Centre launches nat'l e-library, can be used as a mobile app

To provide free access to over 35 lakh e-books in more than 200 languages, the Centre on Tuesday launched the National Digital Library of India (NDLI). The Library has been developed by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, in collaboration with the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT). It was developed by IIT Kharagpur.

The library, accessible on www.ndl.gov.in, can also be downloaded as a mobile app. While releasing the app, union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said that the digital library will take education to all corners of the country. "NDLI is a digital library, which will provide quality resources available to everyone. It has over 1.7 crore articles and publications from over 160 sources in about 200 languages. Currently, 30 lakh users are already registered on the website, and our target is to increase that tenfold in a year's time," said the minister.

He added that the Library's mobile app, which is available in English, Hindi and Bengali, has already been downloaded 6.70 lakh times, and search parameters for the content include subject matter, source, content type, etc.

Culture minister Mahesh Sharma, whose ministry has been working on a similar project — the National Virtual Library of India (NVLI), also attended the event. The NVLI is a similar digital repository of resources, covering varied fields of arts, music, dance, culture, theatre, science and technology, education, archaeology, literature, museums, cartography maps, manuscripts, among others. The programme, Sharma explained, is part of the National Mission on Libraries.