Current and
Global Trends in Library and Information Services
BY
OWABOR C. EMMANUEL.
Abstract
The advancement of ICT
(Information, Communication and Technology) has brought a lot of changes not
only on the library and information services but also on the roles and
expectations of the librarians and information professionals. As a librarian
you are expected to do more and more especially in this age of information
explosion. There is a real danger that librarians and information professionals
will be left behind if it still insists on the old role of the traditional
librarians. So it is important that there is a new change in paradigm. As the
saying goes, change or perish. This paper will attempt to understand what a
successful, relevant and dynamic librarians and information professionals must be
in this Information Age. It will also focus on the issues, trends and
challenges in preparing new era librarians and information professionals.
INTRODUCTION
National
development effort is simply any activity that raises real incomes, thereby offering
new hopes of expanded opportunities for people, communities, and enterprises.
As both the global and national economies become more and more
knowledge-driven, specialized knowledge has become the indispensable asset for
further economic development. Local businesses benefit greatly in specific ways
from libraries, including access to new ideas, knowledge and information. In particular,
relocating businesses, start-up businesses, small businesses of all kinds and
infrastructural provision are perceived as enjoying the greatest benefits from
library products and services. Indeed, existence of libraries has been cited as
a reason for a business’ decision to relocate to a particular community and the
strategic locations of beneficial infrastructural facilities. Studies also
found that business information resources were significantly more valuable with
expert help of library staff. In other words, not only are information sources themselves
viewed as important resources for people seeking mission-oriented information,
but professional services provided by librarians are believed by many to be critical
factors in finding, accessing and utilizing information resources to the
fullest extent, especially with regard to electronic resources.
Democracy and national development demands that the
masses, the source of authority, should be well informed about all important
matters. Although many are receiving this instruction in schools, the work of
schools cannot be complete without the backing of libraries. Libraries are an
indispensable companion to formal education. The library must give persons of
all ages the chance to keep abreast with their times in all matters: 'By
offering them, impartially, works representing conflicting points of view, it enables them to form their own opinions and
preserve that attitude of constructive criticism towards public affairs without
which there is no freedom. UNESCO Bulletin for Libraries XV, (1961),
There will always be changes in the
environment, and these changes will affect librarians and information
professionals: their role, job opportunities, self-image, motivation and even
survival. Librarians therefore need to find a solution to timely repositioning
and role claiming. We live in an Information society where the development of
information technology and telecommunication networks is accompanied by a
corresponding increase in knowledge, with a rapidly growing flow of
information.
This new information environment requires new
skills in seeking, processing and dissemination of information. The base for a
Librarian’s ability to understand and use information is a qualitative, ongoing
learning process.
CURRENT
AND GLOBAL TRENDS
Before discussing on the current and global
trend in library and information services let’s first look at some current
trends discussed in most recent literature of library and information management.
These current trends somehow or rather will have a bearing in shaping
librarians and information services in the new era. They are summarized as
follows:
• Library
functions in information and knowledge-based society
• Knowledge-based
economy – information and knowledge as drivers to boost the economy
• Information
management recognized as an important discipline
• Information
recognized as commodity (information brokerage, information
entrepreneurship,
fee-based information)
• Information
recognized as power/strength/weapon
• Information
strongly link to decision-making, strategic management, competitive
advantage,
innovation, R&D
• Knowledge
management – leveraging organization
• Globalization
of information
• Integrated and
widespread ICT applications
• Mushrooming of
information systems – need for Information System Management (ISM)
• Growth of
electronic / internet resources
• Role of
digital/electronic/virtual library
• Librarians is
designated as cyber librarians
• Librarians
expanded & changes in digital environment
• New breeds of
information professionals: CIO, CKO, Information consultants and analysts
• Competency-
based assessment/training
• Leadership
skills
• Access role
replace custodial role
• Customer-focused/customer-centered,
user oriented approach in provision of services
• Strategic
alliances, partnership and collaborations
• Librarians
need new management knowledge and skills
• Specialized
knowledge & skills in library and information management
• Double degree
(major-minor concept)
• Trend to
develop digital contents to facilitate access
In addition to the
professional skills mentioned above, the librarians and information
professionals of the future must be equipped with a wide range of personal and
transferable skills in order to manage the changing environment in which he or
she works. The importance of transferable skills over information technology
skills should be highlighted here.
