LIDA LIBRARIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE

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LIDALIBRARIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE

• Interuniversity Centre
• Dubrovnik, Croatia
• 24 - 27 May 2000

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Our themeLibraries on the InternetInternet
in Libraries

• Our questions
• Promises, Realities, Pitfalls

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Issues

• What do libraries actually do on the Internet?
  How do they do it?
• What could libraries do on the Internet?
• What does Internet actually do to libraries? To
  library users?
• What could Internet do to libraries in the future?

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Going from Internet basics

• A network of networks, bound by common technical
  standards
• nobody owns it
• nobody manages it - but many try
• Provides for communication, file transfers,
  cooperation
• Provides for World Wide Web,
• but it is more than the Web

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A major contemporary force

• Affecting and transforming
• societies on a global scale
• business, economy, commerce
• institutions, organizations, LIBRARIES
• how people work, communicate, cooperate
• librarians, information professionals
• me, you

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But

• Internet is NOT a source of all information
• Many others are there and are valuable
• Internet is not a savior for all information
  needs and requests
• Internet has many limitations
• technical, economic, social

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Major changes in libraries

• Affected through evolution of DIGITAL LIBRARIES -
  changes in nature of
• COLLECTION
• what is now a collection? more than owned
• digitizing, publishing, linking, new reference
• ACCESS
• distributive, libraries without walls
• some restricted, other global

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changes ...

• SERVICES
• many new models to various user groups
• providing Internet access - never enough
• COOPERATION
• new modes of sharing catalogs, collections
• common purchases, consortia
• MANAGEMENT
• new management approaches Web management
• economics challenging, unsettling

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New knowledge

• Internet requires
• a new set of competencies
• firmly build upon old ones
• constant upgrade of knowledge skills
• constant improvement
• But provides
• new rewards opportunities
• reaching out to users more than ever

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Tradition

• Internet doe NOT mean abandoning library
  tradition values
• Internet means
• application of true tried principles values
  to new situations
• AND developing new ones

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Opportunities

• Ethical principles remain
• but now an opportunity to be extended to new
  modes of access
• In libraries new modes always meant new
  opportunities
• adjust, use, expand, innovate
• At the same time critically examine everything

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Enjoy the conference
Enjoy Dubrovnik!