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Bridging the Educational Gap: The NDLI's Contribution

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 Bridging the Educational Gap: The NDLI’s Contribution
Sunita Pareek, Chief Librarian, Poornima University, Jaipur
E-mail:[Link]@[Link]

ABSTRACT: The article examines the National Digital Library of India's (NDLI) crucial
contribution to closing the educational gap. The NDLI is a thorough digital archive that offers
access to a variety of scholarly materials from several fields. The NDLI makes sure that
educational content is available to students from a variety of backgrounds thanks to its user-
friendly interface and multilingual support. The addition of multimedia components improves the
educational process and accommodates various learning preferences. A sustainable ecosystem for
information sharing is also supported by the NDLI's collaborative approach with educational
institutions and content developers. Overall, the NDLI's dedication to innovation, accessibility,
and diversity is changing India's educational landscape, empowering students and fostering a more
just society.
I. INTODUCTION:
The Ministry of Human Resource Development, under the National Mission on Education through
Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT), initiated the National Digital Library
(NDL) Pilot Project (NDL Phase I) in April 2015 with a project cost of Rs.39.8 crore. And the
National Digital Library Project is coordinated by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
The Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), in conjunction with the
National Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) program, launched the National
Library of India (NDLI) project. A complete educational resource library, or unified educational
platform, is what this program seeks to build. The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur is leading the initiative, and the project is run under the direction of the Ministry of
Human Resource Development (MHRD). The ultimate purpose of NDLI is to develop into a
national information asset that contributes significantly to information dissemination, research,
and teaching. It serves as a key tool in India's effort to empower people and stimulate learning,
advancing the country in many different ways. .
Finally NDLI was launched in May 2016 and was formally dedicated to the country on
June 19, 2018, by Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister for Human Resources. The National
Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and other educational boards contribute
to this digital library's extensive collection of educational resources, which includes textbooks,
articles, videos, audio books, lectures, simulations, fiction, model answers, self-assessment tools,
and solutions. Researchers and lifelong learners, as well as users at all academic levels and from a
variety of educational fields, have all been carefully considered in the design of NDL India. It
makes content accessible to a wider audience by offering it in widely spoken regional languages
like Bengali, Hindi, and others.
 The platform provides a wealth of free, 24/7 learning resources for schools, colleges,
universities, teachers, students, lecturers, and lifelong learners, in addition to helping students
prepare for their studies, research, and entrance and competitive examinations like the Joint
Entrance Examination (JEE). With support for 10 regional Indian languages, NDLI provides an
engaging online learning environment for a variety of subjects, including science, the arts,
humanities, engineering, medicine, law, and more. Although India has several digital libraries,
NDLI stands out for its distinctive instructional content, multilingual approach, and ease with
which different materials may be accessed through a single interface.
The digital platform serves as a single-window search portal facilitating focused and quick
searching for all, except copyrighted content, said Partha Pratim Das, professor at the IIT-
Kharagpur department of computer science and engineering and one of the core NDL team
members. 1
The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) serves as a search and browsing tool for
educational materials. The actual content is not kept. Instead, full-text information is retrieved
directly from the original providers, while NDLI processes metadata for search and browsing
purposes. This contrast highlights the function of NDLI, which is to facilitate access to educational
resources rather than serve as a repository for content storage.

II. NEED OF NDLI:

There were numerous individual initiatives in digital education around the nation prior to the
NDLI. Institutional repositories with various information standards, video lecture archives like
NPTEL, and national thesis repositories like Sodhanga were some of them. By acting as a single
portal and giving each of them easy access, NDLI brought them together.
Globally significant digital libraries with a strong cultural and historical emphasis include
Europeana, DPLA, Canadiana, Trove, World Digital Library, and Digital NZ. NDLI, on the other
hand, has been created expressly for the educational realm in recognition of the need for national
education. NDLI indexes educational materials based on the associated metadata, in contrast to
conventional search engines NDLI uses the corresponding metadata to index educational
resources. Additionally, it provides a number of filters that allow users to focus their search results
on educational metadata including topic area, educational level, degree, and resource type. By
leveraging specific metadata values, users are given the ability to specify and fine-tune their search
intent—a feature not available in general-purpose search engines. View the NDLI Browse by type
of resources in Figure 1 for choices for browsing and searching as well as adjustable result filtering
via options based on metadata on either side of the screen.
The educational materials in NDLI are divided up into collections to a large extent. For
instance, schoolbooks are organized according to curriculum, making it simple to find resources
that are relevant. The free access to unique resources like the South Asia Archive, the World eBook
Library, and the digitalized "red books" of Oscar-winning director Satyajit Ray, which are
otherwise not available to the general public, is another distinguishing aspect of NDLI. We can
see Figure no.3.

