What is an electronic reference library?
Electronic reference library is a collection of information from various sources that are collected and stored in digital form, allowing access to sources and information from a computer or other electronic device. There are several reasons why an electronic reference library could be used instead of storing physical books and papers. These include limited space for physical books, requirements for remote or extensive access to resources and frequent updates of information that would be inefficient or impractical with printed materials. The electronic reference library could be hosted on a computer server, allowing access to the network or the Internet, or it could be compressed on a number of compact disks (CDs) for use on a personal computer.
One use for the electronic reference library is to archive books in the physical library. Books can be digitally scanned and stored either as real images of the site as they could be desirable for illuminated manuscripts, or scanned and applied to common text using optical character recognition software. Books can be stored on a server that is accessible from or outside the Internet. This has the advantage that the books permanently store the risk of loss, because digital files will not be degraded and cannot be lost or alienated. It can also save space in the library and potentially provide information to other libraries through a larger network.
Another use for the Electronic Reference Library is to provide access to documents or documents that are regularly updated and accessible from several different places in many people. Having a central digital location for documents means that anyone who uses the server remotely will look at exactly the same information. This removes problems such as the need physically or otherwise update binder or other printed materials every time it occursE change, prevents important updates unnoticed or delay.
The term "Electronic Reference Library" is also used commercially to link to CD, which contains one or more digital versions of books. These CDs are usually cheaper than buying individual books in printed form. For consumers and for the company, reference CD produces several benefits. Primarily, it can save space and allow a person to carry a large amount of information in a very small, lightweight form.
Several universities and universities employs an electronic reference library to store documents such as academic work and publications of students available for student and faculty base. The information is digital, so there is no need for a complex system of physical archive or space for storing old publications. The electronic reference library can also allow a detailed search for thousands of documents in a few seconds.