The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is an initiative by the Ministry of Education, Government of India to provide a digital repository of academic resources. Developed by the IIT Kharagpur, NDLI offers free access to educational materials across various disciplines and academic levels. By aligning with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), NDLI promotes equitable access to quality education and fosters lifelong learning opportunities for all.

NDLI aggregates content from numerous national and international sources, including books, articles, theses, audio-video lectures, and OERs. The platform supports multiple languages, catering to the diverse linguistic landscape of India, and ensures resources are available from primary school to post-graduate levels and beyond. Built using open architecture, open-source software & open metadata^[1], NDLI currently provides access to more than 107 million contents, in 39 Indian languages, out of 423 languages in total.^[2]

With the objective of collecting and collating metadata and providing full-text index from several national and international digital libraries, as well as other relevant sources. The NDLI provides free-of-cost access to many books. It is designed to hold content of any language and provides search facilities for the 12 most widely used Indian languages. It is developed, operated, and maintained by the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.^[2]

History

Genesis

NDLI was founded by the Ministry of Education and the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT). The objective was to build a digital repository of learning resources with a single-window search facility, catering to the diverse needs of learners across the nation. The development of a digital library portal was initiated as a Pilot project (NDLI Ph-I) in April 2015. NDLI Ph-I lasted till 30 September 2017^[3]. The initial duration of Ph-II was from 1 October 2017 to 31 March 2020 but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this phase was extended till 31 March 2021. MoE, Govt. of India initiated the Ph-III of the project, and its duration is from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2026. The NDLI Portal (https://www.ndl.gov.in/) and (https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/) were nationally launched on 19 June 2018^[4][5][6]. The primary aim was to integrate significant Indian digital and non-digital libraries through a single-window platform, ensuring accessibility to educational resources for every demographic.

2014-2017: Establishment and Growth

The initial phase of the National Digital Library of India (NDLI) involved extensive planning and framework development. The digital library portal's development began as a pilot project (NDLI Ph-I) in April 2015. By 2016, the beta version of the portal went live^[3]. This period was crucial for aggregating content and establishing partnerships with numerous institutions across India, including central libraries of various universities, public libraries, and other educational institutions. The portal quickly expanded its repository and incorporated tools to facilitate access and usability, including multilingual support.

2017-2020: Phase Two and Official Launch

After surpassing all targets set by the Ministry, Phase Two of the National Digital Library of India (NDLI) was approved in 2017. This marked the transition out of beta. The official launch of the NDLI platform occurred on 19 June 2018^[6], aiming to democratize access to knowledge for over 50 million students across India. By 2019, NDLI had aggregated over 30 million items in more than 70 languages, covering subjects such as literature, science, mathematics, engineering, and medicine.

During this period, NDLI focused on expanding its reach and integrating advanced technological features to enhance user experience. Efforts included adding interactive materials such as videos, lectures, simulations, and other multimedia content. The library's interface became more user-friendly and accessible on various devices, promoting wider use in both urban and rural areas.

Significant developments included stronger collaborations with international digital libraries and the introduction of an improved UI to provide a better user experience. NDLI also enhanced its capabilities in handling and preserving Indigenous content, including rare manuscripts and folk literature, thus contributing to the preservation of cultural heritage.

NDLI's Response to the COVID-19 Lockdown

As hundreds of schools, colleges, and universities across India went into complete lockdown on 25 March 2020, NDLI faced the colossal responsibility of delivering educational and learning materials to learners nationwide. Students and teachers from different state boards, researchers, and scholars needed adequate resources to sustain and uphold the entire educational model of the nation, especially with major competitive and board exams approaching.

NDLI had to adapt quickly, evolving from a ‘data-focused’ approach to one centered on ‘agility and service.’ This required significant efforts in classifying content into user-targeted services, resulting in the first major overhaul of the site since its inception. Over time, NDLI took small but significant steps in constructing a comprehensive digital education ecosystem.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Indian learners benefited from the resources available on NDLI. This period underscored the platform's crucial role in supporting education continuity, ensuring that students and educators had access to necessary materials despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the lockdown.

2021- 2026: Phase Three

Initially, Phase Two of the NDLI project was approved for the period from 2017 to 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project timeline was extended. In 2021, the Ministry of Education, Government of India, extended the NDLI project until 2026. As normal activities gradually resumed post-pandemic, a major overhaul of NDLI was planned to further enhance its capabilities and reach.

