Twenty-First Century Academic Libraries: An Access to Digital Information Resources and Services to Enhance Teaching, Learning and Research

Abstract

This paper explores 21st-century academic libraries as a means of accessing digital information resources and services to enhance teaching, learning, and research. Twenty-first-century academic libraries are considered the world of opportunities for digital technologies, digital and traditional learning spaces, to provide access to digital information resources, physical information resources, innovative information services, and to adapt to any technological and conventional opportunity to enhance teaching, learning, and research.  Different kinds of digital information resources, such as E-books, E-journals, Databases, CDs/DVDs, E-conference proceedings, E-Reports, E-Maps, E-Pictures/Photographs, E-Manuscripts, E-Theses, E-Newspaper, Internet/Websites - Listservs, Newsgroups, Subject Gateways, etc., were explored. Similarly, Innovative digital information services to enhance teaching, learning, and research in twenty-first-century academic libraries embrace the use of social media applications such as YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, TikTok, Telegram, Snapchat, Douyin,  Kuaishou, X (formerly Twitter), Sina Weibo, QQ, Pinterest, Qzone, Reddit, Tieba, LinkedIn, Quora, Stack Exchange, Viber, imo, LINE, Picsart, Likee, Discord, Twitch were highlighted. The digital library will provide enhanced access to the digital information resources, and users can access the digital content beyond time and space boundaries. The paper concluded that the 21st century has contributed to the emergence of digital information resources, providing academic libraries with the opportunity to subscribe to scholarly online databases and digitize their traditional collections to offer access to digital information resources and services. And finally recommended that academic libraries in the twenty-first century must be provided with Adequate funds that will assist in subscription to scholarly online databases, internet bandwidth, and procurement of other digital library materials that will support academic library users to achieve their academic activities.