What is NDLI?

The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is an all-digital library that stores information (metadata) about different types of digital contents including books, articles, videos, audios, thesis and other educational materials relevant for users from varying educational levels and capabilities. It provides a single-window search facility so that learners can retrieve the right resources with the least effort in minimum time. NDLI is designed to hold content of any language and provide interface support for the leading vernacular languages. It is available on all popular forms of access devices including mobile apps on Android and iOS platforms.

Who all can be benefited by NDLI?

NDLI has been designed to benefit all kinds of users like students (of all levels), teachers, researchers, librarians, library users, professionals, differently abled users and all other lifelong learners.

There are so many Digital Libraries. How is NDLI different from them?

NDLI will provide a single window search facility to act as a one-stop shop for all digital educational resources. Information can be personalized based on the education level, choice of language, difficulty level, media of content and such other factors while other Digital libraries may not include all these choices. NDLI provides interface support for the leading vernacular languages and thus one can select the language of his/her choice to search or browse through NDLI. In other words, it is like a 'customised service' provided in a 24x7 integrated environment to suit a user's requirement and will be like a single 'go-to' shop for any requirement.

How do I get access to NDLI?

An individual or institute can simply type in the URL (https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in or https://www.ndl.gov.in) into a common web browser to access the NDLI website. However, for better user experience on mobile devices, it is highly recommended to use the NDLI mobile application, available for the respective mobile platform

Do I need a user-id, password to log into the NDLI system?

The NDLI system is accessible to all users for general browsing and viewing full text contents. However, one needs to register with a user id and password and login using those credentials for accessing the full text contents of any item under National Licensing (contents with the sign NDLI as in South Asia Archive, World eBook Library etc.)

How do I register into NDLI as a new user?

Once you have typed in the URL (https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in or https://www.ndl.gov.in) of NDLI and land on the Homepage, you will find a Log-In tab on the top right hand corner. Click on the tab whereby a window will open with options for Member log-in, Register or Account recovery. Click on the 'Register' button whereby a Registration form will open. Fill up all the details on the form, tick the box on 'I have read, understood and agree to the Terms and Conditions of using NDLI' and submit. You will soon get a validation link in your mailbox. Click the link and validate and then you can start using NDLI. From next time onwards, you can simply use the Log-In option on the Home page for accessing NDLI.

When I registered, the system sent me a message for account verification. But I have not received any link for verification.

Once you have typed in the URL (https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in or https://www.ndl.gov.in) of NDLI and land on the Homepage, you will find a Log-In tab on the top right hand corner. Click on the tab whereby a window will open with options for Member log-in, Register or Account recovery. Please click on the 'Account recovery' button, type in your email id and submit. You will get a fresh validation link in your mailbox. Please click on the link to validate and you will be all set to explore NDLI.

When I registered, the system sent me a link for account verification. But when I click on the link, I am getting an error message.

The Account verification link is valid for only 24 hours. If you try to use it after the expiry of 24 hours, it will send an error message. In such cases, please click on the 'Account recovery' button from the Log-In tab, type in your email id and submit. You will get a fresh validation link in your mailbox. Please click on the link to validate and you will be all set to explore NDLI.

I am trying to register into NDLI as a new user, have filled in all the details of the registration page but the system is not allowing me to submit.

Make sure you have ticked on the box saying "I have read, understood and agree to the Terms and Conditions of using NDLI.". Also, the captcha should be duly filled in.

I am trying to view the contents of a book but the system is asking me to log in.

View of the documents, full text or not, is controlled by the source organization. While many organizations are happy to provide full text access to all their documents, many would like to restrict it and want the user to either log in or send a request to an email id provided on the site for full text versions. There can be some publishers, like Springer, whose publications can be accessed in full text mode if the user organization is a subscriber while there can be some other documents which are free of cost when accessed by logging into NDLI but will have to be paid for if accessed from some other site. You will notice an icon beside each document which will tell you upfront about the access rights of the document.

• Open: full-text available to all (Example: NCERT)
• Limited: part of the text is available but full-text requires authorization by Source Authority (Example: IISER, Bhopal)
• Subscribed: full-text available for institutions that have subscribed to the Source (Example: Springer)
• Authorized: full-text access requires authorization by Source authority and separate login to the Source (Example: IIT Jodhpur)
• NDLI: This signifies that the document can be accessed in full-text mode by logging into NDLI

Once I have registered into the NDLI system, will I have access to all the materials free of cost?

Access to the NDLI system is free of charge. However, this will lead the user to the materials which may reside on other institutions' servers. Accessing these will be determined by the policy of those institutions and their access rules.

