Preface

Anyone who reads about information provision in the information technology literature is bound to come across predictions about a state of information abundance, in which the end-user is offered direct and 'seamless' access to a huge body of publications, electronically stored and transmitted on request. Sometimes this electronic library of the future is graced with mythological significance, with names like the Electronic Alexandria (a reference to the famous record repository of classical Alexandria). In the literature of library and information management, the corresponding vision is the so-called library without walls or virtual library, where the user can access this world of information from his or her desktop computer.

This paradigm owes much to the ideas of Vannevar Bush, senior Science Advisor to US President Roosevelt. In 1945, in what is regarded as a seminal work, 'As we may think', Bush propounded the idea of a scholarly workstation or memex, that would store an extensive library of scientific publications on microfilm and permit the scholar to index publications, record annotations and create associative links between documents. Many see Bush's memex as a visionary idea which was merely waiting for computer technology. With the development of computer systems and technology, computer networks and user-friendly retrieval tools, such as the World Wide Web, it could be argued that Bush's idea of a memex has been realised. When the first edition of this book was published in 1993, such a statement might have seemed hyperbolic, but ten years later it seems an unremarkable claim.

Where do libraries fit into this apparent world of information abundance? The first few chapters of this edition present an overview of how computers and computer networks are used in the library environment and how developments in information and communications technologies (ICTs) provide opportunities for improving library service. Areas covered include:

 provision of access to web-based resources, commercially available databases and the growing number of electronic journals and electronic books being published

 the use of computer systems and networks to support much of the collection management transacted by libraries

 the development of digital library collections.

The focus, in other words, is computer applications in libraries.

Chapter 1 is devoted to the Internet and examines the range of information resources available on the Internet, use of the Internet for communications, and information retrieval on the Internet, with particular reference to the World Wide Web. (It perhaps gives some idea of the rate of change to note that in 1993, when this book was first published, the Web was newly established!) Basics of the Internet and the Web are covered, including the principal search tools available and their main features. The chapter closes with some observations on attempts by librarians to improve access to Internet resources, and some of the main issues to consider in the development of a library website.

In Chapter 2, the focus shifts from the Internet to library and information services, which utilise a range of information resources - those accessed electronically, increasingly via the Internet, and those (electronic, print and audiovisual) that are purchased by libraries in line with their collection development policies. Resources discussed include online information databases, 'portable' databases such as CD-ROM information sources and inhouse resources. The main services covered are the virtual reference library - which aims to provide an information service twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week - and document delivery, which involves obtaining resources for users that are neither available locally nor accessible electronically. The other main topics covered are the digitisation of existing collections (in other words, copying them into a format that can be stored and transmitted electronically) and the impact of electronic publishing.

Chapter 3 discusses the impact of ICTs on the provision of access to information resources. Much of the focus is on catalogues and shared cataloguing. As long as libraries have collections, catalogues will remain one of the principal information retrieval tools used in libraries. Cataloguing was one of the earliest library operations to be computerised, and this chapter looks at the various forms of library catalogue in use and at attempts by librarians to pool their cataloguing effort through the formation of bibliographic networks. It also explains the use of MARC formats (MAchine-Readable Cataloguing, or Code) in the exchange of bibliographic data. Finally, newer alternatives to information access are explored, such as the 'metadata' standard known as Dublin Core - means of improving resource discovery on the Internet and sharing information about information.

Chapter 4 introduces the idea of an information system, which is a system that represents objects in a physical system, for example, information resources in a library collection (a catalogue). The focus here is library management systems, which are used to manage library collections: their acquisition, their cataloguing (identification, description and location) and their circulation (recording and controlling the movement of individual items in the collection). The remainder of the chapter discusses two main topics, the management of special materials, such as serials and short-loan collections, and the generation of management information; information that can assist library directors in performance evaluation. Finally, it discusses the place of library management systems in the wider library and information environment, and the need for library systems to adhere to some of the standards discussed in earlier chapters.

In Chapter 5, the focus shifts from library specific software, such as library management systems, to generic software that is used in the wider community for data management but which can be adapted to library use. The two main types of software discussed are text retrieval systems and database management systems. These offer quite different approaches to data management and are discussed and compared in some detail. The remainder of the chapter outlines four other types of software that have particular relevance in the library environment: hypertext, expert (or knowledge-based) systems, personal bibliographic software and spreadsheet packages.

Up to this point, the discussion is largely (though not entirely) taken up with computer applications in libraries and has avoided talking about computers in much detail. This has been deliberate, because the plan is to provide a gentle introduction to computers in libraries by outlining how they are used in libraries before considering how they actually perform these functions. Some do argue that computer systems have become so easy to use, compared to earlier systems, that librarians do not need to know how computers work, any more than someone driving a car needs to know anything about its mechanics. The approach taken here is that knowing something about how computers work helps librarians make more effective use of their computerised systems, helps them keep abreast of computer and communications developments (on which the library literature has much to say) and helps them communicate intelligently with the computer systems people, many of whom see no need to familiarise themselves with library operations.

Chapter 6 therefore is a brief introduction to computer systems and technology, which assumes no previous knowledge of computing. A computer system is taken to comprise three main components:

 data, which are the raw facts that are stored and processed in a computer system, e.g., data about books, library users, loans transactions or library suppliers

 computer hardware, which is the equipment used to enter data into the system, store or process data, and display data to users

 computer software, which consists of sets of instructions (programs) that cause the hardware to perform actions, such as data processing, as required by the human operator.

Each of these components is discussed in turn, starting with the different categories of hardware. In order to understand computer processing, it is necessary to know something about the way in which data are represented in a computer, and Chapter 6 introduces this crucial topic. It also covers computer software, both applications software, such as the library management software described in Chapter 4, and the operating systems that control the hardware on which the applications run. Finally, it discusses different types of computer system and the different types of user interface - the combination of hardware and software that allows the user to maintain a dialogue with a computer system.

Chapter 7 examines data communications and networking, a field in which some of the most exciting developments in library services are taking place. Topics covered include network models, the media used in the transmission of data and data transmission methods. It also discusses protocols - sets of conventions or rules used in data transmission - and provides an overview of many of the...