Management and interpersonal skills will make
librarians more effective managers of networked resources and services. As
Hastings (1996) says "it is more important that digital librarians possess
particular personal qualities (which are innate) rather than specific technical
expertise (which can be learned). This is not to say that the way to avoid the
electronic age is for library professionals to stick their heads in the sand.
The information professional must change and adapt to the new electronic information
environment, he or she must learn about new technologies and be aware of the strengths
and weaknesses of them. Librarians should not feel threatened by computers and
technical developments but should move forward with the new technology and take
a pivotal role within organizations. Information professionals within libraries
are playing an increasing role in dealing with information in electronic
formats by creating Web pages to promote their services to external customers
and choosing automated library management systems. Skills in information
organization are more necessary in this age of information explosion.
Librarians and information professionals have a key role to play in this era.
For example, librarians are well equipped to take intranet projects through the
various stages of design and maintenance as they understand their users and
their organizations information needs and have the range of skills to manage
knowledge effectively. The role of the librarians in this context is to help
users find the information they require then provide them with the tools to
assess and use the resources for their individual needs. Creth (1996) suggests
that librarians achieve this by "actively seeking out users in a variety
of settings" and by making "full use of information and multimedia
technology" by offering instruction in a variety of formats (including Web
based instruction and online tutorials). New era librarians and information professionals
should be able to manage the Digital Information System as this encompass the overall
competencies (knowledge, know-how, skills and attitudes) necessary to create,
store, analyze, organize, retrieve and disseminate digital information (text,
images, sounds) in digital libraries or any type of information.
Traditionally, libraries were collections of books,
manuscripts, journals, and other sources of recorded information. In the last
50 years, libraries have increasingly developed into a provider of information
resources and services that do not even require a building. The terms digital
library and virtual library are used to refer to the vast collections of
information to which people gain access remotely.
Digital Libraries
The
world is going through an information technology revolution that has
drastically changed many facets of the human life, from education, industry,
economy, and politics to entertainments. In addition, the unprecedented
capabilities of the information technology to process, store, refine and
disseminate data, information and knowledge in a variety of ways across
geographical boundaries had dramatically changed the ways in which governments,
the public and the private sectors and libraries operate all over the world. As
Ajayi (2002) has rightly put it, the emergence and convergence of information and
communication technologies (ICT) has therefore remained at the centre of global
social-economic transformations. As pointed out by Ogunsola and Okusaga (2008)
libraries are now extending their traditional roles of facilitating
self-education and individual enrichment by providing low-cost or free computer
access to online resources. The potential of what can be achieved in
information generation, acquisition, collection, processing, display and
dissemination, was very exciting and intoxicating, and resulted in futuristic
dreams. All these electronic developments form the basis of digital library
which is equally termed virtual libraries. It is all these technological
developments which gradually give birth to what is now known as digital
library. At this juncture, one can ask what we mean by the term "digital
library". Digital library can be defined as one in which all the texts and
spoken books are stored as digital files, which will take a long time to
achieve. A digital or virtual library is the online access provided by other
facilities or it may mean a website which offers links to various sites with a
large store of information in a catalogued or archived form. The term may refer
to all material related to any subject that is available on the Internet. A
digital library generally is part of a network with linkages to other
libraries.
The
advances in the fields of telecommunications, computer technology, and
satellite communications have revolutionized information delivery services in
advanced countries. As asserted by Akpan (2001), information can be delivered
across countries into houses and offices instantly. It must be realized that
the sharing, however, has been uneven across the globe. Countries with advanced
technology are years ahead of countries with developing economies. Within
developing economies, some have moved further ahead than others. In Nigeria,
the expression "virtual library" or "digital library" is
relatively new, being a little more than a decade old. One of the writers who
coined it is Nancy Schiller, who defined it in 1992 as "libraries in which
computer and telecommunication technologies make access to a wide range of
information resources possible".
According
to Irokwe (2001), a digital library is a library that harnesses digital
technologies as infrastructure to search, collect, organize, store and
distribute cultural, historical and scientific information whether it is text,
visual images or sound. The virtual library or digital library can be regarded
as a child of necessity, arising from need to use technologies in accessing the
explosion of information for human survival and development. This requires that
all operations of the library be computerized.
