Calcutta University on Wednesday gave students and the general public access to its digital library.

Digital versions of books, texts and references, departmental journals, academic magazines, study materials, and theses of researches held in the university from 1960 to 2018 are among the items that can now be accessed without any charge from anywhere.

More than 250,000 books will be available in the digital library, which can be accessed through the university website, https://www.culibrary.ac.in.

Users can access rare documents such as question papers from 1891, syllabuses from 1955, convocation addresses delivered by chancellors, vice-chancellors and chief guests from 1861, the university acts, dissertations, annual budgets and financial estimates, and minutes of the university’s senate and syndicate bodies from 1857 to name a few.

“The digital library with its new inclusion will not only help our students but also academics and researchers all over world. It will help people at large who want to pursue their hobby of reading,” vice-chancellor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee said.

“We are living through a time of great uncertainty because of the coronavirus pandemic. To cope with the social distancing and lockdown, our teachers have initiated online teaching. They have also been regularly uploading study materials on the university website. Students will benefit in a big way,” the vice-chancellor said.

Till now, only students and teachers of the university could access the digital library and that, too, when they were on the university’s campuses. Apart from the main central library on the College Street campus, the online library was available to students and teachers on its seven other campuses. The entire collection could be accessed only on the College Street campus.