Rare books as socio-technical research infrastructure in hybrid digital libraries
Irene GuidottiPurpose
This paper examines the role of rare books in museum research libraries as active components of contemporary research infrastructure. This study challenges heritage and digitisation-centred framings by investigating how rare natural history publications continue to support scientific research within hybrid digital–physical environments. This study aims to demonstrate how rare books contribute to discovery, verification and interpretation in active research workflows and to position them within broader digital library discourse as socio-technical resources rather than static legacy collections.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a qualitative institutional case study approach focused on the Australian Museum Research Library. It draws on documented research interactions, practitioner observation and researcher-authored reflections to analyse how scientists engage with rare books in practice. Attention is given to hybrid workflows in which researchers move between digitised surrogates, particularly through the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and physical consultation of original materials to support taxonomic, palaeontological and biodiversity research.
Findings
The findings of this study show that digitisation reshapes but does not replace the research use of rare books. Researchers rely on digital platforms for discovery and preliminary analysis, but continue to consult physical volumes for authoritative verification, visual scrutiny and contextual interpretation. Material features such as colour fidelity, scale, annotations and edition-specific variation retain epistemic value not fully captured in digital surrogates. Rare books, therefore, function as operational components of hybrid research infrastructures rather than passive heritage objects.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on a single institutional case and a qualitative sample of research interactions, limiting its representativeness across disciplines or institutions. The findings do not aim to generalise researcher behaviour at scale, but instead provide in-depth insight into situated practices. Future research could extend this work through comparative case studies, structured user research or mixed-method approaches combining qualitative analysis with usage data across multiple research libraries.
Practical implications
For museum and research libraries, this study underscores the importance of aligning digitisation strategies, access policies and professional mediation with documented research practices. Digital collections should be designed to support discovery while enabling timely access to originals for verification and interpretation. Library staff play a critical role in guiding researchers across digital and physical environments, ensuring that rare books remain accessible, usable and integrated within contemporary research workflows.
Social implications
By foregrounding rare books as active research infrastructure, this paper supports more sustainable and meaningful engagement with historical scientific knowledge. Hybrid access models help balance preservation with use, ensuring that culturally and scientifically significant collections continue to inform research addressing biodiversity loss and environmental change. Recognising the ongoing epistemic value of rare books also strengthens public trust in libraries as stewards of reliable scientific knowledge in the digital age.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to digital library scholarship by conceptualising rare books as socio-technical research infrastructure embedded in hybrid digital–physical systems. Rather than focusing on digitisation outcomes alone, it foregrounds how researchers actually work with rare materials in practice. This study bridges digital library theory and museum research contexts, offering original insight into the continued research value of rare books within digitally mediated scientific environments.