Can I access NDLI on my mobile device?

Yes, NDLI is available as a mobile app on both Android operating system and iOS. We are continually optimizing the NDLI app to provide the best mobile user experience.

Can I access NDLI as an individual or does it have to be through an institutional membership only?

There is no restriction on the accessibility of the NDLI system. It can be accessed by an individual or institute member equally well. However access to full text content in many cases (e.g. Springer publisher content) may require institutional subscription or may have to be subscribed to by the member personally.

I would like to register all members of my institute onto NDLI. What is the best way to do it?

This can be done through Bulk Registration process defined under a tab on the Home page. For this, kindly send an excel file in comma separated values (CSV) format with the names of all the users to ndl-support@iitkgp.ac.in. Please mention the institute name within the mail. NDLI team will then register all of them whereby each individual will get a communication from the system on the next steps to follow. The steps for creating the CSV file are as follows:

• Create an excel sheet of your users which includes students, faculty and staff.
• Excel file should contain (1st column) e-mail id (2nd column), first name (3rd column), last name only with no other information like serial number, heading, signature, etc.
• Save the excel file in .csv format.

Is there any registration fee required for accessing NDLI?

The NDLI project is all about knowledge dissemination and there is no fee attached for accessing the digital library.

Do I need any special hardware/accessories to access NDLI?

No special hardware or accessories are required to access NDLI. NDLI can be accessed from devices like PC, Laptop, Mobile devices supporting any web browser. However you will need internet connectivity to access NDLI. NDLI is not available through physical media such as CD-ROM.

Once I have registered into the NDLI system, will I have access to all the materials free of cost?

Access to the NDLI system is free of charge. However, this will lead the user to the materials which may reside on other institutions' servers. Accessing these will be determined by the policy of those institutions and their access rules.

Does NDLI provide materials in textual form only or are there provisions for multi-media materials too?

NDLI contents are available in various forms like text, audio, video etc. The nature of media can be chosen by the user to retrieve the materials in the desired format.

Can I assume all the information retrieved from NDLI to be factually correct?

NDLI harvests metadata from other sources and guides its users to the respective sources through the metadata used to define those items. The responsibility or liability of the contents thus lies with the respective source organizations and NDLI is not in a position to authenticate the accuracy of the contents. For any questions regarding the quality of the contents, one is requested to contact the respective content provider.

Why am I unable to access a resource although it is shown as available?

All contents on the web are managed by the site owner. Sometimes contents are removed or re-organised by the owners. In such situations, we expect the content providers to update the link suitably. Try searching the site that the item was linked to. It could still be available on the website but in a different location. If you are still unable to access the item, please raise the issue with ndl-support@iitkgp.ac.in

Why does it take a long time to download some articles?

The amount of time it takes to download an article depends on the speed of your internet connection, the size of the article and the location where it is hosted. Sometimes it can take a few minutes to download a page especially if the page is rich in graphics.

Will I get materials of my choice in my mother tongue?

The ultimate aim is to provide the materials in all vernacular languages. However, this will very much depend on the actual availability of materials in the vernacular. NDLI can accommodate materials in any language while the User Interface for Browsing and Searching is currently available in English plus 12 Indian languages and is slowly being expanded to include other languages.

Can I retrieve materials customised to my education level at NDLI?

Yes, NDLI provides the unique facility of choosing knowledge materials as per the educational level of the user. The results retrieved for a query can be filtered based on user's choice of 'Educational Level'. Upon selecting a specific Educational Level filter (e.g., UG and PG), the results matching only that selection criteria will be shown to the user.

Why is it that I can't get a full-text view of all documents? Only some documents allow full-text open access.

View of the documents, full text or not, is controlled by the source organization. While many organizations are happy to provide full text access to all their documents, many would like to restrict it and want the user to either log in or send a request to an email id provided on the site for full text versions. There can be some publishers, like Springer, whose publications can be accessed in full text mode if the user organization is a subscriber while there can be some other documents which are free of cost when accessed by logging into NDLI but will have to be paid for if accessed from some other site. You will notice an icon beside each document which will tell you upfront about the access rights of the document.

• Open: full-text available to all (Example: NCERT)
• Limited: part of the text is available but full-text requires authorization by Source Authority (Example: IISER, Bhopal)
• Subscribed: full-text available for institutions that have subscribed to the Source (Example: Springer)
• Authorized: full-text access requires authorization by Source authority and separate login to the Source (Example: IIT Jodhpur)
• NDLI: This signifies that the document can be accessed in full-text mode by logging into NDLI

Can I apply different options to refine my Search criteria for an item?

