A proposal to set up a Digital Library at Sherubtse
College, Royal University of Bhutan
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Executive Summary
This proposal outlines the pressing need for a digital library at Sherubtse College, Royal
University of Bhutan. First a brief background of the college library is given, followed by the
definition of digital library in the context of the college and its academic need and activities. This
is followed by the rationale of the proposal and the current situational analysis that is related to
an attempt to provide digital library services at the college. Finally, the functional requirements
to set up the digital library lab are spelled out along with the approximate working cost for the
project, including activity timeframe and staffing requirements.
1. About Sherubtse College Library
Sherubtse College Library is the largest and the oldest academic library in the country. It
contains a total collection of more than 40,000 books, more than 100 titles of journals and
magazines, and a good collection of back volumes of selective subject journals, Kuensel and
other newspapers, which needs to be digitized. The library is fully automated and the automation
covers the entire scope of library activities such as acquisition, cataloguing and circulation with
provision for renewal, reservation, serial control, online public access catalogue (OPAC) and
generates various types of reports and statistics. The library building is designed to accommodate
over 200,000 volumes of books and seats more than 500 readers. It includes a recently built
library annexure building, four stack rooms, administrative office, a study room, several
subsidiary rooms, and a newspaper reading room.
2. Background
What is a Digital Library? An informal definition of a digital library is a managed collection of
information, with associated services, where the information is stored in digital formats and
accessible over a network.
Under this definition, the Digital Library at Sherubtse College is aimed at the production,
maintenance, delivery, and preservation of a wide range of high-quality digitized and networked
resources for scholars and students at Sherubtse College and elsewhere through resource sharing.
3. Rationale
Is A Digital Library Necessary At Sherubtse College? The answer to this question is to be
found by looking at some of the initiatives already underway at Sherubtse College. Lecturers
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have voiced the need for e-books and subsequently, a number of attempts were made to secure
funds for purchasing these materials. The library (through consultation with the staff
UNFPA coordinator) was finally able to get a modest amount of money to subscribe the eBooks.
However, this one-time fund proved to be a challenge for the College as the subscription to the
eBook database (and the free downloading of the books) required commitment of the annual
recurring expenditure by the same amount of subscription fee, which the College could not
afford. As for the e-journals, the College currently subscribes to the JSTOR journal database and
also has access to the ProQuest online database link that is provided by the Office of the Vice
Chancellor (the OVC has recently replaced ProQuest with the EBSCO online database, which
provides both eBooks and e-journals.) The library kept two computers in its journal and
reference section exclusively for the purpose of encouraging the patrons to browse these online
materials. However, with just two computers, the library could not do anything to take this
initiative to the next higher level. It is clear from the above picture that part of the digital library
services are already in use at Sherubtse College. Moreover, with the change in the teaching
pedagogy from the traditional teacher-based teaching learning to modern, self-directed research
based method, and with many students owning and using their own computers and laptops, the
library is increasingly facing the need to provide the resources and services in digital formats.
One of the first steps to achieve this goal is to buy a digitizing machine to digitize its rich
collection of rare materials, including a number of special volumes of Kuensel newspaper dating
back as far as 1968, old and very rare photo collections of the college, rare Dzongkha literature
etc, and to make these resources easily available to the users in electronic formats.
All these and other reasons suggests that it is high time for Sherubtse college to set up a digital
library with a sustainable partner willing to finance the project - not just provide free access to
the materials but support finance human resources and infrastructural development as well.
4. The Functional Requirements
A number of departments have already attempted to implement systems to manage digital
resources that their faculty wishes to use. For example, the ICT department has created a link to
a „File Server‟ on the college Intranet, which provides access to a number of free eBooks to the
various departments of the college. However, this way of digital resource management system is
a concern and unsustainable, especially with regard to copyright issues and issues related to the
ease of accessibility of the materials to the users (as there are proper standards in place for
effective digital resource management and delivery system). A separate and functioning digital
library services operated inside the main library would therefore provide several benefits to the
users, and it must be able to support the following goals:
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

