The premise of digital libraries is that students may lack access to certain texts or literature either because of lack of funds or limited library resources. And such concerns will multiply as grants are cut. The difficulties are that reading whole books can gobble computer time, cause eyestrain and are hard to bookmark. (Rare books, of course, from remote sites may not be accessible via any media other than the Internet.) A good use of a digital libraries would occur in a scenario in which a student encounters a reference to a primary source but has no ready access to it.
Virtual libraries for students can encourage them to seek a primary source as a context for a particular quotation or, as the publishing industry evolves, for current magazine articles on topics in science, not available in local libraries.