Figure 1. Browse by type of resources

Figure 2. Browse by subject (we can browse with different levels also)
 Figure 3. Browse by source

Figure 4: Browse By Learning Resource type

III. MISSION AND VISION:
The vision of NDLI is to transform into a national knowledge asset, leveraging digital technology
to bridge educational and research gaps nationwide. This vision is grounded in the fundamental
goal of democratizing access to knowledge.
Mission Statement: NDLI's mission is to establish an integrated digital information source,
ensuring uninterrupted accessibility to a vast array of learning materials, regardless of time or
location. By transcending conventional scheduling, NDLI empowers students to engage with
subjects at their convenience, thus eliminating temporal barriers to learning.
Accessibility and Inclusivity: NDLI underscores its commitment to accessibility by aiming to
reach learners in both urban and rural settings, thus providing a universal source of information.
This endeavor aims to create a level educational playing field, ensuring equal access to educational
resources for all.
IV. NDL INDIA OFFERS A RANGE OF SERVICES
Digital surrogates of physical items, born-digital objects, and digital metadata of physical objects
are all catered to by the wide variety of services provided by NDL India. Notably, NDLI
concentrates on ingesting metadata for effective search and browsing capabilities rather than
storing content. The original sources are used to obtain the full-text content.
This portal offers access to more than 106 different kinds of educational materials in a variety of
diverse topic areas, including the arts, business, science, technology, humanities, agriculture, and
more. Additionally, NDL offers tailored services in an integrated setting, guaranteeing learners'
continuous access all the time. Users may quickly and easily access the specific information they
need as a result, saving them time and effort. The National Digital Library of India is committed
to improving how electronic materials are used. It provides features like content borrowing, a
multilingual search function, and individualized learning experiences in an effort to achieve this
goal. The availability of a mobile application further enhances the user-friendliness and
accessibility of NDL India's services. The ultimate purpose of NDLI is to develop into a national
information asset that contributes significantly to information dissemination, research, and
teaching. It serves as a key tool in India's effort to empower people and stimulate learning,
advancing the country in many different ways
V. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: The repository's content is organized into many formats. The
table below shows the number of resource types available in the NDLI Library, which anyone can
access from anywhere at any time. The registered user base reached -81.7 lakhs, and the average
daily hit rate increased to 3.5 lakhs recently. And available content in NDLI IS 100 M as of
October 9, 2023.
Table: 1 showing the resource type accessible through NDLI
S. No. Resource Type No of available resources as on Oct. 9, 2023NDLI
1 Text 9,64,95,994
2 Audio 2,58,911
3 Video 7,10,1122
4 Simulation 11,517
5 Animation 1,095
6 Presentation 1,78,129
7 Application 2,318

[Link] Resources Accessibility Quantity

1 Open Access Contents 79 Million

● 3.2 NDLI Mobile App: : With UMANG Application

● iOS: Download link
VI. SEARCH:
The search and browse functionality empowers users to explore information independently,
without the need for assistance from a librarian or information expert. It provides a range of search
options to enhance user convenience. Within this feature, users can opt to search by subject, source,
or educational resource, tailoring their search experience to their specific needs.
"Filter by Type" option to browse content according to its format, which includes text, video,
image, audio, presentation, simulation, application, and animation.
[Link]
The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) stands as a pivotal virtual repository, offering a
plethora of services to the academic community. Under the aegis of the National Mission on
Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) by the Ministry of
Education, Government of India, the NDLI is nurtured and supported. With advanced search
functionalities, including filtered and federated searching, it expedites focused exploration,
ensuring swift access to pertinent resources for students. Tailoring its services to cater to diverse
user groups, ranging from high school and college students preparing for exams to avid job seekers,
the NDLI is a versatile platform. Moreover, it extends its offerings to encompass general learners
and researchers alike.
Inclusivity lies at the heart of NDLI's design, providing interface support for the ten most widely
spoken languages in India and accommodating content in any language. It is architected to be
accessible to learner’s at all educational tiers, embracing researchers and lifelong learners across
various academic disciplines. The platform is primed to function seamlessly on a multitude of
devices and caters to students with disabilities, fostering an environment of equitable access.
Envisioned to facilitate informed preparedness through global best practices and to streamline the
research process by interlinking diverse sources, NDLI is a testament to collaborative knowledge
exchange. Housed and maintained at the esteemed Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, it
embodies a concerted effort towards advancing digital education in India. See the video
From esteemed organizations. Designed for users of all backgrounds, the portal emphasizes user-
friendly navigation and specialized access to scholarly content. Multilingual support, including
English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Malayalam, Odia, and
Assamese, reflects NDLI's dedication to inclusivity.

