Digital Convergence

Rae Earnshaw is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Systems Development) and Professor of Electronic Imaging and Media Communications at the University of Bradford, and John A. Vince is formerly Professor of Digital Media at Bournemouth University, editors. The digital revolution and the convergence of media, information technology and telecommunications are transforming the way information is collected, stored and accessed. This movement is impacting on the development and organization of libraries, museums, and exhibitions, and the way in which physical and digital aspects are mediated to users. The changes are substantial and likely to be long-lasting. Edited by internationally renowned authors, Professor Rae Earnshaw and Professor John A. Vince, this volume considers current developments in digital convergence in the library and information sector. It presents the work of leading international experts, exploring themes such as the relationship between libraries and scholarship in the digital age, the hybrid library, user access and interaction, digitization projects, and the implications of technology convergence for libraries and information services.
Drawing on both theory and practice, this book takes a global view of developments, and looks from the past and the present to the future. Key areas to be addressed include: providing centres of learning with world-class information resources; the implications of massive digitization projects; rebuilding information services that empower the user; meeting the requirements of international scholarship in the digital age; from integration to web archiving; combining the best of real and virtual worlds: the future hybrid library; social and cultural aspects of the information revolution; the open access issue and libraries; and the current and future role of the librarian. Including contributions from Sir Brian Follett, Dr Fred Ratcliffe CBE, Dr Lynne Brindley, Professor Mike Wells, Dr Clive Field, Frederick Friend, and Peter Fox, this key international collection is essential reading for all library and information science professionals, academics and students with an interest in the digital revolution and the future of information provision. It will also be of interest to those in the technology and media domains.