Abstract This paper deals with the relationship between digital library and social development. The core of digital library which rests with strong social bonding and participatory approach, has been reflected in this write-up. Today, global prosperity and individual productivity depend upon the ability to learn constantly, adapt to change readily, and to evaluate information critically. Right now in this information rich world, we must remain ways to transform information into knowledge. So, how can we ensure that our communities can access the resources and services that we have available? How can we ensure that we are responsive to, and representative of, our communities' actual, as opposed to perceived, needs? We will look at various ways that library services can partner with their communities to bring about better outcomes for all. The digital library can bridge these gaps and it may be turned as a people’s access to the information repository and can be a motivator to sustainable development.

1. Will the Digital library sustain as a Social Capital for dissemination of
Information? : A conceptual discourse
Saptarshi Ghosh,
Assistant Professor, Department of Library & Information Science , University of North Bengal
Abstract
This paper deals with the relationship between digital library and social
development. The core of digital library which rests with strong social bonding
and participatory approach, has been reflected in this write-up. Today, global
prosperity and individual productivity depend upon the ability to learn
constantly, adapt to change readily, and to evaluate information critically. Right
now in this information rich world, we must remain ways to transform
information into knowledge. So, how can we ensure that our communities can
access the resources and services that we have available? How can we ensure
that we are responsive to, and representative of, our communities' actual, as
opposed to perceived, needs? We will look at various ways that library services
can partner with their communities to bring about better outcomes for all. The
digital library can bridge these gaps and it may be turned as a people’s access to
the information repository and can be a motivator to sustainable development.
A digital library is about digital collections i.e. in digital
formats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media)
and accessible by computers. The stored content may be
accessed locally, or remotely. The term was first
popularized by the NSF/DARPA/NASA Digital Libraries
Initiative in 1994. Organizations that provide the
resources, including the specialized staff, to select,
structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute,
preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over
time of collections of digital works so that they are readily
available for use by a defined community or set of
communities. An organization, which might be virtual, that
comprehensively collects, manages and preserves for the
long term rich digital content, and offers to its user
communities specialized functionality on that content, of
measurable quality and according to codified policies.

2. Will the Digital library sustain as a Social Capital for dissemination of
Information? : A conceptual discourse
Saptarshi Ghosh,
Assistant Professor, Department of Library & Information Science , University of North Bengal
A digital library is not a single entity. It requires technology link the resources of
many collections. The links between digital libraries and their resources are
transparent to users. Digital library collections are not limited to bibliographic
records rather too document surrogates. They are the actual digital objects such
as images, texts, etc. Lynch (1994) says that, “digital Libraries ... [provide] users
with coherent access to a very large, organized repository of information and
knowledge.” According to Berkeley Digital Library Project, University of California,
the digital library will be a collection of distributed information sources. Nor even
a digital library is merely a collection of electronic information. It is an organized
and digitized system of data that can serve as a rich resource for its user
community. The Association of Research Libraries identified the common
elements of digital library definitions as (Association of Research Libraries, 1995,
online):
 The digital library is not a single entity;
 The digital library requires technology to link the resources
 The linkages between many digital libraries and information services are
transparent to the end users;
 Universal access to digital libraries is a goal;
 Digital library collections are not limited to document surrogates;
 They extend to digital artifacts that cannot be represented or distributed in
printed formats.
Digital Library and its Characteristics:
Recent developments in library technology and practices
have helped bring some of Lancaster's paperless society to reality.
The effects that digital technology has brought include (Jebaraj and
Deivasigimani 2003) digital library collections into certain permanent
documents. The digital environment will enable quick handling
and/or ephemeral information. Digital libraries are based on digital
technologies. The assumption that digital libraries will contain only
digital materials may be wrong. Digital libraries are often used by
individuals working alone. The physical boundaries of data have
been eliminated. Support for communications and collaboration is as
important as information-seeking.
Compression of data storage is enabling publication and
storage of digital information. Telecommunications is facilitating the
storage, retrieval, use, and exchange of digital resources.

