A digital library stores collections of information in digital formats that are accessible via computer networks. It provides an architecture to organize, integrate and transform scattered digital documents. Companies can use a digital library as the foundation for decision support systems to perform more accurate analyses. There are different types of digital libraries including document libraries containing books and reports, and data warehouses which combine and store vast amounts of historical reference data from multiple sources. While digital libraries provide benefits like unlimited access and storage, they also involve significant costs for conversion, maintenance and technical support.

1. Digital Library

2. Digital Library
 A digital library is a library in which
collections are stored in digital formats
(as opposed to print, or other media)
and accessible by computers.
 The digital content may be stored
locally, or accessed remotely via
computer networks. A digital library is a
type of information retrieval system.

3. Cont…
 It provides the architecture to model, map,
integrate, condense and transform
scattered information housed in digital
documents.
 Companies can perform more substantive,
accurate and consistent analyses using
the digital library as a foundation for
decision support system.

4. Legal cases
& contracts
Customers Government
stake- regulations
holders
Sales & Human
Marketing resources
Corporate
Digital
Service & Library R&D
support engineering
suppliers Manufacturing
&
Documentation, Accounting production
manuals, & finance
records

5. Traditional vs. Digital Library
 Storage Space
 Maintenance cost
 Willingness to adopt innovations in
technology
 Accessibility to users
 Simultaneous access

6. Types of digital libraries
 Document Digital Libraries
 Data Warehouses

7. Cont…
 Document Digital Libraries
 It is a distributed network of interlinked
information mainly for electronic publishing
 Books, reports, paper materials, electronic
files, video and audio
 Digital document formats( word processing,
spreadsheets, audio recordings, digital video)

8. Types of Digital Documents
Active or compound
documents
Distributed hypertext
Structured documents
Imaging

9. Types of Digital Documents
 Document Imaging
 Scanning of documents for storage as a
bitmap image
 Keywords are entered for indexing and
retrieval during scanning
 Ex. Insurance companies & other large firms
 Imaging standards
 TIFF(Tag Image File Format)
 ITU-TSS(International Telecommunication
Union-telecommunications standardization
sector)

10. Types of Digital Documents
 Structured Documents
 It provides a clear description of
document contents
 Database structuring capabilities are
applied to individual documents
 Ex. Table of contents

11. Types of Digital Documents
 Itprovides the following capabilities-
 Document formatting and rendering
to suit different information delivery
media
 The ability to create easily
modifiable structure
 Easier to search and query
 Different structuring standards –
SGML, RTF

12. Types of Digital Documents
 Distributed Hypertext
 HTML
 Active or compound
 OLE,CORBA

13. Data warehouses
 Data Warehouses
 These are Central Information repositories for
combining and storing vast amounts of
historical and reference data from a number of
different sources.
 It is a physical separation of an organization’s
operational data systems from its decision
support systems.

14. Benefits
 No physical boundary
 Round the clock availability
 Multiple accesses
 Structured approach
 Information retrieval
 Preservation and conservation
 Space
 Networking
 Cost

15. Limitations
 Although digital libraries do away with
these fees, digital libraries can be no
less expensive in their own way to
operate.
 large costs incurred for the
conversion of print materials into
digital format, for the technical skills
of staff to maintain them, and for the
costs of maintaining online access
(i.e. servers, bandwidth costs, etc.).