Launch of NDLI 3.0: A New Era of Digital Learning

On 22 April 2024, the National Digital Library of India (NDLI) launched its 3.0 version^[7], marking a significant overhaul of the platform with a futuristic focus and integration of cutting-edge technologies. NDLI 3.0^[2][8] aims to drive a more personalized user experience through an enhanced, intuitive, and interactive interface, ensuring users can easily navigate its vast resources.

The new features of NDLI 3.0 are designed to build a more engaged and interactive community of learners. The platform now includes advanced data analytics tools, enabling educators and policymakers to understand usage patterns and improve the educational resources available. These tools help tailor the content to meet user needs more effectively, fostering a more responsive and adaptive learning environment.

NDLI 3.0 represents a major leap forward in digital education, combining state-of-the-art technology with user-centric design to support the evolving needs of students, teachers, and researchers across India. This version not only enhances accessibility and usability but also strengthens the platform's role in advancing educational opportunities and bridging the digital divide in the country.

Milestones^[9]

Year 2024

April: Launch of New Project Website (NDLI-3.0)

Year 2023

November: Digital Libraries: Sustainable Development in Education (DLSDE 2023)

July: OSSLM 2023

June: A. Launch of Digital Library for The Raj Bhavan of Telangana & B. 150 NDLI Clubs in the Remotest States and UTs of India

May: 80 million Registered Users

Year 2022

December: A. 6.68L The Highest Ever Daily Document View (18.12.2022); B. 4000 NDLI Clubs Across the Nation; C. 90 million Content

February: Wins World Summit Award 2021

Year 2021

November: Launch of "Career Development and Recruitment" Vertical

May: 70 million Content

April: Phase III Starts

March: Launch of NDLI Club

Year 2020

April: Over 100,000 Daily Website Hit Count

April: Covid-19 Research Repository

August: 50 million Content

Year 2019

September: Wins the Gems of Digital India Award

December: 40 million Content and 2.5 million Active Users

Year 2018

June: The library was dedicated to the nation on 19 June 2018, by the Union Human Resource Minister Prakash Javadekar.^[4]

August: 20 million Content and 2 million Active Users

Year 2017

February: Mobile App Release August: NDLI India mobile app wins the mBillionth Awards October: Phase-II Starts and KEDL 2017

Year 2016

February: Portal Alpha Release November: Portal Beta Release to Educational Institutes December: 5 million Content

Year 2015

April: Pilot Phase (Phase-1) Starts June: Metadata Generation and Curation Starts November: Portal Hosting Infrastructure Set up

Focus on Education

From cultural artifacts to e-books, the National Digital Library of India (NDLI) serves a wide array of needs and interests. Its primary focus is to be an enabler of education for all learners across India. NDLI currently houses content from 23^[10] state boards and national boards like CBSE, SCERT 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 text, video, audiobook, presentations, and simulations in multiple Indian languages, aligning NDLI’s objectives with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

• Educational Resources^[10][11]: NDLI offers a large collection of books, tutorials, question papers, audio and video lectures, e-books, and virtual labs specifically grouped for board preparations.
• Research and Scholarly Content^[12]: The library boasts a vast collection of articles, newspaper archives, journals, and research papers from premier institutes and research bodies in India and abroad.
• Competitive Exam Preparation^[13]: NDLI is a comprehensive source for competitive exam preparation with special collections such as NDLI Tutor which focuses on solved question papers. These resources guide students through the problem-solving process, rather than simply providing answers.

NDLI’s alignment with NEP 2020 emphasizes its commitment to providing accessible, high-quality educational resources that promote lifelong learning and skill development. By integrating advanced technology and offering diverse content, NDLI supports the NEP’s goals of inclusive and equitable education for all, bridging the digital divide, and preparing learners for the challenges of the 21st century.

Services

NDLI Club^[14][15]

Libraries have been an integral part of society since ancient times, serving as the richest sources of information and playing a crucial role in making education open and accessible to all. With the advancements in science and changes in the socioeconomic structure, the needs of users and the medium of information have evolved, leading to an exponential increase in the volume of information. Instant access to information has become essential, fueling the demand for digital libraries. The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) was developed to cater to the needs of modern India.

However, like other digital libraries worldwide, NDLI faces the challenge of disseminating, popularizing, and increasing user awareness of its platform. To address this, several initiatives have been undertaken with the assistance of the Government of India. Among these, the establishment of the NDLI Club in 2021 stands out as particularly innovative.