3. Will the Digital library sustain as a Social Capital for dissemination of Information? : A conceptual
discourse
Saptarshi Ghosh,
Assistant Professor, Department of Library & Information Science , University of North Bengal
Framework and Approach
Digital library may be considered as a socially constructed phenomena. The
shifting paradigm of society, social constructionism and social informatics
may be regarded as social framework of digital libraries. If we observe
closely the “boundary object theory” (Star & Griesemer, 1989) and “Social
world Perspective (Clarke & Star, 2008; Strauss, 1978) and also theory of
information worlds (Jaeger & Burnett, 2010) we may observe that they are
being used by and cross the boundaries of multiple social networks,
information worlds and communities and hence social digital libraries
should act as socially constructed boundary objects. They should adapt to
the “local needs” of as many of these worlds and communities as possible,
reconcile and translate “meanings” and understandings across these worlds
to allow users to “work together,” collaborate, and interact ; support the
emergence of localized and common social norms, social types, information
values, and information behaviors shared—to varying and overlapping
extents—by the different information worlds using them act as common
sites and technologies for users to engage in information-based activities ,
including collaboration and information sharing; and support the possible
emergence of broader communities, social worlds, and information worlds
as they converge, coalesce, and reconcile portions of the multiple
communities they serve.

4. Will the Digital library sustain as a Social Capital for dissemination of Information? : A conceptual
discourse
Saptarshi Ghosh,
Assistant Professor, Department of Library & Information Science , University of North Bengal
Social Capital Theory
Social capital refers to connections among individuals, such as social networks,
norms of reciprocity and social trust that facilitate co-ordination and co-operation for
mutual benefit (Putnam 1995, 2000). Indicators of Social Capital theory grouped under
dimensions such as political, civil and religious participations, workplace connections,
informal social connections, volunteering and trust (Putnam 2000; Social Capital
Community Benchmark Survey 2005). The core idea of social capital theory is that these
social connections have value. In addition to their value to individuals, as stressed by
Coleman (1988, 1990) and Bourdieu (1986), Putnam highlights the collective benefits of
social capital (Mohan & Mohan 2002; Kilpatrick et al. 2003). ‘Social capital also can have
“externalities” that affect the wider community, so that not all the costs and benefits of
social connections accrue to the person making the contact’. (Putnam 2000, p. 20) ‘Life is
easier in a community blessed with a substantial stock of social capital (Putnam 1995, p.
66) because ‘networks of civic engagement foster sturdy norms of generalized reciprocity
and encourage the emergence of social trust.

5. Will the Digital library sustain as a Social Capital for dissemination of
Information? : A conceptual discourse
Saptarshi Ghosh,
Assistant Professor, Department of Library & Information Science , University of North Bengal
Planning for Digital Library
There are at least two ways of developing a digital library:
converting a traditional library into a digital library, and direct
development of a digital library. Proper planning includes IT
Infrastructure, Digitization, Access, Staffing, Furniture, equipment,
and space, Services, Funding.
Cleveland (1998) describes some characteristics of digital libraries
that have been gleaned from various discussions about digital
libraries (DLs), both online and in print:
DLs are the digital face of traditional libraries that include both
digital collections and traditional, fixed media collections. So they
encompass both electronic and paper materials.
 DLs will also include digital materials that exist outside the
physical and administrative bounds of any one digital library
 DLs will include all the processes and services that are the
backbone and nervous system of libraries. However, such
traditional processes, though forming the basis digital library
work, will have to be revised and enhanced to accommodate
the differences between new digital media and traditional fixed
media.
 DLs ideally provide a coherent view of all of the information
contained within a library, no matter its form or format
 DLs will serve particular communities or constituencies, as
traditional libraries do now, though those communities may be
widely dispersed throughout the network.
 DLs will require both the skills of librarians and well as those of
computer scientists to be viable.