Users and Uses of Online Digital Libraries in France

This article presents a study of online digital library (DL) uses, based on three data sources (online questionnaire, Internet traffic data and interviews). We show that DL users differ from average Internet users as well as from classical library users, and that their practices involve particular contexts, among which personal researches and bibliophilism. These results lead us to reconsider the status of online documents, as well as the relationship between commercial and non-commercial Web sites. Digital libraries, far from being simple digital versions of library holdings, are now attracting a new type of public, bringing about new, unique and original ways for reading and understanding texts. They represent a new arena for reading and consultation of works alongside that of traditional libraries.