Fewer Readers, More Internet Users?

With the rapid advancement of technology, looking at statistics alone it would seem that as more people are using the internet, fewer people are reading books. But is this really the way things are headed? Are there more different possibilities between the two ends of the spectrum? In the early summer of 2011, the TELDAP Newsletter was honored to invite National Central Library Director General Tseng Shu-hsien to share her views on digital reading with us.

For the last few years, the National Central Library has been actively facing the challenges of the digital age. In early June 2011, at a ceremony marking the opening of the Hands-On E-Reading Area, the Director-General stated that “The rapid development of mobile communications and information devices has begun to allow more people to experience the pleasure and convenience of e-reading, which is now highly visible in western countries. But with the e-reading trend having seeming to not have  caught on yet in Taiwan, the library should play an active role in helping readers learn to use e-readers and get into the habit of e-reading using the hand-on area’s equipment and e-reader lending services.” With e-reading not having become widespread in Taiwan yet, the National Central Library is working to cultivate the public’s interest in e-reading through a variety of channels, while also promoting the activation and transformation of knowledge through digitization, so that people from all walks of life can use the library for their own reading purposes.

The Role and Positioning of Libraries in the Digital Age

To respond to these trends, libraries must adjust their positioning and change the roles they play. In the past, the library focused on the “preservation” of books and antiquarian texts, and how to maintain constant temperature and humidity so that the books could be protected in an appropriate environment. However, the unique value and significance of these books does not manifest itself if they are not read and used. People may not be aware of the wealth of invaluable content in the library’s collection of antiquarian books, which is worth extracting for people to browse and enjoy, giving them a further understanding of our ancestors experiences and wisdom that can be referred to in modern life. In the interview, Tseng mentioned that she once found a century-old book in the library’s antiquarian book storeroom, which contained a wealth of information about plant life. This kind of content does not lose relevance with age, and the text and images have survived the ravages of time to convey knowledge from ages past. Viewed with a modern eye, much of the material in such books can be put to use for further applications to increase its value. For instance, in 2011 the library worked with Shiao-Lu Publishing Company to publish The Illustrated Lives of Taiwan’s Plains Tribes, expanding on the narrative of the images from rare books and using a variety of methods to provide an account of life in earlier eras, with dialogue between different tribes and cultural backgrounds vividly conveying the memories and impressions of Taiwan. Such a combination gives antiquarian books new value and significance, while providing the public with more reading material to enjoy.

Therefore, faced with the arrival of the digital age, libraries play a role of considerable importance in the conveyance of knowledge. In the past age of paper books, libraries merely storied information, putting it in storage for the public to access; now, at the beginning of the digital age, although the move from paper books to digital is gradually taking place, the library similarly still focuses on the preservation and collection of information. In the future, however, the library will go further, no longer playing only the role of a provider of information, but hoping to become a provider of knowledge, linking and integrating existing resources and platforms and designing functions that better meet the needs of users, allowing members of the public to conveniently obtain the knowledge the need through library systems.

There may be many people worrying about whether or not libraries will disappear in the future. On this point, Tseng’s responds with a positive and optimistic attitude: “Libraries need to innovate and provide services to the public that better meet the needs of the digital age. This is very important.” As she noted in the interview, although technological developments have brought convenience in the digital age, information has become more scattered; although one can search for information very conveniently, there are limitations with regards to copyright, accuracy, and credibility. In this area, the library has complete academic resources to integrate resources and systems so that readers can obtain the knowledge they need. These are areas that the library will work hard on in the future.

Digital Possibilities and Opportunities

Since the first phase of the Taiwan e-Learning and Digital Archives Program, the National Central Library has undertaken the digitization of rare books, documents, rubbings, and other items in its collection, with substantial accumulated results.  It has also developed the Rare Books Image Search System, the Rubbing Database, the Taiwan Local Documents Image Database, and other platforms and integrated the related data, allowing convenient access to its valuable resources from outside the library.

Websites and Resources Related to the National Central Library Digital Archives

At the same time, digitization has also advanced possibilities for international cooperation; in the past, rare books were scattered around the world, but now, through digitization, they can be linked together, as in the National Central Library’s past collaborations with the University of California at Berkeley, the US Library of Congress, and other archiving institutions to promote the sharing and exchange of resources, which have allowed materials to be organized and integrated into complete systems and websites. This helps to put knowledge to new uses.

In 2011, in order to create more different possibilities, the National Central Library participated in the TELDAP eBook project, making high-quality digital versions of 42 rare books containing fine images publicly available for free browsing. As S.R. Ranganathan’s posited in The Five Laws of Library Science, “Books are for use; every reader his or her book; every book its reader; save the time of the reader; the library is a growing organism.” With the development of information technology in the digital age, closer links and interactivity have been produced in order to allow readers to receive knowledge more conveniently; the National Central Library is striving to create a platform for the sharing and circulation of knowledge, providing the fundamental conditions for the lifelong learning and cultural development of individuals and the community.

Today, at any time and in any place, all you need to do is turn on a computer to access books hundreds or thousands of years old; after selecting one to download and read, you can share your responses with friends on time on Facebook, Plurk, Twitter, and other platforms. Knowledge is now constantly at our fingertips.