Page 26 - DLIS101_LIBRARY_AND_INFORMATION_SOCIETY

Unit 3: Concept of Library

3.2 Purpose of the Library Notes
The purpose of the library is to be useful, for combining tailor-made image processing and
interpretation with standard methods for acquisitions, processing, display and storage of image
information. Emphasis is put on interactivity in projects made by students, as well as for advanced
research and development.
The key issues in developing the library are:
1. Easy to use
2. Platform independent
3. Support for both C++ and Java
4. Easy to add new code and algorithms
5. Fast access to image data and fast algorithms
To fulfil both requirements for easy to use and fast ... the library often has more than one possible
way of doing things. There are for example several different ways of accessing pixels in an image.
To support both C++ and Java it was decided to implement the library in ANSI C and build C++
and Java classes on top of it. We later discovered that the extra work associated with implementing
everything in ANSI C was overwhelming, so we now implement most new additions in ISO C++
only. C++ classes encapsulating everything in the C kernel are available. At the moment there are
no Java classes available, they will only be build in the future if it turns out to be the de facto standard
or simply if somebody volunteer to implement it.
A lot of thought have been put into the design issues of the library and the first versions (before
version 1.00) changed a lot as bad design in parts of the library were discovered. Since, version 1.00
everything is backward compatible so installing new versions of IPL98 should not affect old code.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. A ...... is a collection of information, sources, resources, services and the structure in which it
is housed.
2. A ...... is a collection of books.

3.3 Functions of Library

Man’s quest for knowledge has led to the creation and accumulation of tremendous amount of
information. This quest for knowledge knows no bounds and limits and is never satisfied. It has
continued since the dawn of civilization to the modern age. This hard-earned knowledge and
information is valuable for the entire mankind and therefore liable to be preserved. With the invention
of paper man has been able to convey this knowledge to others by writing books. Thousands of
manuscripts have been written by the wise men of the earlier times but many of them were destroyed
due to the lack of proper means of preservation.
Libraries are established for the systematic collection, organization, preservation and dissemination
of knowledge and information. The basic functions of Library includes following activities:
1. Collection of books and magazines
2. Index them properly and place in specified location
3. Issue them to the members when they need
4. Get them back and place them in the proper location

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