Providing robust and sustainable online access for digital resources
Building a critical mass of high quality digital materials from the College‟s collections to
serve research, scholarship, teaching, and learning by assisting scholars and students from

the college/university and elsewhere in the pursuance of their work

Providing long-term, sustainable and managed storage for digital resources

Developing and setting standards

Facilitating and promoting the creation of digital content
Providing advice and consultancy services for projects, for example on copyright,
resource creation, digitization and scanning.
A fully functional digital library will then require the following equipments:
1) A separate (i.e. the main) digital library room/lab to house at least 40 or more users
2) 40 fully networked computers with separate server room & high speed internet connectivity
3) 40 computer tables
4) 40 computer chairs (small revolving chairs)
5) 1 Digitizing Machine
The expenses required for the procurement of Sl.no. 2, 3, 4 & 5 is as follows:




40 computers @ Nu. 27,000.00 (current tender rate) = Nu. 1,080,000.00
40 computer tables @ 3000.00 = Nu. 120,000.00
40 computer chairs @ 5000.00 = Nu. 200,000.00
1 Digitizing Machine = US$ 6295.00 (Nu. 400,000.00 appx.)
Therefore, the cost for purchasing the equipments to set up the digital library is Nu. 1.8 M
approximately.
As for the requirement for the main room/lab (i.e. Sl.no. 1), it is proposed that this purpose will
be served by using either of the two larger rooms already present in the library building i.e. the
computer lab (with appx. 30 seating capacity) presently used as the lab and office of the Centre
for Population & Development Studies, or the one on the top floor of the library annexure
building, which is currently being used as a Conference hall.
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5. Staffing Requirements
When setting up a digital library, it is also imperative that the library has competent staff with
necessary knowledge and skills required of “digital librarians”. In addition to their traditional
library skills and knowledge, the library staffs will be expected to possess additional knowledge
and skills required for work within the digital information world. Therefore, educating digital
librarians or new recruitments who are competent to work in the dynamic and complex digital
environment must be given a high priority alongside the setting up of the digital library in the
college.
6. Project timeframe & activities linked to specific aspirations
2014
1. Budget
proposal for
purchasing
equipment
for the
proposed
digital library
lab.
2015
2016
Cost (in million
Nu.)
Send supply order Lab set up,
for purchase of
the operation
the equipments
of digital
Nu. 1.8 M
library begins
Receipt of goods & the target
is achieved
successfully.
Fig I. Activity timeframe
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7. Conclusion
Clearly, digital libraries are the future of academic and research institutions. Due to the changing
nature of librarianship resulting from the increasing amount of information available in digital
format, the need for a digital library has become vital and imminent for Sherubtse College. The
first step to implement this plan is to purchase the necessary equipments like computers and
digitizing equipments, make the space for the digital library lab available (a new room or the one
as proposed above), and then recruit or train a competent staff in order for him or her to provide
the services effectively and in a professional manner to the patrons.
Respectfully submitted by
Lingchen
Sr. Librarian
Sherubtse College, October 2014
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allinson et.al (2008). Digital Library Project (SAFIR), Available from
https://vle.york.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/orgs/ongoing-lib-DigiLibProject/public/dl-requirementsspecification-v1-1.pdf (Retrieved 27th October 2014)
Henry, Geneva (2012). Core Infrastructure Considerations for Large Digital Libraries, Available
from http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub153/pub153.pdf (Retrieved 28th October 2014)
UNC Digital Library Project Final Report 6/30/2000, Available from
http://www.unc.edu/projects/diglib/final_report.pdf (Retrieved 27th October 2014)
Youngok & Rasmussen (2006). What is Needed to Educate Future Digital Librarians: A Study of
Current Practice and Staffing Patterns in Academic and Research Libraries, Available from
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/september06/choi/09choi.html (Retrieved 28th October 2014)
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