Digital Library

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What Does Digital Library Mean?

A digital library, unlike other forms of media such as print or microform, is a specialized form of library that encompasses a collection of digital assets. Such digital objects can be in the form of visual material, text, audio or video that are in electronic media forms. As it is a library, it also has features to organize, store and retrieve media or files that make up the collection. Content in a digital library may also be stored locally or accessed by means of networks when stored remotely.

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Techopedia Explains Digital Library

Digital libraries consist of a collection of digital resources that may have existed only in digital form, or have been converted from another form to digital. These resources are generally stored in a broad range of formats and can be accessed by users over a computer network. Such libraries have many advantages in that they can be updated on a daily basis and can be accessed instantly by users. Additionally, they do not have a physical boundary, can store more information, and offer access to multiple resources simultaneously.

Digital libraries can largely differ in terms of size, scope and purpose. They may be maintained by institutions, organizations or even individuals. Several institutions, mostly academic, have already started to maintain digital libraries.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.