A
virtual or digital library can therefore be defined as a collection of library
resources in electronic/digital format at various locations, which can be
accessed and used with great ease using computer information technologies for
the purpose of teaching, study, research, learning, leisure, and
decision-making.
Electronic Resources
Taking
Nigeria as an example, improving the quality of libraries in the higher
education system will improve the quality of the products of the system. In
recent times and as attested to by the findings of a 2001 Nigerian Institute of
Social and Economic Research/World Bank report on the quality of Nigerian
Universities, the competencies demonstrated by university graduates are
"lowering at an alarming rate". The poor state of academic libraries
was implicated as a major cause. The Nigerian virtual library project is a
justifiable venture for bolstering higher education quality. In another sense,
the virtual library will enable students, lecturers, and other scholars to
profit more fully from electronic communications revolution by having access to
databases critical for their research and teaching. Within the higher education
system in majority of African universities, libraries are far from being
up-to-date. Books, journals, abstracts and other collections are not current.
The typical setting is to have a few fairly recent titles and a fairly large
collection of old titles. There are gaps in sequence which could be critical
for knowledge generation and dissemination. As a result of the above lapses,
the importance of virtual or digital libraries in African universities can
never be overemphasized. A digital library scheme will facilitate access to a
vast collection of books and journal, titles from as far as back in time as
possible. A subscribing library in Nigeria or any other African university will
be several times richer and current in its collection of books and journals
than presently the case. Estimates by the www.virtuallibrary.com for 2001
showed that the installation and running cost of a virtual academic library in
a university is a mere .015% of the cost of establishing a "real"
academic library and less than 2% of the operating cost. All the higher
education institutions in Nigeria have physical libraries which require about 1
billion Naira in capital, recurrent, and maintenance cost annually. This type
of electronic library resources can be shared by all institutions at a fraction
of the total cost required to support all the physical libraries within the
higher education system in the country (Ogunsola and Okusaga, 2008).
Furthermore,
it is projected that 1,000 electronic databases/resources are equivalent to
30,000 volumes of printed materials. These will require 2,650m2 of shelf space
alone. Thus, minimal resources can be mobilized for maximum advantage in terms
of library development in Nigeria and other developing countries. In recent
times, post-secondary educational institutions have been under tremendous
pressure for change as a response to demising budget, need to reach students
other than their traditional clientele, and adapt current development in
information technology for their delivery of institution. As a result many
institutions of higher learning worldwide have turned towards electronic
networking in academic services. The virtual or digital library also provides a
platform for sharing knowledge. It is not a one-way flow from resource-rich to
resource-poor countries. Instead, it has been set up for uniformity in the
interchange of ideas. Consequently while universities in Nigeria and other
developing countries will take advantage of down loading materials from the
developed world, such universities will have the opportunity of uploading
output of research in the form of books, dissertation//theses and journals to
the global network of virtual libraries.
Also,
differences in access to information technology and the ability to participate
fully in global electronic information networks is in itself a measure of the
unequal distribution of power in today's increasingly connected global economy
and polity. In Nigeria, for example, there are very few people with the
advanced training that enables them to contribute fully to new technology about
electronic information systems. It is precisely because of this situation of
inequality that Nigeria and other developing countries should be included in
developing new knowledge in these areas. It must also be realized that many of
the print materials held in collections in Nigerian Universities, particularly
older historical manuscripts, are deteriorating rapidly. Some materials cannot
even be consulted by researchers for fear of accelerating their decline. This
is the trend in many other African countries. Many research institutes and
libraries, have suffered from deep funding cuts since 1980s, and collections of
all kinds have not been adequately maintained. Preservation is central to
maintaining the quality, longevity, integrity and accessibility of data.
Digitalization within the framework of the virtual library project can be used
to create a high-quality copy of an item, thus protecting the original and
ensuring that the information that it contains is both permanently preserved
and made accessible. Although traditional channels of communication will remain
important, the new information and communication technologies hold great potential
for broadly disseminating knowledge at low cost, and for reducing knowledge
gaps within countries and between industrial and developing countries. In a
broad sense as revealed by Ogunsola (2004) access to the right information at
the right time gives people greater control over their destinies.
