WELCOME!
LIDA 2001
LIBRARIES IN THE DIGITAL
AGE
Dubrovnik, Croatia 23 - 26 May 2001
LIDA courses &
conferences
• Annual programs
– held in BEAUTIFUL Dubrovnik
• International forum for exchange &
learning
• Changing themes annually
– But steady purposes & objectives
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
2
LIDA purpose
• to address the changing and
challenging environment for
libraries and information systems
and services in the digital age
• with an emphasis on examining
contemporary problems, advances
and solutions
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
3
Rationale. Questions.
• Why?
– because of constant changes in the
digital world all of us need a constant
update of professional knowledge &
competencies
• Examine, explore, learn together:
– Promises? Realities? Problems?
Opportunities? Challenges? Pitfalls?
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
4
Our LIDA 2001 themes:
The Internet: ethics and legal
issues
&
Information services - practice
and research
Reminder:
LIDA 2000 themes:
Libraries on the Internet
&
Internet in Libraries
Future:
LIDA 2002 themes:
Integrating information
seeking & information retrieval
&
Information services in digital
environments- practice and
research
Issues
• What do libraries actually do in a
digital environment? Internet?
– How do they do it?
– What could libraries do?
• What does the digital world
actually do to libraries?
– to library
USERS?
• How to change for the better?
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
8
Digital age
• Environment exemplified by
– use of all kinds of records &
processes in digital forms
– transformation to digital forms
– digital networks for communication
– INTERNET
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
9
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
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
10
A major contemporary force
• Affecting and transforming
– societies on a global scale
– business, economy, commerce
– institutions, organizations, LIBRARIES
– how people work, communicate,
cooperate; how science works
– librarians, information professionals
– you, me, all of us
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
11
But ...
• Internet is NOT a source of all
information
• Many others are there & are valuable
• Internet is not a savior for all
information needs and requests
• Internet has many limitations
– technical, economic, social
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
12
Major changes in libraries
• Affected through evolution of
DIGITAL LIBRARIES
• Changes in nature of :
– COLLECTION
• what is now a ‘collection’?
– ACCESS
• distributive, “libraries without walls”
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
13
changes ...
– SERVICES
• many new models to various user groups
– COOPERATION
• new modes of sharing, consortia
– MANAGEMENT
• new management approaches, structures
• economics challenging, unsettling
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
14
Needed: new knowledge
– 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
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
15
Tradition
• Internet & digital age do NOT
mean abandoning library
tradition & values
• It means
– application of true & tried
principles & values to new
situations
– AND developing new ones
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
16
Opportunities
• Basic 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
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
17
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
18