School of Education

Digitization and Preservation of Library Project (DPLR)

The Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MOEST) in Nepal has initiated a mission to digitize and preserve public library resources with technical assistance (TA) from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Under this TA, Kathmandu University School of Education (KUSOED) is managing the project entitled ‘Digitization and Preservation of Library Resources’ (DPLR) Project. The project is currently working with three public libraries - Nepal National Library (NNL), Kaiser Library (KL), and Dilliraman Kalyani Regmi Memorial Library ((DRKRML).

Funding Agency: e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund (EAKPF), the Republic of Korea, through the fund management of ADB.

Consortium universities:  Kathmandu University (KU), Nepal Open University (NOU) and Tribhuvan University (TU)

Project Period:  March 2024 to January 2026 (Extended contract period: 29 January 2026 to 29 January 2027)

Principal Investigator:  Assoc. Prof. Shesha Kanta Pangeni, PhD

Project Activities:  The major activities of the project are listed below. 

  1. Plan documents (short, medium, and long term) for digitization and preservation of library resources.

  2. Policy for digitization and preservation of library resources.

  3. Capacity development plan and training for the library staff.

  4. Piloting of digitization and preservation of library resources. 

  5. National Digital Library’s (NDL)Operation Modality Guidelines

  6. Learning Management System (LMS) Operation Guideline 

  7. Project Management including steering committee meetings, satisfaction surveys, and coordination.

The DPLR project has accomplished the following major activities during the project period of March 2024 to April 2026.

1. Coordination and Consultation Meeting

The DPLR project conducts coordination and consultation meetings regularly with Nepal National Library, Kaiser Library, Dilliraman Library, and libraries of Tribhuvan University Nepal Open University and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The meetings aim to share regular project updates and strengthen collaboration among universities, libraries and Ministry for the project planning and implementation.

2. Development of a Comprehensive Plan and Policy

The DPLR project has accomplished multiple workshops and seminars in different major programs of the project, especially focused on the development of the policy of National Digital Library (NDL) and the plan document (short, medium, and long term) on digitization and preservation of library resources. In addition, the project organized consultation workshops for establishing the NDL and is engaging technical personnel for developing an integrated digital library. After a series of workshops, the project has developed a draft of the policy/guidelines of NDL, which has been submitted to MoEST for inputs and the approval process. Similarly, the project has developed a draft of the plan document, which is in the process of finalization with the review and inputs of concerned stakeholders.

 
Blended Training on Digitization and Preservation of Library Resources 
The DPLR project collaborated with the MoEST to organize a 20-day blended training on digitization and preservation of library resources. The training had engagement of 20 library professionals as participants, and experts in the library field facilitated the sessions. The participants of the training were library staffs from Nepal National Library, Dilliraman library, Kaiser library, Tribhuwan University (TU), Nepal Open University (NOU) and KUSOED. 
The facilitators developed training content based on the training curriculum and manual. The virtual sessions covered the concept and theoretical component, and field visits were organized for a practical demonstration of activities related to digitization and preservation.  The training is expected to enhance the knowledge and skills of libraries in digitizing and preserving resources and NDL management.

Plan for the project period (April 2026-January 2027)

  • Approval of plan (short, medium and long) of digitization and preservation of library resources and policy of the National Digital Library.

  • Functioning of the National Digital Library and public launch of National Digital Library.

  • Exposure visit of the library professionals to Korea.

  • Piloting of digitization and preservation of library resources.

  • Facilitate the exposure visit and training of library professionals in Korea.

  • Consultation and coordination meetings and visits.

Deliverables:

  • NDL’s Operation Modality Guidelines

  • LMS Operation Guideline 

  • Satisfaction Survey Report

  • Final Project Report