As
a result of all these global technological changes, the purposes of higher
education have been transformed. According to Capron (2000), mail, telephone,
TV and radio, books, newspapers and periodicals are the traditional ways by
which users sent and received information. However, data communication systems
have been evolving since the mid-1960s.
It
must be realized that Africa's development hinges on effectively participating
in the information society, and this requires low-cost Internet access. Yet
Africa has the most expensive Internet access in the world partly because its
Internet traffic transits through Internet exchange points in the US or Europe.
As a result, Africans must pay "long-distance" charges, and data transfer speeds are slow. Thus, the
digital divide continues to widen. This is one of the constraints militating
against digital library development in our higher education institutions. As
pointed out by Rosenberg (2005), Africa has 13% of the world's population but
only 2% of the world's telephone lines and 1% of Internet connectivity. It is
also noted that up country or newer university libraries and (in multi-site
libraries) branch libraries lag behind in Internet connectivity. Programmes that
assume all libraries within a region or countries that have the same needs and
aspirations are unlikely to succeed. Therefore as most African countries still
do not have good access to the Internet; online resources like digital
libraries or the Internet are not yet the solutions to bridging the digital
divide. Hence, one can confidently conclude that traditional libraries are
still alive and this will continue for a long time especially in developing
countries. The paper acknowledges that the Internet will eventually take over
in Africa as the means of providing access to digital academic information. As
such, African governments are urged to continue to look at ways in which they
can improve their national access to reliable and cost-efficient online access.
CURRENT
AND GLOBAL TREND OF THE NEW ERA LIBRARIANS
The new era librarian is a technology application
leader who works with other members of the information management team to
design and evaluate systems for information access that meet user needs. Where
required, the new era librarian provides instruction and support so that end
users can make optimal use of the information resources available to them. The
new era librarian is capable of
working
in the hybrid world of print and electronic media and providing the best mix of
information resources in the most appropriate formats for the environment. The
new era librarian plays a key role in developing information policy for the
organization ensuring that access to all information resources -- from internal
records to external databases – is provided in the most strategically-Effective
and cost-effective manner. The new era librarian also plays another important
role in ensuring that contractual, legal and ethical obligations regarding information
use are met.
The
electronic information age provides new opportunities for organizations to
produce as well as use information products. New era librarians, given their familiarity
with the information marketplace, can be key contributors to the development,
marketing and use of information products.
New
era librarians are knowledge-based practitioners who use research as a
foundation for their own professional practice and who support the conduct of
research through their professional associations. Research has shown that the
provision of appropriate information can lead to: better informed decision-making;
the ability to proceed to the next step in a project or task; improved relations
with a client; and the exploitation of new business opportunities. The right
information at
the
right time can also benefit the organization by saving the time of highly paid
employees, avoiding poor business decisions, and even direct loss of funds.
In
the information age, new era librarians are essential -- by responding with a
sense of urgency to critical information needs they provide the information
edge for the knowledge-based organization. In order to fulfill this key
information role, new era librarians require two main types of competencies: Professional
competencies relate to the special librarian's knowledge in the areas of
information
resources,
information access, technology, management and research and the ability to use
these areas of knowledge as a basis for providing library and information
services. Personal competencies represent a set of skills, attitudes and values
that enable librarians to work efficiently; be good communicators; focus on
continuing learning throughout their careers; demonstrate the value-added
nature of their contributions; and survive in the new world of work. The
following sections highlight the major professional and personal competencies
of new era librarians:
Professional
Competencies
•
has expert knowledge of the content of information resources, including the
ability to critically evaluate and filter them
•
has specialized subject knowledge appropriate to the business of the
organization or client
•
develops and manages convenient, accessible and cost-effective information
services that are aligned with the strategic directions of the organization
•
provides excellent instruction and support for library and information service
users
•
assesses information needs and designs and markets value-added information
services and products to meet identified needs
•
uses appropriate information technology to acquire, organize and disseminate
information
•
uses appropriate business and management approaches to communicate the
importance of information services to senior management
•
develops specialized information products for use inside or outside the
organization or by individual clients
•
evaluates the outcomes of information use and conducts research related to the
solution of information management problems
•
