Libraries, library
services & library public
Historical perspective
&
evolutionary trends
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
1
Explore:
What are libraries all about?
 What role did they play & are
playing in:
SOCIETY,
HUMAN AFFAIRS,
HUMAN COMMUNICATION?

Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
2
Role
Library ...”contributes to the total
communication system in society.”
“Though the library is an
instrumentality created to maximize
the utility of graphic record for the
benefit of society, it achieves that
goal by working with the individual,
& through the individual it reaches
society.”
Jesse H. Shera, 1972
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
3
Library ...
Devoted to organization,
preservation & use of human
knowledge records
 Not only as a particular inf.
system, but also as an social,
cultural & educational
institution

 throughout
human history
 across boundaries of culture,
nations & times
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
4
Role of libraries in:
Culture
 Knowledge & scholarship
 Organization of knowledge
 Education
 Governance
 Popular access
 Communication & use of
information

Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
5
Culture
Permanence & preservation essential for continuity of a
culture
 Libraries provide memory
external to any individual
 Also provide for unity
 Convenient storage &
utilization
 Preservation of records &
artifacts of knowledge from
graphic to images & sounds

Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
6
Knowledge, scholarship

Idea of collecting world’s
knowledge in one place
 Alexandria
Library, British
Library, Library of Congress
Libraries fundamental for
scholarly work, research
 Model of librarian as a scholar
vs. professional
 Selection vs. all inclusive

 ‘knowledge
most worth having’
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
7
Organization

Availability
 inventory
of a collection
 of many collections - union
catalog
 of writings - bibliography
 librarian as bibliographer

Access
 bibliographic
organization
 subject organization classification, indexing ...

Arrangement
 physical
arrangements
 intellectual arrangements
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
8
Education

Early connection between
academic education & libraries
 started
as “book stationaries”
Indispensable today
 Popular education & libraries

 American
public library
movement
 Children & libraries

Growth of school media centers
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
9
Governance
Earliest libraries: rulers, courts
 Depositories of laws,
regulations, decrees
 Copyright - intellectual rights
 Dissemination of inf. by
government
 Use in political processes
 Intellectual freedom

 constant
battle, controversy
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
10
Communication & use

Related to organizations,
disciplines, businesses
 support
of their mission
Special libraries & inf. centers
 Information explosion

 growth

Communication explosion
 growth

of inf. industry
of networks
Changing orientation to access
& use
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
11
Popular access

From Romans:
 facilities
for everyone seeking
knowledge
 “made the talents of men property
of all”

Orientation to group of users
 active
seeking wider audience
 local identity, structure

Modern library
 emerged
at the end of 19 cent.
 continues to this day
 but also in transition
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
12
Post-industrial, postcapitalist society - change
"The basic economic resource is no longer
capital, nor natural resources (the
economist’s “land”) nor "labor." It is and
will be knowledge. . Value is now created
by "productivity" and "innovation," both
applications of knowledge to work. The
leading social group of the knowledge
society will be "knowledge workers" knowledge executives who know how to
allocate knowledge to productive use,
knowledge professionals, knowledge
employees."
Drucker, 1994
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
13
Transitional challenges

Inf. increasing in value
 not
automatic increase in value
of library & inf. services in
present configuration & structure

Changes in models
 from
‘just-in-case’ to ‘just-in
time’ to ‘just-for-you’
 access becomes paramount electronic resources & networks
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
14
Transitional challenges
(cont.)

New ‘players’ in inf. serv.
 increased
competition
 growing competition for funds

Needs for justification &
evaluation of results
 From
users & use perspectives
 What provided? What value?
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
15
On the horizon
Evolving a ‘new’ library beyond
the modern one
 Digital libraries
 Effect of technology
 Through open access create
libraries for individuals

 individual
selection & access
 create private spaces

Librarian as enabler
 Importance
of knowing how
individuals use information
Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University
16