Digital, analog, electronic or virtual: Which is right?

Abstract

The library science terminology related to the new information technologies has become unstable with the emergence of the term “digital” as an alternative to the term “electronic”. The author expresses high opinion of the analysis of these terms, accomplished by Ksenia Yu. Volkova and Victor V. Zverevich in their article “Digital or electronic” (Nauch. and tech. b-ki. - 2020. - № 12. -P. 159-172), and as a follow-up, digs into the semantic difference of the terms content. In the professional literature, the discussion of modern terminology began with the term "virtual" in the 1990s. It was at the same time that the short life for the term was predicted, and experience speaks to the truth of the prediction. Electronic and digital document types exist in the technodocument cluster and - further - only of its technotronic subtype. The technotronic document is a document which creation and reproduction require modern technical instruments and technologies. Electronic document is the most modern type of technotronic document for the moment. The digital - electronic contraposing, which is widely used in the modern world library literature, is incorrect. In fact, the digital opposes the analog. Electronic is a general term applied both to digital and analog, as well as to virtual. The terms electronic and non-electronic make the dichotomous pair of concepts. The author foresees long relevance of the concept of electronic library science.