Digitalisation of libraries has its share of perils: Ansari

Vice President Hamid Ansari today said though advent of IT has transformed the library systems, it has also brought its share of perils where pages are easily "transposed" and credit is claimed for them.
Ansari classified this as one of the major challenges in the era of new technology along with creation of knowledge, dissemination of knowledge and universalisation of knowledge.
"I think those who are familiar with university system understand what I mean by perils. Sometimes, it is very easy to transpose pages, paragraphs and claim credit for them, a disgraceful thing to do but nevertheless it is quite prevelant," he said inaugurating a conference on digital libraries organised by TERI.

He said the other challenge is to overcome the digital divide that exists between countries of rich and poorer, regions within national boundaries and on the basis of socio-economic stratification.
"Democratisation of access to knowledge and creation of level-playing field by bridging the digital divide would be essential for inclusive, sustained development," he said.
In this context, digital libraries provide a valuable platform for achieving the desired results by providing an efficient and cost-effective medium through which information can be delivered and knowledge shared in formats easily accessible to the masses.
He said the advent of information and communication technologies has not only revolutionised the world in all walks of life and transformed the library systems, the emerging technologies have facilitated the conversion of discrete data into a useful digital format.

HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju said digital library will play a key enabling a player in knowledge-driven society and serve the interest of people across varied areas.