National Digital Library of India

Last updated

National Digital Library of India (NDLI)
Type of site
 Education
Available in12 search languages
HeadquartersIndian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur,
Kharagpur, West Bengal
,
India
Country of originIndia
Key peopleDr. B. Sutradhar, Joint PI (Principal Investigator) of NDLI, Librarian of Central Library, IIT Kharagpur
EmployeesMore than 92 (January 2023)
URL www.ndl.gov.in
CommercialNo
RegistrationFree
Users Increase2.svg 95,59,100+ (June 2025)
Launched19 June 2018
Current statusActive
Content license
CC0

The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is an Indian virtual repository of educational resources. It is sponsored by the Indian Ministry of Education and operated by its host institute the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, with the latter based in Kharagpur, West Bengal. [1]

Contents

History and Timeline

2014-2017: Establishment and Growth

The development of the digital library portal began as a pilot project (NDLI Ph-I) in April 2015. By 2016, the beta version of the portal was launched. The program continued to operate as a pilot project (NDLI Ph-I) until 30 September 2017.

During this period, content aggregation efforts were undertaken, and partnerships were established with numerous institutions across India, including central libraries of various universities, public libraries, and other educational institutions. The portal expanded its repository and incorporated tools to facilitate access and usability, including multilingual support. [2]

2017-2020: Phase II and Official Launch

The second phase (NDLI Ph-II) began on 1 October 2017, and was originally scheduled to end on 31 March 2020, but was extended to 31 March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Digital Library Portal was officially inaugurated on 19 June 2018 by Prakash Javadekar, the former Union Minister of Human Resource Development, and Minister of Information and Broadcasting. The initiative aimed to integrate significant Indian digital and non-digital libraries through a single-window platform, to make educational resources more widely accessible. Another stated aim was to democratize access to knowledge for over 50 million students across India. [3] By 2019, NDLI had aggregated over 30 million items in more than 70 languages, covering subjects such as literature, science, mathematics, engineering, and medicine. [ citation needed ]

During this period, improvements were made to its user interface which aided accessibility and expanded its reach. By then, NDLI had also upgraded its capabilities in handling and preserving indigenous content, including rare manuscripts and folk literature, contributing to the preservation of cultural heritage. [4] [ citation needed ]

NDLI's Response to the COVID-19 Lockdown

As schools, colleges, and universities across India went into lockdown on 25 March 2020, NDLI adapted by shifting from a ‘data-driven’ approach to an approach entered on ‘agility and service’. This required significant efforts in classifying content into user-focused categories, resulting in the first major overhaul of the site since its inception. [5]

2021-2026: Phase III

The Ministry of Education, Government of India launched the third phase (NDLI Ph-III) on 1 April 2021, with the project expected to run until 31 March 2026. [6] [7] As normal activities gradually resumed after the pandemic, a major overhaul of NDLI was implemented to further enhance its capabilities and reach. [8]

Education Feeder Partners

NDLI currently houses content from 23 state boards and national boards such as CBSE and NCERT. The range of content includes school, college, and university-level topics, as well as material for 21st-century skills such as digital literacy, language and communication, and scientific temper.

These resources are available in the form of text, videos, audiobooks, presentations, and simulations in multiple Indian languages. [9]

Access and restriction

User registration is open to users from around the world. However, content from some sources is only accessible to registered users, including works from:

Services

NDLI Club

Like other digital libraries worldwide, NDLI faces the concerns of increasing awareness and adoption of its platform. To address these, several initiatives have been undertaken with the assistance of the Government of India, including the NDLI club. [10]

In 2020, the Indian government launched the National Education Policy (NEP 2020), and NDLI used this as an opportunity to promote the platform and help educational institutions adopt key recommendations outlined in NEP 2020. These include the establishment of topic-centers and project-based clubs designed to nurture students' interests and talents through supplementary enrichment material, guidance, and support. [11]

NDLI launched the NDLI Club in March 2021 as a digital initiative that provides a platform for institutions to establish activity-based clubs where students can engage in various learning activities using content from the NDLI repository. The NDLI Club platform enables institutions to create events, upload reports, maintain event logs, automatically generate certificates, and build networks to exchange resources. [12]

As of July 2024, over 5,800 institutions have established clubs through the NDLI Club platform, involving nearly 1.7 million members from different regions across India. The stated objective of the NDLI Club is to promote NDLI awareness among students and teachers through activity-based learning, offering NDLI as a resource and service. [13]

Institutional Digital Repository (IDR)

The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) provides Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) services to academic institutions across India. To date, NDLI has facilitated the establishment of more than 150 IDRs. [14]

Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)

NDLI set up its own Digital Preservation Centre at Salt Lake in 2019. [15] Initially, the contents of the Presidency Alumni Association were digitized and integrated into NDLI. This features content such as:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "National Digital Library of India". ndl.iitkgp.ac.in. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  2. ↑ "Launch of National Digital Library of India – Welcome to National Digital Library of India Project Website" . Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  3. ↑ "Union HRD Minister dedicates the National Digital Library of India to the Nation". mhrd.gov.in. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  4. ↑ "NDLI Launch – Welcome to National Digital Library of India Project Website" . Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  5. ↑ "National Digital Library of India Reaches Out To Students Amid COVID-19 Lockdown". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  6. ↑ "National Digital Library up in pilot stage". Business Standard . 25 May 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  7. ↑ "MHRD Digital Library Press Release" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "Milestones – Welcome to National Digital Library of India Project Website" . Retrieved 26 March 2025.
  9. ↑ "NDLI CLUB QUIZ COMPETITION (QUIZ- CURRENT AFFAIRS)". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  10. ↑ "NDLI Club – Welcome to National Digital Library of India Project Website" . Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). www.education.gov.in. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 May 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  12. ↑ "NDLI Club – BES College" . Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  13. ↑ Inculcate Learning (9 December 2023). National Digital Library of India | NDLI Club |UGC NET Paper-1/Paper-2 Education @InculcateLearning . Retrieved 23 August 2024– via YouTube.
  14. ↑ "IDR – Welcome to National Digital Library of India Project Website" . Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  15. ↑ "NDLI: Digital Preservation Centre". www.ndl.gov.in. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  16. ↑ "NDLI: জ্ঞান ও বিজ্ঞান : বর্ষ ৬০ (২০০৭)". www.ndl.gov.in. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
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