What is it about?
Rare books in museum libraries are often seen mainly as historical or decorative objects. This article shows that they are still actively used by scientists today. Using the Australian Museum Research Library as a case study, the paper explains how researchers studying animals, fossils, and biodiversity rely on both digitised books and original printed volumes to do their work. Digital copies help researchers find and compare sources quickly, but physical books are still needed to check fine details such as colours, illustrations, annotations, and early scientific names. The study shows that digital libraries work best when they support this combination of online access and careful use of original materials. By recognising rare books as part of modern research infrastructure, libraries can better support scientific research, collaboration, and long-term knowledge creation.
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Why is it important?
As libraries continue to invest in digitization, it is easy to assume that digital copies can replace access to rare books. This study challenges that assumption by showing that original books remain essential for research. Their physical characteristics, including annotations, bindings, paper, and printing variations, often provide evidence that cannot be fully captured in digital reproductions. By introducing the concept of rare books as socio-technical research infrastructure, the article offers a new way of understanding the role of special collections. Rather than viewing rare books as objects to preserve, it demonstrates how they actively contribute to knowledge creation in today's hybrid digital research environment. These findings are relevant to librarians, researchers, and decision-makers seeking to maximize the research value of cultural heritage collections.
Perspectives
What I find most compelling about this work is that it shifts the conversation from preservation to discovery. We often discuss rare books in terms of their historical or cultural value, but this study reminds us that they are also active tools for research. As someone interested in the future of libraries and scholarly communication, I believe this perspective is especially timely. It challenges the idea that digitization makes original materials less relevant and instead shows how physical and digital collections complement each other. I hope this work encourages librarians, researchers, and institutions to see special collections not only as heritage to protect but also as infrastructure that continues to support new knowledge and future discoveries.
Irene Guidotti
Griffith University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Rare books as socio-technical research infrastructure in hybrid digital libraries, Digital Library Perspectives, July 2026, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/dlp-01-2026-0023.
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