Libraries Driving Access To Knowledge

This book is a must for librarians with international interest in access to knowledge. It includes a collection of 15 chapters written by authors from all over the world and covers different approaches to the vital role of libraries driving access to knowledge. There are chapters that offer solutions and ideas to enable libraries to become the knowledge engine in society. Other chapters discuss the conceptual part of the subject and related services. The book was compiled as part of the presidential theme of Ellen Tise, IFLA President 2009-2011, with the aim of offering the reader a good portrait of the opportunities and challenges that libraries have in driving access to knowledge.

Provides best practices, innovative strategies, theoretical frameworks, conceptual frameworks, and empirical research findings regarding the application of emerging and innovative technologies in managing, preserving, and enhancing knowledge access in academic libraries worldwide.

The management of knowledge created in an organization not only enables reuse of knowledge, but also adds value to the organization itself. Preventing duplication of intellectual effort, it saves economic and human resources, leading to the creation of new information. This book gathers the wisdom of knowledge managers and researchers in the context of the library and will be a valuable reference source for all libraries.

Proponents of the gateway concept - which ties together these fifteen essays by scholars, librarians, and academic administrators - envision the library as a point of access to other research resources via technological tools; as a place for teaching; and as a site for services and support where students and faculty can obtain the information they need in the form in which they need it.

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. It is the global voice of the information profession. The series IFLA Publications deals with many of the means through which libraries, information centres, and information professionals worldwide can formulate their goals, exert their influence as a group, protect their interests, and find solutions to global problems.

This book contains a plethora of different viewpoints and research results from all over the world, bringing them together to provide a global perspectiveon the various issues that comprise "open access". Topics include copyright, best practices and management, open access and society, repositories, journals, publications and publishing, services and technology, quality andevaluation. The book offers a holistic focus on open access and can serve as a useful learning tool for students and professionals.

Your library already contains organizational knowledge—both in your employees and in your institution; this book will lead you towards guiding, fostering, and organizing that knowledge for improved organizational fitness.

This book, first published in 1992, establishes a theoretical base for access services while also suggesting connections between theory and practice. It provides fresh thinking that re-examines previous writings in this area, presents new experimental designs and results, creates contemporary organizational solutions, and adopts innovative techniques for increasing users’ access to library materials within constrained budgets. Access services librarians, circulation department librarians, and library managers, especially those who are considering a reorganization that will include access services, will benefit from the philosophical and theoretical articles as well as practical advice on the design, delivery, and evaluation of responsive library services. Chapters in this invaluable book fill the gap in the literature about access services including theoretical descriptions of access services, current developing trends in access services, the historical development of the access services concept, practical studies related to common access services issues, and projections of future challenges.