HOME NEWS ZJL
Accessible Digital Reading and Library Services
By Zhejiang Library | April 24, 2022

Thanks to the Co-construction and Sharing Platform of Literature Information Resources in Zhejiang Province, readers can find the chorography they want easily by opening computer and logging in the website of any public library in Zhejiang. This platform can also be seen as a microcosm of the continuous upgrading of public library services in Zhejiang Province.

 

In recent years, Zhejiang Library has promoted services upgrading by digital revolution, and opened the first provincial co-construction and sharing platform of literature information resources, putting digital resources accessibility ,printing books circulation as well as public library card system into reality.. This revolution is based on the development of digital technology, seen the sharing ideology as the goal and relied on the credit reading system, which could be seen as an effective practice of high-quality development in public libraries.

 

 

Digitization makes Resources Accessible

 
On October 14, 2021, the platform that gathered literature resources throughout the province was officially established, which realizes the digital services united in the public libraries. The staff from Zhejiang Library said: “In the past, readers needed to search in each and every library to find the book they want. Now, they can find the book directly on this platform by just searching for one time.”
 
The establishment of the platform was sponsored by Zhejiang Library and cooperated by hundreds of public libraries in the province. Gathering more than 1.12 million catalogs, the platform realizes one-stop research and helps readers understand the distribution of literature resources in public libraries throughout the province quickly. Besides that, the platform also consists and shares the digital resources from the public libraries across the province by providing 30 free databases for readers to use. There are more than 1.8 million kinds of e-books, more than 300 million electronic journals, 1.37 million audio and video resources of various types, and more than 1.17 billion academic resources for readers to read. On the basis of the needs of economic, social and cultural development and the regional characteristics, the platform also connects 158 self-built database resources according to the classification navigation and regional navigation, and comprehensively improves the construction scale and quality of self-built resources in the province.
 
The construction of the platform has also vigorously promoted the digital research and utilization of ancient book resources and local literature. In view of the fact that many ancient books and local chronicles have been digitized but have not been released, the platform has built two modules: the General Database of Historical Documents Digital Resources and the Newly Compiled Local Chronicles of Zhejiang Province. Among them, the former is based on the ancient books collected by the l public libraries across the province. The latter has released more than 480 kinds of digital chronicles, which has become an effective way to study the local culture.
 
 

Public libraries coordinating borrowing and return platform makes reading boundless

 
With the changes in people's leisure and entertaining methods, information access channels, reading habits and other aspects, the supply of high-quality digital resource services and activities has become the focus of the current digital and intelligent transformation of public library services. To this end, the platform has set up a digital exhibition hall, a joint service platform for reading activities, and an online live broadcast platform for cultural activities. Through these functional modules, readers can participate in various cultural activities remotely and enjoy the charm of reading.
 
 
In June 2020, Zhejiang Province launched an Overall Service-Improving Program of public library services. At the end of that year, the Public Llibraries Coordinated Loan and Return Platform was coming online. "This platform is an intensive platform for the public library lending services in the province built by Zhejiang Library in conjunction with provincial, municipal and county public libraries to break through barriers between different management systems. At the same time, the application of this platform allows readers to access the resources and services of the public libraries by visiting any library in the province." 
 
 

Full-Services Contribute to Fair Reading

 
In recent years, Zhejiang Library has used new technologies such as the Internet and the Internet of Things to innovate book reading service scenarios and has opened the first online Credit Reading Service Platform covering the whole country. The "one-click borrowing" model represented by the Credit Reading Service Platform has entered the "Zheliban", Alipay and WeChat APP, which realized the integrated management of online borrowing of public libraries in the province.
 
The Credit Reading Service Platform makes it more convenient and faster for readers to obtain high-quality resources from public libraries, and the sense of cultural acquisition is constantly improved. New inventions of public library services are widely liked by the citizens. Over the past two years, the Credit Reading Service Platform has accumulated more than 2.93 million registered users; covered 246 prefecture-level cities in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country; provided more than 400,000 kinds of new books, more than 1 million current collections, and more than 70,000 kinds of e-books for readers to borrow online for free. The cumulative number of visits by platform users exceeded 17.35 million, with 746,000 books were borrowed and 392,000 e-book were read.
 
 
In the past, library services were basically one-way, and the leading role was played only by the library side. Now, the library is going to be transformed into a “big study room” for citizens. To achieve this goal, all public libraries in the province should be united to form a library service combination. After that, public libraries should not only open to the whole province, but also to the whole country and even push our resources and services to the rest of the world.