Virtual Bookshelf: Your All-In-One Digital Library

Access to a Complete Library of Resources: As education goes online, a virtual bookshelf is the perfect solution for students to access digital books, both on the web, and from digitized libraries of their respective institutions. A virtual bookshelf provides students access to the resources they need to complete their homework or conduct research for an article or project.

Access Neatly Arranged Books: An online bookshelf is a wonderful way of finding books. All books are neatly arranged in categories; so, an English literature student looking for classics will find a shelf displaying books such as Jane Eyre, War and Peace, and Far from the Madding Crowd etc., for easy scrutiny. When you click on the link, you can read the review of the book and see if it meets your interest.

Supports Online And Offline Teaching: A virtual bookshelf supports both online and classroom teaching. For instance, an instructor can provide additional information to clarify certain concepts using an online resource from the bookshelf. The instructor can highlight important paragraphs for students to read as part of a classroom activity or homework. A virtual bookshelf thus, allows students to learn more efficiently. They can read and highlight text, and add notes the way they would do on paper. As said above, you can share your virtual bookshelf with peers, which means that you can even subscribe to your instructor’s and classmates’ notes to view on your bookshelf.

Promotes Group Activity: A virtual bookshelf promotes online group activity. To illustrate this with an example, a physical library would contain limited copies of a book that supports a particular topic. However, with a virtual bookshelf, all students in a group can have access to the digital version at the same time. For instance, a group activity could be to find support for the question ‘Is the ghost real in Hamlet?’. With a virtual bookshelf all students in the group can have access to the digital copy of the book in which they can highlight in different colors text that supports/disproves the question and add notes for all members of the group to share.

Simplifies Search: Students will also find multiple ways to browse through pages and sections including a linked table of contents, which makes it easy to navigate to the topic of interest. Once there, they can use search terms to find the exact paragraph or section they are looking for. They can also copy paste text passages for homework or reference. Some bookshelves also support course materials with rich media and interactivity, such as quizzes and videos, which make learning more interesting.

Anytime And Anywhere Access: A virtual bookshelf is a digital version of the physical library that allows anytime and anywhere access to learning resources. The students don’t have to carry heavy backpacks, rather they can access the eBooks on their device of choice, be it a notebook, tablet, reader or smartphone. Thus, a virtual bookshelf offers great convenience, allowing students to carry and access the complete library, armed with just an Internet and a reading device. Some virtual bookshelves also allow users to purchase and download a book for offline access. Alternatively, students can also copy paste from books in a separate file and then read through the notes anywhere and anytime.