VII. NDLI OTHER SERVICES: Beyond its primary purpose, the National Digital Library of
India (NDLI) offers additional services. Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) Hosting, DEEPAK,
and CHAVI are three other beneficial services that it provides. By assisting institutions in
effectively sharing and managing their digital resources, the IDR Hosting Service promotes
information exchange. The Disability Education and Engagement Portal for Access to Knowledge
(DEEPAK), which specializes in meeting the requirements of people with disabilities, makes sure
that everyone has access to educational resources. The main imaging biobank for oncological
research in India is called CHAVI (Comprehensive Archive of Imaging in Oncology), and it offers
a large collection of medical pictures for analytical oncology research. Together, these services
broaden NDLI's breadth and influence within the academic and research community.

Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) Hosting Service: Several institutions and organizations
are actively receiving assistance from the National Digital Library of India (NDLI) in managing
and sharing their digital holdings. This partnership aims to promote the sharing and creation of
information. For institutions with limited IT resources, NDLI offers hosting and infrastructure
support, including a dedicated URL, help configuring the repository application, and storage space.
Organizations may provide copyright-free content for wider distribution in exchange for NDLI
access to their institutional digital repository (IDR). The IDR service is currently hosted by NDLI
on D [Link] list of institutions that are using this service is as follows:

The list of institutions that are using NDLI Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) Hosting
Service this service

[Link] Name of Institute Number of repository

1 CWDS 323 Items

2 Dispur Law College 662

3 Nagaland University 427

4 CRY 172

5 Sarvodaya Trust 646

6 Presidency University 1038

 7 IGNOU 50

8 DLNLU ASSAM 218

9 Indian National Science Academy 2094

10 Maulana Abdul Kalam Institute of 792

Asian Studies
DEEPAK: Disability Education and Engagement Portal for Access to Knowledge: NDLI is an
asset, is a single-window platform providing learning resources catering to immersive e-learning
in open and inclusive manner. It is the largest digital library in India for education. To attain the
true inclusiveness of education in keeping with the letter with the spirit of NEP-2020 and fulfill
the communication of the Nation towards open and inclusive education of people with disabilities
as started in The rights of person with Disabilities Act.2016: this Disability Knowledge Portal
offers a special vertical for all information and resources regarding disabilities in India and across
the world. Below in Figure No-5.
At Present it has information on
a. Blindness and Low Vision
b. B. Deafness and Hard of hearing
c. Autism Spectrum Disorder

Figure No. 5 Deepak Portal ([Link]

CHAVI: Comprehensive Archive of Imaging in Oncology:
India’s First Oncology Image Bank The Comprehensive Archive of Imaging in Oncology is the
first imaging biobank dedicated to oncological imaging in India. Oncology is a discipline that is
heavily dependent on imaging, not only for diagnosis but also for therapy and post-therapy
 follow-up Quantitative analysis of these images may provide additional insights about disease
biology that may add to information available from clinical, pathological, and -omics data. Image
banks provide a way for researchers to get access to a large number of images that can be used
for such analytical research.

Possibility of NDLI:
• Educational resources are accessible for students in elementary school through graduate school.
• There are more than 60 distinct categories of training materials available for various.
Disciplines.
• There are about 70 different languages available for the things.
• 1.5 lakh writers have produced over 15,00,000 items.
• The repository compiles data from several institutional repositories in India.
• A variety of reading materials, including journal entries, old books, and video lectures books on
tape, theses, and essays.
• Free and straightforward institutional registration is also available.
• One-window search functionality. Information could be customized for the the user's degree of
education.
• A variety of levels, language options, and individualized service Information is accessible around
the clock. The online resources are available to users anywhere and at any time.6
References:
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crowd joint project “A micro task-based approach for transcribing Japanese texts”. In The Energy
and Resources Institute (TERI) (p. 108).
2. Satpathyy, R. K. (2019). “Transforming government through digitization initiatives and
digitizing the delivery of government services to enrich citizens” quality of life.
 3. Morishima, A., Nagasaki, K., Ikeda, K., & Kawashima, T. (2016, December). The hondigi/l-
crowd joint project: “A microtask-based approach for transcribing japanese texts”. In The Energy
and Resources Institute (TERI) (p.108),
4 .Rafiq, M., Batool, S. H., Ali, A. F., & Ullah, M. (2021). University libraries response to
COVID-19 pandemic: “A developing country perspective”. The Journal of Academic
Librarianship,47(1)10228000.
5. Singh, S. (2022). Role of National Digital Library of India (NDLI) for Facilitating Open Access
Resources (OARs): “An Investigation on COVID-19 Research Repository Digital Library
Perspectives”, 38(4), 493-507.
6. Bhattacharyya, S., & Student, M. P. (2022). “A Study on Open Educational Resources In
Education Discipline From Indian Online Learning Repositories”.
7. Journal of Distance Education and e-Learning, 10(1).
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