Saturday, July 29, 2006

Are government online libraries useful?

I wonder. With several online government libraries available, are there people really using them? I mean used well enough that the cost of putting up the infrastructure can be made sustainable and useful to its target audience.

Some of the online libraries I know are:
  • Philippine eLib - Note that the government spent like 167 million for this project. The materials in the website, mostly are not for free if I'm not mistaken.
  • Science.ph - The portal currently links to some 65 databases of various DoST sub-agencies.

I think the private sector should seriously consider in partnering with the DOST in coming up with a profitable win-win solution to make these highly-valuable information assets useful and sustainable.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember you said that the Phil elib was created for filipinos 'who doesnt have access to libraries and/or for those who cannot buy books'. so how come they are charging Php 1,200 for a month's worth of access?

Janette Toral said...

Hi Wilfredo. What I said then is that an ideal e-library should be for people who don't have access to public libraries/books. I guess that is the irony of this project. In the end, they need to sustain themselves at the same time.