Page 236 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Unit 12: Library Automation Services

Cultures and Conflicts Faced by Libraries Notes
The fixed roles suggested by Levy (2000) for researchers, publishers and libraries are
either overlapping or changing in the electronic scene. There are cases where an author or
a library is acting as electronic publisher, and there are publishers providing a wide
variety of information packages beyond the contents of printed journals. The real question
is: has the library really lost ground in the emerging information scene? Even the critics
will not say so. The concerns expressed are only to revitalize the professional skills of
librarians, rejuvenate the style of working and reorient the library towards its rightful
place in effective dissemination of information. Maybe the common feeling that the library
is a central place in the institution visited everyday by large numbers of users, like any
public utility, has lost some ground in the electronic scene. Nonetheless, apart the
continuing provision of information services for print sources, the electronic revolution
has reaffirmed the library more as an information service and access centre than as an
information storehouse.
Technology-enhanced Library Services Technology Advances
The major technology breakthroughs in the context of libraries include:

Advent of printing press and mass production of printed documents enabled
democratization of information. Libraries had a major role in the print era, as no
one can own a large number of books on a particular subject whereas libraries by
their very purpose concentrated on doing so.

Microforms helped to preserve less used information in a compact space and as a
smoother delivery option for voluminous sources. Libraries had their unchallenged
role even in the microform era as the special purpose readers for microfilms and
microfiche were costly and exclusively housed in the library.
The economical and affordable copying technology revolutionised the concept of
information use as it spearheaded the trend of owning copies of relevant portions of
library (printed) resources. The copying technology freed the user from sitting in
the library for long duration for reading, since one can simply get a copy quickly
and leave.

Computing is the biggest technology revolution so far, as it is a major enabler in the
information dissemination chain; also it is not a stand-alone technology unlike
earlier technologies and can be networked and integrated with a whole lot of other
devices and technologies. It not only revolutionized the production of books and
microforms but also brought the arrival of online and CD-ROM databases, electronic
information resources, Internet and the digital revolution.
Products and Services
Adapting IT for library applications is an ongoing process, right from procuring or
developing IT enabled information products through computer aided processing and
management to delivering IT-enriched services. Library professionals in India are already
exposed to the different offshoots of IT for library organization and information services.
1. Library Automation Packages: The availability of a wide variety of library
automation software to suit the varied needs of libraries themselves is a reflection
of the progress libraries have made in automating the operations of procuring,
processing and providing information sources. Procurement is the end of the story
for many other software/databases used in a library, whereas library automation
systems will open a floodgate of issues. What the vendor provides is a structure to
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