Libraries in the Twenty-First Century

Stuart Ferguson is Lecturer in Information Management and Librarianship at the School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Australia.

Acknowledgements
Figures and tables
Introduction

Chapter outline


Part 1: Library and information agencies in the twenty-first century: case studies

Chapter 1: The evolving public library

The public library mission
Services offered and staff required
Public library collections
Library facilities
Cataloguing and processing of material
Funding of public libraries and their relationship to state and local government
Trends and issues for public libraries
Conclusion


Chapter 2: Teacher librarians and the school library

The learning and teaching context of school libraries
The school library mission
Standards for school libraries
The role of the teacher librarian
Information literacy in schools
Collection development in school libraries
Information services to students and teachers
The school library website and school intranet
Conclusion


Chapter 3: Higher education libraries

Mission of higher education libraries
Policy and regulation
Student population
Learning and teaching
Quality assurance
Resource sharing
Research
Academic publishing
Workforce planning
Higher education libraries in regional Australia: a case study
Conclusion


Chapter 4: Special libraries and information services

Special libraries in Australia
Competencies of special librarians
Core competencies
Professional competencies
Personal competencies
‘Sees the big picture’
‘Seeks out challenges and capitalizes on new opportunities’ and ‘Thinks creatively and innovatively; seeks new or “reinvents” opportunities’
‘Remains flexible and positive in a time of continuing change’
‘Presents ideas clearly; negotiates confidently and persuasively’ and ‘Communicates effectively’
‘Creates partnerships and alliances’
Law libraries
Parliamentary libraries
Challenges for special libraries
Conclusion


Chapter 5: National, state and territory libraries: information for the nation

National & State Libraries Australasia (NSLA)
Collections: building and preserving
Digital collecting and preservation
Access to collections and information services
Australia’s national infrastructure
Libraries Australia: national access to forty million resources
PictureAustralia
Other collaborative resource discovery services
Relationship with public libraries
Development of digital collections for national access
Supporting research at the national level
National planning: Peak Bodies Forum and a national agenda
Delivering services to users in the twenty-first century




Part 2: Library and information services in the twenty-first century

Chapter 6: Creating desire: bringing the library client and the librarian together

Information seekers and their information needs
Motivating the information seeker
Communication and the reference interview
Ensuring successful librarian?user interaction
Reference service in different library settings
Future of librarian?user interaction
Conclusion


Chapter 7: Information sources

Internet directories
Search engines
Bibliographies
Indexing and abstracting databases
‘Ready reference’ information sources
Almanacs and yearbooks
Encyclopedias
Dictionaries
Biographical sources
Geographical sources
Directories of organisations
Government publications
Audiovisual materials
Evaluation of sources
Conclusion: the future of information sources


Chapter 8: Current issues in library collecting

Libraries and collection management policy
Libraries and other collecting agencies
Collection assessment
Selection of library resources
Suppliers and subscription agents
Cooperative collecting
Digital collections, including e-journals
The ‘big deal’ and consortia
Institutional repositories
Care of library material
Special collections
Deselection
Space and storage
Conclusion


Chapter 9: Information access

Organisation and retrieval
Online and hybrid IR systems
Directories
Databases
Search engines
Computerisation and human indexers
Manual IR systems
Indexing
Vocabulary control
Descriptive cataloguing and bibliographic description
Archival description
Authority control
Subject indexing
Classification
Metadata
MARC (machine-readable cataloguing)
Information architecture
The future of information organisation


Chapter 10: Library and information systems: a work in progress

Trends in library technology
The integrated library management system (ILMS)
Portals
Digital repositories
Open source
Conclusion




Part 3: The information environment in the twenty-first century

Chapter 11: Beyond the corporate library: information management in organisations

Information acquisition
Information organisation
Current awareness and environmental scanning
Resource evaluation
Quality control
Requirements analysis
Information policy
Conclusion


Chapter 12: Evidence and memory: records services and archives

What are records and archives?
Libraries, records and archives
Archives and community advocacy
Recordkeeping standards
Cooperation between Australian recordkeeping authorities
Recordkeeping in a digital world
Metadata and descriptive standards
Developing recordkeeping theory
Recordkeeping professionals and professional associations
Conclusion


Chapter 13: Information literacy and the leveraging of corporate knowledge

Conceiving information literacy: a research perspective
Information literacy in an educational context
Information literacy instruction in libraries
Conclusion


Chapter 14: The historical perspective: where we've come from

Why study Australian library history?
How do we structure history?
What library history has been published?
The evolution of libraries
The evolution of libraries in Australia: the case of public libraries
Coda: the past and the future


Chapter 15: The social, political and cultural context of libraries in the twenty-first century: an overview

From post-industrial to knowledge societies
Cultural diversity in a networked world
Australia as an information economy
The citizen of the information society
Knowledge and the culture of global information
The postmodern information environment
A global public sphere and collective intelligence
The library as postmodern institution


Chapter 16: Ethics and law for information practice

Ethics and ethical practice
History of information ethics
Professional values in library and information work
Codes of practice
Australian law
Intellectual property
Censorship
Privacy
Freedom of Information
National security
Information ethics and legal obligations
Human rights and responsibility
Information production
Information collection and classification
Information access and dissemination
Professional responsibility
Conclusion


Chapter 17: Library managers today: the challenges

External and internal analysis
Performance measurement
Costs and budgetary issues
The changing nature of collections
Convergence and competition
Client needs and expectations – library users and non-users
Marketing and image
The marketing plan
Product
Pricing
Promotion
Place
Goal of the marketing plan
Structures and flexibility
Staffing
Casualisation of staffing
Ageing of the workforce
Succession planning
‘Credential creep’
Outsourcing
Merging departments
Performance appraisal/management
Professional development
Staff recruitment
Conclusion


Chapter 18: Education for library and information service

Historical perspectives of LIS education
History of LIS education in Australia
Course recognition issues
LIS student issues
LIS educator issues
Curriculum Issues
LIS research and LIS practice issues
Conclusion




Conclusion: From people’s university to information for all

Library and information agencies
Achieving agency
The agency of libraries and information services
Final conclusion


Appendices

Appendix 1 The NSLA libraries – some basic facts
Appendix 2: Australian law – overview of legislation discussed in Chapter 16


Glossary
Biographical notes on contributors
Index