Libraries in the Twenty-First Century brings together library educators and practitioners to provide a scholarly yet accessible overview of library and information management and the challenges that the twenty-first century offers the information profession. The papers in this collection illustrate the changing nature of the library as it evolves into its twenty-first century manifestation. The national libraries of Australia and New Zealand, for instance, have harnessed information and communication technologies to create institutions that are far more national, even democratic, in terms of delivery of service and sheer presence than their print-based predecessors.Aimed at practitioners and students alike, this publication covers specific types of library and information agencies, discusses specific aspects of library and information management and places developments in library and information services in a number of broad contexts: socio-economic, ethico-legal, historical and educational.

Table of Contents:
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