Progress and Prospects for Estonian Libraries

The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past decades has created new challenges and opportunities for libraries and librarians. As a result of ICT, library services to users have changed, the management of libraries has evolved and the roles of librarians have multiplied. The new millennium presents new opportunities to exploit an ever-growing array of information and communication technologies in the provision of library services. As one millennium draws to a close and a new one begins, there are a lot of questions to answer:

Trends in Web-Based Services in Academic Libraries

Change is afoot in the academic library world. The World Wide Web has expanded the types of services academic librarians are able to provide their patrons. We can now offer Web-based electronic databases, WebPACS, electronic journals, electronic reserve systems with Web-interfaces and a wide range of specialized digital library collections. Our patrons now have access to a huge variety of information, and they no longer have to leave their offices or homes to obtain it. Future developments include improved information retrieval algorithms, chic user-interfaces, advanced network services and virtual libraries created to serve the growing population of distance and online learners. Academic librarians face a world of exploding digital resources and their assistance in organizing this chaotic web of information is vital.

The Growing Support Crisis in Federal STI

Federal agencies in the United States federal government that provide Scientific and Technical Information (STI) face a growing support crisis brought on by the Internet. As these organizations use the Internet to provide increased access to databases and automated resources they are finding more users from the general public are asking more questions. These organizations need to be prepared to support an increasingly diverse user group via the Internet. Projects of the National Library of Education (AskERIC and Virtual Reference Desk) are reviewed and used to raise and discuss issues in supporting STI applications in a government setting. Finally a set of recommendations is presented to help plan digital reference services in this context.

Remote Access

When the development of equitable worldwide telecommunications became recognized as a critical component for global competition and economic growth, the technological status of economically developing countries appeared on the international agenda. The primary problem was one of infrastructure, with two thirds of the world population without access to telephone services. As multinational corporations pushed for a global restructuring of the telecommunications sector issues regarding control of worldwide telecommunications networks by the industrialized nations, and the imbalance in the flow of information, left the economically developing nations of the global south reticent to fully cooperate. This chapter examines the development of information technology and services in the global south and provides an historical overview of significant events and factors that influenced the introduction and growth of communications and information technology globally from the 1960s to the 1990s. The technological foundations that are discussed in this chapter provide a contextual framework for understanding the burst of activity that followed in international Internet-based library services in the 1990s.

Librarians as Info Architects

Many Internet users believe that archival collections should and will be digitized and placed on the World Wide Web for all to use. This belief derives from several unrealistic ideas about what the Web can do, what archival collections are, and that technology, including processing, storage and display, is free. Attempts have been made by small and large libraries to meet expectations only to find that staff requirements, as well as financial and technological issues, present too many difficulties to overcome (Nelson, 1996). Archivists are now reevaluating the Web and the benefits it offers to their repositories.

The University of Queensland Cybrary

Students discover short cuts to scholarship Any place….. Any space….. At any pace….. At any time The University of Queensland Cybrary – Australia’s first – makes travel to a new world of knowledge easy. Students can plan their route and take advantage of short cuts, or if they prefer, take a leisurely meander and discover exciting new places off the beaten track. The Cybrary integrates state-of-the-art information technology with traditional services to create a “virtual library” in a “wired university.” From any of hundreds of high-end Pentium computers within the Library, and day or night from home or office, students can explore or target the world of information as they wish. The Cybrary pushes out the boundaries of information gathering and gives students new scope for synthesizing and processing the material they discover. The Cybrary is an indispensable, integrated approach to meet the information demands of lifelong learning and problem-based teaching. It is a powerful support for flexible learning and an enhancement to flexible teaching. The Library has taken a leadership role in applying this innovative approach to addressing the real needs of students in the 21st Century, and is working collaboratively with students and teachers to develop and refine the Cybrary as new possibilities open.

Impact of the Internet on Malaysian Libraries

The Internet plays a significant role in Malaysian libraries and information centers today. From a humble beginning where computers were a luxury that only the very large libraries could afford, the Internet is increasingly being incorporated into the daily routine of librarians and is being used to provide services that were not possible in the pre-Internet days. Today, Internet services are no longer luxuries, but are being used in management, communication, information access and retrieval, document delivery and personal development by librarians and patrons.

Libraries on the Information Highway

This book presented readers with numerous views, perspectives, and issues regarding the past, present and future of libraries, librarianship and the information profession in the networked environment. By reviewing the various chapters in this book, readers rapidly conclude that the information environment, particularly the digital information environment, requires a reconceptualization of the information creation, dissemination and consumption processes. Information professionals, and those relying on information professionals, are at an exciting and challenging point in their careers — the transition to the networked information resources and services environment. Meeting this challenge necessitates the resolution to numerous issues, several of which this chapter presents below.

Towards the People's Network

This chapter explores Web-based public library networking developments within the context of the United Kingdom. The political context in recent years has led to plans to deliver a national Public Library Network, promising innovative new services to combat social exclusion and facilitate lifelong learning. The road to realizing the vision of a People’s Network is still far from a reality and many of the issues currently facing the sector demand enormous amounts of coordination and cooperation in order to ensure that public libraries remain at the heart of the political agenda. It is suggested that the work of the EARL Consortium, its achievements and approach to library networking present an important model to shape the roll-out of the national network. Once delivered, the United Kingdom will arguably hold a place amongst the world leaders in the global information society.

Connectivity, Content and Collaboration

This chapter provides a brief overview of issues libraries are confronting as they attempt both to embrace the opportunities of global networked information and to balance these with traditional resources and demands. The context in which Canadian libraries operate and uniquely Canadian approaches to digital library activities are reviewed. The federal government’s Connecting Canadians agenda has focussed on connectivity, but attention is shifting also to support of the creation of content. The federal department Industry Canada has been funding, within a job creation and skills development strategy, the creation of digital content by Canadian youth. The National Library is building an electronic collection of Canadiana and various other digital products and services. Substantial digital collections such as the collaborative project Early Canadiana Online are emerging. Canada’s activities, which are not currently on scale with the United States or some other countries, remain largely a result of local initiative. It is hoped that increased provincial or national coordination, collaboration and funding will strengthen our libraries’ role in the delivery of networked information services.