Gujarat libraries to convert over 70,000 books into e-books

Ahmedabad Keeping pace with changing reading habits in the wake of the digital revolution the Gujarat Director of Libraries DoL has decided to convert over 70000 books into ebooks to make them available to readers onlineThe books will be available for members through eLibrary Reader software for computers as well as through Android App for mobile phones As per the available project details around 195 crore pages of more than 70000 books will be converted into ebook format and will be made available for their members within two to three months time said officialsThese books belong to two stateowned central libraries and a state repository centre including State Central Libraryin Gandhinagar Central Library in Vadodara and State Book Repository Centre in Mehsana town At present we are undertaking this project for over 70000 books for which we have started searching for service provider to carry out the work The agency will first scan each and every page of these books and covert them into PDFformat which disables unauthorised copying of texts online said Director of LibrariesDoL Dr Varsha MehtaThe whole process of scanning pages and converting them into PDF and finally into ebooks may take two to three months as the selected agency needs to take care of many technical aspects and conditions specified by the DoL said MehtaMany of these books are very rare and too old After scanning the pages they need to clean pages through digital tools to remove stains and black spots which readers may find unpleasant while reading the book online said Mehta As per the rules set by DoL the selected agency needs to develop a specialised e Library Reader ELR software for PCs as well as a specialised Android based App to read the converted ebooks on smart phonesWe also want the user interface of reading software to be the reflection of original library set up where books are kept on shelves Such graphics should appear when the user open the software to select an ebook by touching the related number or clicking on the menu of books said MehtaThese converted ebooks will be then be uploaded onto our server and users will be given an ID and password to access them Similarly they can access ebooks on their mobile phones through an Android App People just need to become member of our libraries to get the access she saidAccording to her this project is just a beginning as more and more books across all the libraries in the state will be added into the database as ebooks for the readers The project is also aimed at reaching out to readers who are now finding it difficult to spare time to go to library to issue and deposit books This project will also give them a chance to read rare books particularly books in Gujarati language said officialsWe want to reach out to people through the use of technology Readers will also get a chance to read many rare books now as these books will be available in digital form and we need not worry about its wear and tear said Assistant DoL D K ShahAt present most of the ebooks available on websites are in English language for example novels written by Englishauthors Through this initiative readers will get a chance to read numerous Gujarati books online as most of these booksare not available in ebook format added Shah