Library Management in the Information Technology Environment

This book aims to equip library managers in all types of libraries to make the administrative changes necessary to deal with new information technologies. Despite financial difficulties due to inflation and declining budgets, electronic/optical information formats and the hardware and software to support them are becoming a reality for many libraries. Even now, some libraries are designing and implementing the first prototypes of the "electronic library" while others are introducing new technologies as a growing adjunct to traditional text formats and services. "Library management in the technology environment" helps library directors and middle managers make necessary administrative adjustments to the new technological information culture. Chapters in this new resource that deal with issues not easily grasped by noncomputing specialists are distilled to basic components, making them easy for busy managers to comprehend and immediately useful to library administrators. This volume provides library managers with the essential information they need to adapt to a whole new set of management issues in the technologically advanced environment. "Library Management in the Information Technology Environment" is comprised of 8 chapters, each concentrating on a different management issue, to guide library managers in developing updated administrative policies. Library administrators should benefit from insightful guidelines on topics such as dealing with statistics in the electronic library, microcomputing, fees for electronic information, and principles of electronic library design. Specific chapters envision a virtual library in a networked environment, discuss expanding, networking approaches to collection development, set new standards for reviewing access and performance in research libraries, and describe how to plan for a library specific data-base to prevent user frustration in searching for documents. Library directors and middle managers in all types of libraries, but especially medium to large libraries with the means to invest in technology should find this book a valuable guide to rapidly changing demands for administrative policies.