Yes, you can refine your search criteria from the 'Refine search results' facet by choosing different options like Author, Subject, Learning Resource Type etc. This will help you retrieve an item meeting multiple selection criteria.

Is there a faster way of searching for an item with multiple search criteria?

You can use the 'Advanced search' option placed on the top right side of the screen to apply multiple selection criteria (Source, Educational level, Language, Learning Resource Type) for a more focussed and faster search.

Will I get materials of my choice in my mother tongue?

The ultimate aim is to provide the materials in all vernacular languages. However, this will very much depend on the actual availability of materials in the vernacular. NDLI can accommodate materials in any language while the User Interface for Browsing and Searching is currently available in English plus 12 Indian languages and is slowly being expanded to include other languages.

Can I retrieve materials customised to my education level at NDLI?

Yes, NDLI provides the unique facility of choosing knowledge materials as per the educational level of the user. The results retrieved for a query can be filtered based on user's choice of 'Educational Level'. Upon selecting a specific Educational Level filter (e.g., UG and PG), the results matching only that selection criteria will be shown to the user.

How can I look up materials on a particular Subject on NDLI?

You can select 'By Subject' from the 'Browse' option and select your subject of interest from the drop down menu. The system will provide you three levels of filtering to refine the subject selection further.

Is it possible to get non-textual materials on NDLI?

Yes, you can get materials in various forms like video, image, animation, simulation and presentation besides textual materials. Select the 'By Type' option on 'Browse' or the material type from the right hand bar on 'Search' to get materials in your desired form.

Can I apply different options to fine tune my browsing outputs?

Yes, you can refine your browsing output by choosing different options like Author, Subject, Learning Resource Type etc. on the 'Refine browse results' facet. This will help you retrieve an item meeting multiple selection criteria.

I keep hearing of metadata - what exactly does it mean?

Metadata is the data that represents any content. Metadata includes information that enables users to identify, discover, interpret or manage content, such as the name of the author of the work, the date on which it was first created or published, or where the physical object is located. It might also include a description of the content: for example, a brief background on the historical and cultural implications of a work. Metadata may also include hyperlinks that direct users to the actual content on a content partner's website.

Which metadata standard do you follow?

NDLI is built following an open virtual metadata standard. The NDLI Metadata envelop has been developed using the commonly used metadata standards like Dublin Core (generic), Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI) (educational) and Shodhganga (thesis). In this approach the origin of each element of the metadata is identified by retaining the domain name of the adopted standard (such as "dc" for Dublin Core in case of Generic metadata elements, "lrmi" for Learning Resource Metadata Initiative in case of Educational metadata elements). The standard is flexible thus ensuring that metadata elements can be appended in future to address nature of contents or learners' requirement that has not been envisaged at this stage.

How can I access the metadata of any item?

When you filter down to the actual content of any item on the NDLI system, you can access metadata of the item by clicking on the 'Metadata' tab on the top.

Is it permissible to include NDLI articles in institutional repositories?

NDLI aims to make its educational materials available to all through metadata. Metadata provides textual information of a content which may be actually hosted on the data provider's server. The actual contents are subject to copyright laws of the respective data providers as the authors or publishers may retain copyright to these works that are used by NDLI with permission. Anybody reproducing, redistributing, or making commercial use of these materials is responsible for compliance with the terms and conditions asserted by the copyright holder. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use as defined in the copyright laws requires the written permission of the copyright owners.

Once I have registered into the NDLI system, will I have access to all the materials free of cost?

Access to the NDLI system is free of charge. However, this will lead the user to the materials which may reside on other institutions' servers. Accessing these will be determined by the policy of those institutions and their access rules.

Can I contribute articles to be included in NDLI?

Yes. For details about modality of contribution please contact NDLI at ndl-support@iitkgp.ac.in

I want to use an article available on NDLI. Do I need to take any special permission for this?

Use of articles retrieved from NDLI will be determined by the rights policy of the content provider and any special rights status of the article, as well as the nature of use. For example, freedom may be given for the use of an article for academic purpose but the same will necessitate permission if used for commercial purpose. Each metadata record will contain a link to the actual item on the content provider's website. Please access the website to assess the rights status of an individual item.

Can I print or save articles/eBooks from the NDLI repository?

The option to save or download an article will depend on the access rights provided by the content provider. Once saved, printing can be done. Sometimes, there could be a limit to the number of pages that can be printed (eg. upto 100 pages). Once again, this will vary from document to document based on the access rights set bythe content owner.

To whom should I write for any issue that I am facing?

For any issue that you may be facing or any questions that you may have, please write to ndl-support@iitkgp.ac.in for a solution.