The Role of Academic Libraries in the Digital Transformation of the Universities

Digital transformation involves vision, strategy, people, processes, and technology. A digital university continuously exploits digital technologies to both create new sources of value for the university communities and increase operational agility for digital operational excellence. Academic libraries have the expertise and mindset of being early adopters of new technologies to perform activities such as digital curation, digital preservation, digital archiving etc. Hence, the role of academic libraries in the digital transformation of the universities becomes central. Only those universities that stay relevant and leverage the power of digital and put in place focused digital transformation will survive in the digital era. Indeed, libraries should act as a platform for digital transformation. Learning Commons, digital education centres, digital scholarship Centres, Information Commons have revolutionised teaching & learning. Digital technologies are changing the way research is conducted. Digital capabilities are the key enabler of university digital transformation through the competent digital workforce.