In 2020, the Indian government launched the National Education Policy (NEP 2020), and NDLI seized this opportunity to promote the platform and help educational institutions adopt key recommendations outlined in NEP 2020. One such recommendation in page number 19, para 4.44^[16] is the establishment of topic-centered and project-based clubs designed to nurture students' interests and talents through supplementary enrichment material, guidance, and support. These clubs are encouraged at all levels, from schools to districts and beyond.

Recognizing the limitations of physical clubs—such as the need for space, manpower, and recurring costs—NDLI launched the NDLI Club^[17] in March 2021. This digital initiative provides a robust 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 simplifies the process by enabling institutions to create events, upload reports, maintain event logs, automatically generate certificates, and build networks to exchange resources.

As of June 2024, over 5,600 institutions have established clubs using the NDLI Club platform, bringing together nearly 1.65 million members from different regions of India. The primary objective of the NDLI Club is to promote NDLI awareness among students and teachers through activity-based learning, offering NDLI as a valuable resource and service. This approach helps users become accustomed to the platform, fostering long-term engagement.

The NDLI Club is a unique service in the digital library landscape, standing out as an innovative approach to integrating activity-based learning with digital resources. While activity-based learning clubs are common in modern education, the concept of the NDLI Club is unparalleled, providing a scalable and accessible solution to support the educational ecosystem across India.

Institutional Digital Repository (IDR)^[18][19]

The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) has been instrumental in providing Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) services to academic institutions nationwide^[19]. To date, NDLI has facilitated the establishment of more than 150 IDRs^[19][20], significantly enhancing the digital infrastructure of these institutions. These repositories serve as centralized platforms for storing, preserving, and providing access to a wide array of scholarly works, including research papers, theses, dissertations, and reports.

NDLI helps institutions set up their IDRs and provides comprehensive training and technical expertise to educational institutions, libraries, and organizations. This training ensures that these institutions can effectively manage their repositories, ensuring the systematic organization and long-term preservation of intellectual output. Additionally, NDLI hosts and integrates content from the IDRs of different institutions, creating a unified digital library that enhances the accessibility and visibility of scholarly works across the nation.

For institutions lacking the necessary infrastructure and expertise to establish their own IDRs, NDLI bridges this gap. NDLI provides the required infrastructure and technical support, effectively hosting their IDRs. This support ensures that even institutions with limited resources can contribute to and benefit from the digital repository system. By enabling the systematic organization and preservation of intellectual output, NDLI's IDR service promotes collaboration, facilitates interdisciplinary research, and contributes to the global knowledge ecosystem. Through these efforts, NDLI is making valuable academic contributions more accessible and ensuring the sustained availability of institutional knowledge.

Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)^[21]

In 2019, NDLI established its own Digital Preservation Centre (DPC) at Salt Lake, Kolkata, India. The first project involved digitizing the contents of the "Presidency Alumni Association" and integrating them into NDLI. Notable contents include:^[22]

• Presidency College Register: A list of graduates from 1858-1925.
• Oaten on Netaji: A poem by a Professor of History on Subhas Chandra Bose.
• Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's Attendance Record: Noting his absence in the class of 1858-59.
• "Autumn Annual" Journal: Volumes edited by the late Nabanita Deb Sen, an alumni publication.

Following this, issues of the esteemed Bengali science journal "Jnan O Bijnan"^[23] were digitized. Published by Bangiya Bijnan Parishad, a science organization founded by Satyendra Nath Bose in 1948, this monthly journal has been a significant source of popular science content in Bengali. NDLI now hosts all issues from 1948 to 2020.^[24]

Additionally, a few books contributed by the "Press Information Bureau, Kolkata"^[25] have been scanned and integrated into NDLI. A Bengali translation of the "Srimad Bhagavad Gita^[26]," contributed by Udbodhan Karyalaya^[27], is also present in NDLI.

Access and restrictions

User registration is open to users from around the world. However, content from some popular sources is only accessible to registered users. Some of these registration-only works are from sources such as:

• World eBook Library
• DLI^[28]
• Satyajit Ray Society^[29]

Management

The library is managed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Websites and Contact

Website 1: https://www.ndl.gov.in/

Website 2: https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/

Project Website (for detailed information about the project): http://project.ndl.gov.in/

NDLI Club portal: https://club.ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/club-home

See also

• Digital Library of India
• Traditional Knowledge Digital Library
• Panjab Digital Library
• Open access in India

References

External links

• Official website