Page 135 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Information Sources and Services

Notes

Caselet Web-Based Services Expected from Libraries

cademic scenario, over the years, has undergone a tremendous change assuming
new dimensions influenced by the technology driven applications. Management
Aeducation is no exception to this. Traditional commerce and management
education methods are observed to be inadequate. Quality service package delivery is a
formidable task for all institutions of business education. The long-term sustainable
advantages in the business education require more attention to the issue of service, quality
and cost in the national and international markets.
Libraries are mainly entrusted with a host of predetermined tasks like acquiring, organizing,
preserving, retrieving and disseminating information to the users. Right from ancient
times to the present Internet era, the primary objective of library has always been this.
However, the way this purpose has been achieved has drastically changed.

Information technology has influenced the very nature of business and management
libraries. They are undergoing significant changes today not only in outlook but also in
function, services, methods and techniques for collection development, processing and
dissemination of information. The conventional set up of brick and mortar libraries that
store information within a constrained physical space have given way to data centers that
integrate data sources around the globe by way of networking. Libraries have not yet
explored their full potential to the full. With the advancement in technology and its direct
application to libraries, business and management libraries are becoming lean and agile
libraries that streamline information supply. The pervasive nature of the Internet, coupled
with platform independent database connectivity is turning library portals more and
more effective.
The main purpose of this study is to study the availability of websites at management
institutes and the extent of library information hosted on it. The study also aims to examine
the reasons behind why websites have failed get the attention of majority of users and to
identify the library services that they wish to carry through the internet.

Web Portals and Libraries
A Web Portal can be defined as a website for a specific audience that aggregates an array
of content and provides an array of services. They are the sites on the World Wide Web
that typically provide personalized capabilities to their visitors. They are designed to use
distributed applications, different numbers and types of middleware, and hardware to
provide services from a number of different sources. Content linked in library portal is
superior to the open access content available on the Web. Authentication software,
commonly known as Web Access Management (WAM) are available that allow the library
to govern the access to licensed electronic content. Commonly referred to as simply a
portal, it is a website that offers access to a broad array of resources and services of
libraries such as e-journals, online databases, Web OPAC, new additions and any other
static information about library services.
The developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) and their
subsequent absorption in library and information science (LIS) have forced information
professionals to change the way they are functioning at present. Because of their popularity
with the users, an overwhelming attention is being given to the web-based information
services in libraries. LIS community has realized that the academic world is increasingly

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