experience for the students. Apart from eBooks, the system can also provide information in the form of videos, audio, and images. This helps the students to grasp information in a much more detailed manner which will help them memorize it better. Not only does it enhance the learning experience but it will also increase the engagement of students in the learning process.
Centralized Content
All the content on the digital library should be centralized so that it can be easily accessible to the educators and the learners. This will help in making teaching easier for the teachers as they can use it as a part of their lessons. They can easily refer to books or pages for certain topics of the subjects. Students can easily refer to books that they are reading in case of any doubts and queries.
Track Content Performance
It is important to track the performance of the content and the engagement rates for improvisation. This will help in making the library more effective and useful for the users. The content can be updated from time to time and improvised according to the requirements. The engagement of the students can also be tracked to see how effective is the system for the school curriculum.
Gamify Learning Experience
An interesting feature that has become popular in digital libraries is the gamification of the content. Users receive coins and badges after the completion of lessons. There is also a leader board to encourage users to perform better through healthy competition. The awards can be turned into a reward issued by the school for the best performer amongst the students.
Conclusion
Digital Libraries are the new must-have in every school especially due to the pandemic situation. A digital library will help students to keep the spirit of reading alive and also access study material from home. This system’s latest innovations provide much more than what the traditional digital libraries offer.
There are many Digital Libraries in the market, one of the best is by Mintbook. We offer the best features to make learning easy. Paired with our LMS, our Digital Library can give the best learning solution for effective education. Mint book’s Digital Library along with its LMS, online examination software, and Virtual Classroom is a full package that can automate learning processes out of the classroom.
