Using Digital Scholarship to Advance the Sustainable Development Goals – How Can Libraries Contribute?

The Relevance of Sustainability to Digital Scholarship
We often think of digital scholarship efforts in the library as primarily focused on providing resources on using digital tools to advance scholarship within the university or institution. These efforts typically include conducting workshops and talks and providing spaces to collaborate on digital projects.

This article aims to analyse digital scholarship efforts in the library through the lens of sustainability. Digital scholarship serves a broader purpose beyond the libraries and creates a far greater impact on the university community and the wider society. It has the power to advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by supporting sustainability in education, research, operations and partnerships through library initiatives.

To illustrate this, we present a case study of our NUS Libraries’ LibMaps platform and how it aligns with the IFLA’s strategic direction of libraries achieving the sustainable development goals, as well as the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) commitment to advancing sustainable development and environmental sustainability.

What is the Historical Maps of Singapore Platform?
The “Historical Maps of Singapore”, henceforth referred to as LibMaps, is a platform developed by the NUS Libraries in partnership with NUS Department of Geography, as well as the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), and the Ministry of Defence of Singapore (MINDEF).

The base map utilised here comprises the contemporary map of Singapore sourced from OpenStreetMap. Layered on top of it is an atlas of maps digitised by the NUS Department of Geography. Each map layer is carefully georeferenced so that the geographical coordinates of each map are aligned with the others. Its accessible interface allows for the layering of multiple maps of Singapore, making it easy to compare versions of maps through time using a slider or by altering the transparency of the maps. You can learn more about the web development process in this presentation by our Digital Scholarship librarian, Gaetan Boisson here.

How can such a project contribute to sustainability? We will first examine how LibMaps supports the building of resilient infrastructure under SDG 9, followed by how LibMaps contributes to preservation and education under SDG 4 and SDG 11 (specifically SDG 11.4).

How do the LibMaps Align to the Goal of Sustainability in Operations and Administration?
We can consider the sustainability of technology in the context of higher education. According to Moro et. al. (2023), the “sustainability” of educational technology can be measured by:

• The longevity and lifespan of the technology
• The upfront and recurring costs of the technology
• The requirements to upkeep the technology
• Staff motivation to use the technology in long-term
• The impact of the technology on the environment
• Whether the technology will be appropriate in future years

Changes were necessary to address hardware and software issues with the old platform. The previous system relied on a local server that consumed significant energy because it had to remain online round the clock. It also used outdated dedicated software which required specific in-house training and maintenance and ran the risk of becoming obsolete.

By migrating the LibMaps platform to the cloud, the library applied sustainability principles to reduce the costs and requirements to upkeep. The new website offered the same interface in a static architecture, eliminating the need for server-side computations to respond to client requests. This design also removed most of the need for maintenance and drastically reduced the risk for potential bad actors and security risks. Lastly, this design can be hosted in the cloud, removing the need for a local server, resulting in greater efficiency of manpower and energy use. These changes dovetail with SDG 9 which aims to “Build resilient infrastructure.”

The new LibMaps platform ensures the longevity of our project in two ways. First, it uses established technologies that will endure over time. In particular, the platform adheres strictly to web standards and uses no technology beyond HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Second, the user-friendly interface design presents relevant data that will encourage sustained use of the platform.

Demand for this platform is evident from the 38,000 views accumulated over 6 months since the launch of the most recent version in November 2023. This number is likely higher as we are unable to capture views by users that utilise ad-blockers.

How do the Historical Maps on the LibMaps Platform Support SDG 4 and SGD 11?
In digitising these printed historical maps of Singapore, we broke down barriers to access by making it available on the web for students and researchers regardless of nationality or stage of technological development. This effort aligns with our library’s values and commitment to preserve ensure public access to data, fostering increased knowledge sharing among institutions. This initiative is in line with the spirit of SDG 4 on inclusive and equitable quality education and SDG 11.4 on safeguarding the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

These digitised maps have been used in courses that touch upon environmental issues such as “HSI1000: How Science Works, Why Science Works” and other courses in the NUS Department of Geography. To date, our maps have been accessed both locally and internationally by over 9960 users in 88 countries.

In terms of richness of the maps as cultural and historical records or artifacts, these maps can also be used to understand the long-term land use and land cover changes to analyse the development of Singapore. This makes the LibMaps platform potentially valuable to sustainability-related courses. Some examples of useful data from LibMaps are as follows:

The maps support sustainability in research and innovation through the creation of new knowledge in Asian settings. Though digitised by the NUS Department of Geography, these maps have been used in disciplines like architecture and history. These maps have been cited in several research and government publications tabulated below:

As can be seen, sustainable access to the LibMaps platform has enabled the creation of new research outputs and knowledge creation.

Besides the online viewing platform, we also offer standard geospatial web services that allow users to integrate the map layers into their own applications. Bearing our sustainability goals in mind, these services were implemented through serverless functions which also maximise sustainability and reduce costs.

Conclusion: Libraries can play an active role in contributing to the SDGs
Engaging with SDG principles can improve the impact of our role as information professionals, aligning it with a broader mission of contributing to global knowledge sharing and resilient infrastructure.

By understanding and communicating the impact of SDGs on the library landscape, we can ensure that our practices and scholarship effectively address global challenges. We can achieve this by deepening our understanding of the SDGs and reflecting on how they can be applied in library work.

Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the Singapore Land Authority and the Ministry of Defence of Singapore who gave permission for the maps to be made available online. The map georeferencing and digitisation was done in collaboration with the NUS Department of Geography, with the support of the NUS Strategic Initiative.

Contributed by Ng Tao Tao, Mageline, Vice, University Librarian, NUS, Steven Chow, Associate University Librarian and Head of Digital Strategy, NUS, Richard Ho, Senior Librarian (Scholarly Communications Librarian), NUS, Michelle Quak, Librarian, Digital Strategy and Innovation, NUS, Gaetan Boisson, Principal Librarian (Digital Scholarship Manager), NUS, Lim Siu Chen Senior Librarian, Research Librarian – Humanities and Social Science, NUS

Reference List
Moro, C., Mills, K. A., Phelps, C., & Birt, J. (2023). The Triple-S framework: Ensuring scalable, sustainable, and serviceable practices in educational technology. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-022-00378-y , is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Svelte Society. (2024, May 20). GaetanBoisson—Simple and sustainable web development. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nelx-s33yCU