Digital library: concept study and the foundation of the term

Abstract

The concept of a digital library is the subject of numerous discussions and debates. On the one hand, this term is used to refer to several concepts, on the other hand, it is used to describe a specific type libraries. There are also other words to describe them, among those most used, we include: electronic library, virtual library, complementary or hybrid library, library without walls, etc. To illustrate this terminology problem, we conducted a multi-level study by analyzing these concepts and highlight the key differences and overlaps between them. This study, which was carried out from research at the websites available online, has identified a set of statistical indicators relating to the chronological order of appearance of these terms in specialized scientific production; determine their ranking according to their frequency of use, and have a clear vision of the evolution of the term and overlapping concepts from graphical representations of the collected data.

Keywords: Digital library, electronic library, virtual library, scientific production