Building Digital Library For A New Age

Abstract

Digital libraries emerged as a result of information and communications technology leading to information explosion. The digitization of information resources became necessary in order to make possible the management of the avalanche of information in the current era of information changing environment. The roles of librarians have also changed and cannot be overlooked; as librarians, especially those in the tertiary institutions in Nigeria are left with no choice than to move with the changing trends in order to serve their users better. However, most of these institutions are confronted with the challenges of establishing and properly managing digital libraries. This conceptual paper, therefore, examines the benefits that will accrue to institutions from managing digital libraries. It also highlights the prerequisites for building a digital library and identifies the challenges of establishing and managing digital libraries. In addition, suggestion and recommendations are made about how these challenges can be ameliorated for better service delivery in libraries of institutions.