• The ministry of culture has created National Virtual Library of India (NVLI) to facilitate a comprehensive database on digital resources on information about India in an open access environment. 

• Under the aegis of the National Mission on Libraries, National Virtual Library of India was launched in February 2018. 

• It was developed by IIT Bombay in collaboration with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and IGNOU, Delhi. 

• The main output of this project is the Indian Culture Portal, www.indianculture.gov.in.

• The portal has a total of about 2.98 lakh digital artefacts, with metadata and more than 34 lakh bibliographic entries.

• The content is presented in 28 categories such as rare books, e-books, archives, paintings, stories, snippets, historical cities and forts, etc.  

• It is a one-stop source for information related to history, heritage and culture.

• The objective of NVLI is to provide a platform for the digital preservation of diverse cultural artefacts and to create awareness and a sense of collective ownership among citizens about their shared heritage.

Other main features of NVLI:

• To provide access to multiple cultural resources such as national and state archives, libraries and district gazetteers which will cater to all sections of the society.

• Data is collected from the various organisations of the ministry and curated. 

• Curated data is harvested into a common repository and made available to the public on the Indian Culture Portal.

• Free access is provided to archival resources and documents.

• Easy navigation of the portal helps the user to get the desired result quickly.

• The portal has specific features and functionalities that allow visually impaired to read and access the portal without difficulty.

• Search option allows the user to look through the different layers of the portal with the use of filters. Advanced search helps look for books and other resources using the specific fields such as author name, title etc.

• The portal is bilingual and is available in both English and Hindi language.

• Digital flipbook feature is available for rare books and e-books. Rare books on the portal are also downloadable.

• Content related to history, heritage and culture is written in an easy to read format to cater to people from all walks of life.

• Data on the portal can be easily shared using unique QR codes. Once scanned, the desired page can be easily accessed on phone and other devices.

• The portal is constantly growing with new content and curated data. The portal hosts lakhs of data in the form of books, manuscripts, archival documents, images, videos and other resources.

• The portal is currently available in English and Hindi and can be accessed through Indian Culture app.

National Mission on Libraries

• Library is a State Subject and libraries in states/Union Territories function under the administrative control of the respective state/UT authority. 

• National Knowledge Commission, established in 2005, constituted a working group on libraries which recommended setting up a National Mission on Libraries to revamp library and information services sectors. 

• The National Mission on Libraries (NML), an initiative of the ministry of culture to modernise and digitally link public libraries across the country, was launched in February 2014. 

• Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF) is the nodal agency for the National Mission on Libraries for administrative, logistic, planning and budgeting purposes.

The schemes of NML consists of four components:

1) Creation of National Virtual Library of India (NVLI)

2) Setting up of NML Model Libraries

3) Quantitative & Qualitative Survey

4) Capacity Building for Library Professionals.

Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation

• Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF), a fully financed autonomous organization under the ministry of culture, was set up in May 1972. 

• The main objective of the Foundation is to promote and support the public library movement in the country, providing financial and technical assistance for development of public library system and services, inculcating reading habits among the masses with the active cooperation of state/UT library authorities and voluntary organisations operating in the field of library services. RRRLF has its head office Located in Kolkata and zonal offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati and Chennai.

• Ministry of vulture through matching and non-matching schemes of Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation and through National Mission on Libraries is providing financial assistance for various purposes like construction/renovation of library buildings, upgradation of infrastructure with furniture and equipment, modernisation, procurement of books and reading resources, organisation of seminar/training and capacity building of library professionals/workshop/outreach programmes, etc.

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