Continually improves information services in response to the changing needs
•
is an effective member of the senior management team and a consultant to the
organization on information issues
Personal
Competencies
•
committed to service excellence
•
seeks out challenges and sees new opportunities both inside and outside the
library
•
sees the big picture
•
creates an environment of mutual respect and trust
•
has effective communications skills
•
Works well with others in a team
•
provides leadership
•
plans, prioritizes and focuses on what is critical
•
committed to lifelong learning and personal career planning
•
have personal business skills and creates new opportunities
•
recognizes the value of professional networking and solidarity
•
is flexible and positive in a time of continuing change
From
the preceding section it would seem that there is an abundance of potential
roles for the librarian. To take up these roles will require careful and timely
preparation. Preparedness is a key issue in repositioning ourselves for new
roles. Preparedness includes content knowledge and related skills but, more
importantly, it includes survival skills. The following are a few suggestions
that could also shape the teaching approach, assessment methods, etc. Survival
skills could include the ability to:
•
carry out environmental scanning and rapid decision-making
•
critically analyze the professional domain and where it is heading
•
employ time management to keep librarians from putting off preparing for new
roles
•
manage change
•
work collaboratively (it is impossible to monitor new developments alone)
•
study independently
•
think creatively
•
assess one's strengths, weaknesses and progress in continuing learning
When
considering the roles that have been discussed and their requirements, it seems
that, apart from survival skills, new era librarians should focus more on
affective skills and characteristics such as:
•
enthusiasm for life-long learning and new roles
•
will-power (because nothing will come easily)
•
assertiveness
•
creative thinking
•
self-confidence
•
innovativeness
Conclusion
Librarianship
has undergone a radical change in recent years, which will be continued in the
future. As libraries have changed, so too, has the role of the librarian.
Increasingly librarians have assumed the role of educator to teach their users
how to find information both in the library and over electronic networks.
Public librarians have expanded their roles by providing local community
information through publicly assessable computing systems. Some librarians are
experts on computers and software. Others are concerned with how computer
technologies can preserve the human cultural records of the past or assure that
library collections on crumbling paper or in old computer files can still be
used by people many centuries in the future. The work of librarians has moved
outside library walls. Librarians have begun to work in the information
industry as sales people, designers of new information systems, researchers,
and information analysts. They are also found in such fields as marketing and
public relations and in such organizations as law firms, where staffs need
rapid access to information.
It
must be realized that despite the changes in the roles and functions of
libraries over the course of history their cultural role has not. Libraries
remain responsible for acquiring or providing access to books, periodicals, and
other media that meet the educational, recreational, and informational needs of
their users. They continue to keep the business, legal, historical, and religious
record of a civilization. They are the place where a toddler can hear his or
her first story and a scholar can carry out his or her research. New
technologies are dramatically increasing the accessibility of information, and
librarians are adapting to the evolving needs of users that emerge from the
adoption of these new technologies. Technological advances have presented the
opportunity of automating some aspects of traditional libraries.
By
deciding to change to digital production, a traditional library would make it
much easier to cooperate with other libraries around the world. The more that a
library can communicate with others the more they will be able to learn what
has already been done. One of the ways we waste time and money is to try to
invent everything ourselves. Whatever you are trying to do in developing your
library, you can guarantee that somebody else has already done something
similar. If we are working with traditional methods and the only means that we
have of sending materials to other institutions is by the post, then it is
understandable that libraries tend to concentrate on their own affairs and
their own public. It takes weeks to communicate with other libraries then the
efforts becomes too much and it is faster to produce materials than to borrow
it, if however, libraries can start to use the Internet to exchange information
and materials, the exchange can happen in seconds. The digital library offers
more possibilities for enhanced scholarly communication. The Internet and
related technologies such as electronic mail enable collaborative projects to
be undertaken between geographically distant groups. All developing nations can
derive tremendous advantages from this technology for updating the knowledge of
its researchers and scientists. The entire world is going online. The agenda
for global preparedness includes the development of telecommunications and
Internet infrastructure.
Technology
is the backbone of digital library, and the centre piece of preparedness is the
expansion of technology in Nigeria and other developing countries.
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Available:http://www.inasp.info/pubs.
i never read am o but i tink it wil be a good one
ReplyDeletethanks!
DeleteVery good article!
ReplyDeletenice expository article, the era of digital age trends all over, else former knowledge will become arcade if digital information are not applied.
ReplyDelete