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This century has been called the information age and information is
regarded as a symbol of progress, the dynamic development of a
society. It has become a major component of a growing number of
products; it is gradually turning into an independent product and
more confidently crowding out other products and services, gaining
a leading position on them. Every year, many people in the
information field engage in the collection, processing, transfer
and storage of information, and the production of hardware and
software required for the smooth operation of information systems.
Politicians, economists and sociologists confidently use the phrase
"information rich" and "information poor." These terms are used
characterize not only individuals and social groups, but also
entire countries. The well-being of citizens and peoples, along
with the presence of wealth in recent years has been increasingly
determined access to information resources. The explosive growth of
information flow and related technologies has led to a global
change in the communication system. Its appearance, along with the
traditional series of new social institutions, has involved meeting
the specific information needs of society; however, this includes
the more rapidly growing amount of information and with it the
social costs of its handling and transportation. More relevant is
the question of determining the nature of institutions, ensuring
its functioning in society. The library is one of the oldest public
institutions, aimed at meeting the information needs of society. At
different stages of history, the understanding of the library's
social status has changed its role and importance in public life.
However, the main influence on the development of libraries
provided the information needs of users, structure document-flow of
any age, political, socio-cultural, economic and technological
features of the development of society. The present stage of human
history is characterized by globalization, information and
democratization of all spheres of public life. The new type of
society has ensured the rapid development of electronic technology,
along with the collection, processing, storage and use of various
types of information, and access of representatives of different
social groups to national and global information resources. That
is, these resources define the intellectual, economic, political
and even military power of the state. These factors contribute to
the resumption of the debate on the place and role of libraries in
modern society and the prospects for their development. The
progress of computer technology and information technology has led
to the emergence of theories predicting their functions and
restrictions, turning them into institutions designed to meet the
needs of only the disadvantaged sections of society. Even their
gradual extinctions and increasingly discussed question concerning
the role of libraries in providing information freedom and security
of citizens, thus revealing the essence of the library as a modern
social institution. The definition of the principles of its
activities and functions of the interaction between the external
and internal environment, problems and prospects of development are
important and relevant today. The emergence and development of
libraries has always been associated with the need to transfer
accumulated information from individual to individual, from
generation to generation. For thousands of years, the library was
needed for the development of science, education, culture, industry
and agriculture. Thanks to libraries, we have kept many priceless
treasures of human thought throughout the history of civilization.
Accumulating the wisdom of the ages, libraries contribute to the
preservation, development, and growth of knowledge. Despite the
fact of the library as a phenomenon, throughout several thousands
of years of study of its essence, specialists have paid
insufficient attention. This is largely because library scientists
have worked to identify the potential of libraries to solve current
problems, and the consideration of their internal, necessary and
stable properties and relations, causes, identity and
characteristics of development have been sidelined. To really
understand the essence of the library, as well as other social
phenomena, not only on the surface, it is necessary to move from
the empirical level of knowledge to the theoretical.
