Shared digital libraries expand reading spaces.

Digital libraries were the most discussed topic at the workshop "Digital Transformation in the Library Sector: Challenges and Opportunities," held on the morning of May 30th in Ho Chi Minh City.

Digital libraries were recommended by speakers at the scientific conference "Digital Transformation in the Library Sector: Challenges and Opportunities" (held at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture) as an effective solution to promote reading culture. Over the years, the Vietnamese library sector has made many efforts in digitizing resources, building e-libraries, and developing databases to serve readers. However, practice also shows that the current digital transformation process in libraries still faces many shortcomings and major bottlenecks.

A workshop on digital transformation of libraries took place on the morning of May 30th in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: SB

Many libraries operate independently, with scattered data and a lack of interconnected and shared data mechanisms. Numerous institutions invest in independent infrastructure, but their ability to utilize resources is limited, leading to duplicate investments, high operating costs, and inadequate service delivery.

Meanwhile, the need for access to knowledge among citizens, students, researchers, and the community is changing rapidly in the digital environment. Readers no longer access knowledge only in physical spaces but are increasingly shifting towards online, multi-platform, and data-connected environments.

One of the major challenges today is the lack of a shared infrastructure for the library sector. Digital resources are fragmented; data is not standardized; coordination mechanisms between libraries, publishers, and copyright holders are unclear; and exploiting digital resources faces many obstacles related to legal issues, copyright, and operating costs.

Many experts believe that without large-scale, integrated and interconnected models, digital transformation in libraries will continue to be fragmented and fail to create systemic value. Therefore, digital libraries are a topic that needs attention.

Digital transformation is not just about digitizing documents or putting books online; it's a process of reorganizing how knowledge is stored, managed, distributed, and accessed in the digital environment. From this perspective, many issues are facing the library sector, such as interoperability of library data, legal exploitation of digital resources, digital copyright, models for serving users in the digital environment, and building a shared digital knowledge infrastructure.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung, as the founder and chairman of the Vietnam Digital Library (ViLIB), affirmed: “The biggest bottleneck in the library sector today is not a lack of resources, but rather the dispersion of resources and the lack of an effective interconnection mechanism. If each library undergoes digital transformation in its own way, it will be difficult to create systemic strength. In the digital age, libraries cannot simply be places to store knowledge. Libraries need to become part of the national knowledge infrastructure – where knowledge is connected, organized, and served to the community on a larger scale. Therefore, digital libraries create a very effective reading space.”

Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung shared his views on the prospects for developing shared digital libraries. Photo: SB

The shared digital library model aims to connect multiple libraries, support the legitimate exploitation of digital resources, expand access to knowledge, and create conditions for publishers, authors, and owners to participate together in the digital knowledge ecosystem.

Beyond fostering a culture of learning, digital libraries also contribute to building a learning society in the digital age. Digital libraries become a hub connecting resources, giving people more convenient access to knowledge.

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/thu-vien-so-dung-chung-mo-rong-khong-gian-doc-sach-d813946.html