Its often said that the law is blind. But Delhi University’s relationship with law has not always been so. Now, this relationship is taking a green turn. Taking numerous factors into consideration, DU Law is planning to provide books and other study materials to LLB and LLM students digitally.
Up till now, students have had to acquire these materials from DU Law, paying a hefty fee in exchange for books. With the pandemic and a shift to online learning, obtaining the study material has become perilous over the past year. This has been true especially for outstation Delhi University students.
On May 22, a proposal seeking to correct the situation was submitted, requesting that e-versions of the books be made available.
“All classes of LLB and LLM are going online as well as access to library facilities is also provided by the university. A majority of students prefer to use the digital resources due to universal accessibility.”
Besides the accessibility, the previous semesters also saw a delay in the books being distributed to students.
“In the last semester (January-April 2020), the office faced hardship in completing the tender formalities and consequently, a delay was caused and distribution of copies could not take place for two-three months due to nationwide lockdown. The university is still closed, making distribution of case materials difficult.”
The proposal also offered other suggestions keeping in mind the needs of the students. Students can download the whole material and print out the parts they wish to. The entire endeavor has been taken up to reduce pressure on students and on the departments.
Furthermore, hoarding the book copies in advance is an issue due to the lack of storage space. The cost of receiving the study materials is also being waived.
All DU Courses Should Go Digital
Seeing that the Law Division of the university can go green, why doesn’t the entire University?
With no chance of colleges opening anytime soon, online classes might persist for a while. This provides the University with a great opportunity to shift all their educational resources online. Library resources are available but their utility in terms of examination is low.
Most teachers try their best to provide online PDFs of books; but taking into consideration copyright violations and inaccessibility, they require University backing. This step taken by the administration shows promise in countering the situation, if applied to all DU courses.