Access to scientific literature for research and teaching is a
problem that researchers constantly face. In the globalization of
the academy, as well as political developments in the world, the
conditions for the receipt of new books in library collections and
bookstores are changing. Many publications exist only in electronic
format, which also affects the possibility of their inclusion in
library catalogs and databases. In view of the information flow,
they are often simply not aware of the publication of new
publications, especially those prepared in small regional
universities. Obviously, the most acute question is what
publications scientific libraries have the opportunity to acquire
in these conditions. This book plans to present a series of
materials on the state of scientific libraries. The current state
and prospects for the development of academic libraries is a
problem. Undoubtedly, over the past two decades, there have been
significant changes in the logistical support of libraries, the
information approach to library activities, and the professional
level of staff. These changes occur on the general background of
all accelerating technological progress and colossal
transformations in the information space. At the same time, in the
academic environment, all of the above is significantly behind the
world trends and standards. One of the most important parts of a
library is its doctrine because the library is a central
institution, the totality of which constitutes a more complex
system called librarianship. This book provides insights into not
only an understanding of the library as a key production unit of
library service system, but also library science, the developed
system, and forms of libraries of different types. The question of
what a library is, when, how and why it occurred, what are the ways
of the past, its contemporary social functions, structure,
mechanism of action, and its main types, are fundamental to a
proper understanding of a library. In order to just answer it, one
can make a full and clear understanding of the mission of libraries
in modern society, the main round of the librarian profession and
how to implement them . The historical aspect of this issue is
considered an important professional discipline of history of
library work in the world. Currently, there is no targeted
recruitment. This is partly due to the funding of libraries. Often,
the collection of library funds occurs at the expense of gifts, as
a result of one-time, unsystematic exchanges, which leads to a
chaotic replenishment of the fund. There are problems with
subscriptions to professional periodicals because of their high
cost and delivery problems. Most libraries have both basic and
exchange funds in their composition. The latter is in active
movement, as one of the main sources of literature for the past two
decades are book exchange and gifts. Primarily these are
unsystematic and uncontrolled processes, the only stable receipt
among them is the international non-exchange book exchange, through
which the NBUB academic libraries receive foreign profile
literature. There are different standards for bibliographic
description. This complicates the library interaction between
various countries. In the developed countries of the world at one
time, the bibliographic description standard, developed, and was
adopted; the IRBIS software was built on the same standards. The
lack of domestic standards, and work on software that supports
foreign standards, will entail a huge resource problem. This lack
of a common vision and coordination within the Academy and has
resulted in the existence of different programs or their complete
absence. There is no universal system of corporate cataloging. The
problem of funding a scientific library is always relevant .
Usually this state ranges from bad to very bad and is an integral
component of almost any library problem. On the other hand,
inadequate funding is often simply written off unwillingness to
move and do something. The premises reserved for library
collections are often crowded and do not always correspond to the
conditions necessary for storing the fund. The problem of safety of
funds has several aspects: physical safety, observance of necessary
temperature regimes, as well as a lack of areas for the placement
of funds. Often the problem can be solved only by changing the room
or location to another, which is a large project. Often, libraries
are not priority units in the distribution of computer equipment or
peripheral equipment within institutions. It takes a lot of serious
effort to justify the need to supply both the technology and the
purchase and payment of technical support for the library. In the
rapidly changing information space, the task of lifelong learning
is topical. At the same time, there are few Free State educational
programs, and the number and variety of paid ones is limited. The
range of offers is small, considering both the specifics and low
demand, since paid programs are almost inaccessible due to lack of
financial support for potential participants. More often,
professional development is limited to several one-day seminars a
year, organized by the Library Association. Even in a more
difficult situation there are the employees working outside the
capital without access to these seminars, for webinars are still
not widely distributed, and business trips are associated with
additional costs and other problems. There is no information
network within the academic environment. Most likely,
non-established horizontal communication links are an interlibrary
problem, which, if desired and with the availability of today's
opportunities, is simple enough to solve. Perhaps it is not yet
fully understood? All these problems exist, of course, in a complex
and interrelated way. It is possible to count on positive changes
in the situation with academic libraries with the active
participation of three sides of the process - librarians,
administrations and scientists. In our opinion, these fluctuations
within the general trend depend primarily on the personal
component, both on the staff of the library itself and on the
institution's administration and on the researchers themselves.
However, cardinal changes, successful solutions to tasks that go
beyond one institution, such as: changing the structure of funding,
creating the conditions for attracting new young cadres,
implementing joint scientific and technical projects aimed at
building a corporate network within system, a consolidated
electronic catalog of the academic network, creating proprietary
electronic resources and digital libraries, provision of unified
software search superstructures, etc., are in the sphere of
opportunities for more global and institutional unity. And here, in
turn, the direction of the state's cultural strategy, the reform of
the academy of sciences system is important. As a result, a change
of priorities and focus not only on satisfying the needs of science
and maximizing the effective use of its potential, but also on the
disclosure of its potential (especially in the humanities) to
create an accessible scientific and popular resource, is needed.
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