Library Review

Ian M. Johnson

1998 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242539810209122

This paper identifies six major challenges facing the information profession as the “information society” emerges: assisting users to deal with information overload; the high level of technical skills required to manage the new information and communication technologies; the competition with other professions for the management positions in converged library, information, and computing services; the need to incorporate a broader range of knowledge and skills, drawn from those traditionally seen as separate sectors of the information industry such as publishing; the need to develop a higher level of skills in teaching and facilitating the use of information; and the need for a greater ability to work with other people. It points to some solutions which have been adopted by schools of librarianship in the UK, many of them involving collaboration with other disciplines to produce the required depth of knowledge. It also calls for changes in the schools’ approach to teaching, learning, and research, and in the practitioner community’s support for education in general and continuing professional development in particular. Finally, it points to the dangers of inertia.

Mogens Brabrand Jensen

1998 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242539810209140

The DanBib system is a nation‐wide union catalogue offering a number of common functions and a network to all Danish libraries ‐ public as well as academic ones. The system is managed by the Danish Library Centre Ltd ‐ a privately organized company owned by national and local government together with the biggest Danish publishing house. The Danish way is, indeed, unique in an international context. In this article a number of basic prerequisites which had to be fulfilled to bring about the Danish solution are discussed.

Richard Marriott

1998 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242539810209186

Discusses the emergence of a climate very favourable to libraries within the UK National Health Service. Links to national policy initiatives such as clinical effectiveness, evidence based healthcare, and research and development. Quotes from key sources which cite the importance of libraries in these processes. Makes recommendations for action by librarians to exploit this new climate.

Kimberley Kreicker

1998 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242539810209285

Kansas is a predominantly rural state, located in the geographic and geodetic centre of the USA. Recently, meat processing and other agriculture‐related industries have located in Kansas, bringing literally thousands of new immigrants into the State. As the non‐English speaking population has blossomed, communities have been hard pressed to meet the needs of all of their residents. The collaborative efforts of schools, universities, libraries, the State Department of Education, and many others, have been required to make an impact. This article ‐ originally presented as a Poster Session at ALA’97 in San Francisco, California ‐ describes these efforts, and offers suggestions on making your own facility more user‐friendly for non‐English speaking patrons.

K.C. Harrison

1998 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242539810209195

This year the Library Association Record is 100 years old. The author, who has been a regular recipient of the journal for two‐thirds of that time, and who has contributed articles, book reviews, obituaries and letters to it, surveys its progress over the period. He comments on the different approaches of its editors, from Henry Guppy in the 1890s, through such outstanding figures as Esdaile and Walford, to the present day. The journal has survived many difficulties such as financial constraints, shortages of paper in two world wars, accusations of dullness and changes of editorial approach. In this historical sketch the author also mentions alterations in its design, and praises the way the editorial board and its staff have coped with producing a journal for 600 members in the 1890s to one for over 26,000 in the 1990s.

Alan Day

1998 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242539810209203

Is an account of the author’s experiences as a library user on the first day of opening of the British Library at its new St Pancras site, 24 November 1997. Rates the services available favourably, and provides suggested further reading on the opening of the library, and the background to it.

Stuart James

1998 Library Review

doi: 10.1108/00242539810209212

Gives an account of the history of the British Library Round Reading Room, situated in the courtyard of the British Museum site at Bloomsbury, London. Includes details of the other reading rooms, and the driving force behind the development of not just the reading room, but the British National Library collection ‐ Sir Anthony Panizzi.