Conservation of rare books is a rather restricted branch of work that deals with the maintenance of valuable copies of books to ensure their durability for as long as possible. Teaching these skills has heretofore largely been conducted face to face; nevertheless, the development of EdTech has offered a range of ways of teaching in the present day. Training methods in the EdTech solutions have brought new opportunities in training the aspiring conservator on the details of rare book conservation via virtual environment and tools. These websites help students make detailed interactions where the practical teaching experience which would not be viable apart from a classroom or laboratory, is made possible.

The most important benefit of EdTech applications is that in books’ conservation, complex actions can be reproduced and practiced on dummy models without causing potential harm to the originals. It enables students to learn the correct methods of paper mending, binding, deacidification etc on facsimile copies of the old texts thereby building up confidence and skills before they can lay their hands on the original books. Such type of practice is useful for the learners who, for one reason or another, cannot access the actual books, or for those who are learning in an online format. The fact that one can replicate operations and get immediate feedback enables the enhancement of learning due to the adoption of the precision that characterizes the work being done.

Of course, there are practical skills as well, which EdTech solutions can help improve in regard to the theoretical knowledge about the preservation of rare books. The nature of the interactive modules can vary through presenting information on history of bookbinding, chemistry aspects regarding deterioration of paper, and through discussing the ethical issues of book restoration. These platforms incorporate such features as videos, animations and quizzes and this makes learning more interesting and flexible in that it accommodates learners’ modalities of learning. Further, the tools made accessible across the globe indicate that knowledge in the area of rare book conservation can get to a broader audience on the same benefiting from or contributing to the preservation of the culture in a broader perspective.

Use of EdTech solutions is helping change how conservation of rare books is taught and is more interactive, accessible and efficient. They will become even more relevant as the technology advances leaving the future generation of conservators ready and adequately equipped to preserve literary works.