Educational Digital Libraries on the Verge: Introduction to the special issue

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

International Journal of Digital Libraries

Volume

9

Issue

1

Publisher

Springer Verlag

Publication Date

2008

First Page

1

Last Page

2

Abstract

Emerging distributed socio-technical infrastructures, as embodied by digital libraries, are transforming (and even disrupting) traditional work practices. As a result, research about the design, development, implementation, and impact of digital libraries are of interest across a wide variety of fields. In this regard, education is no exception. Indeed, it could be argued that the study of educational digital libraries is at a particularly critical juncture, as they hold tremendous potential for democratizing access to learning. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated that in 2007, over 150 million people would pursue higher education. As the Internet becomes accessible to more people through mobile devices that exploit a range of connectivity technologies, digital libraries have the potential to help reduce significant barriers to education by offering broad access to abundant, high-quality (and often free) online resources for learning and teaching.

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Originally published by Springer Verlag. Publisher's PDF available through remote link.

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