Volume 57, Issue 2

Various government bodies have promoted library-museum collaboration in recent years but research is lacking about common practices and experiences, and, in particular, what has worked and what hasn't. The research presented in this paper addresses this gap. The first part outlines opinion and theory regarding library-museum collaboration as given in the professional literature. The second part describes practical findings from case-study investigations into public library-museum collaboration in England and the USA. This analysis takes a close look at the benefits of such collaborations. The paper concludes with guidelines on how library-museum collaboration can occur successfully.

Young adults form a significant proportion of library users all over the world. In Sierra Leone, however, this group of users is the most easily neglected in terms of collection development and the provision of library services. As this article explores public library services to young adult readers in Sierra Leone, it notes the characteristics of young adults, provides an overview of public library services in Sierra Leone, and outlines the programs provided in meeting the needs of this user group to meet the goal of service for all without distinction.

In this article we argue that LIS education in the Asia-Pacific region needs to develop an appreciation of the role inspirational and communicative pedagogies could potentially play in providing key leadership skills. Furthermore, we suggest that one way to do this is through biographical narratives. At the end of the article we provide three examples of librarian biographies that provide a number of important lessons about the profession for future librarians.

The ever-changing digital environment has had significant impact on the scope and nature of reference work. The question explored in this article is whether the necessary skills for efficient digital reference librarianship are being taught in library schools. For students to become effective practitioners in the digital environment they need not only theoretical knowledge but also practical experience in the application of digital reference technology. This article provides an overview of a practical course in reference work that was developed at the Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa, in 2005. Practical sessions in the computer laboratories covered a range of synchronous and asynchronous technologies providing students with insight into and hands-on experience with digital reference. Continuous assessment throughout the course, and feedback from the students, identified possible shortcomings in the practical training programme, and specific suggestions are made to address these in the future.

This paper examines the different layers of protection that exist in digital content and how users and corporate rights holders of information interpret the different protections. From a South African perspective, this paper analyses librarians', managers' of consortia, informed users' and corporate rights holders' perceptions and misconceptions on the interpretation of copyright protection with regard to digital content. It discusses the effects on the advancement of scholarship implied by the interpretations on copyright accorded by librarians, users and corporate rights holders to digital content. It concludes that in order to better access digital content to promote scholarship, the education of what copyright protects and knowledge of the terms and conditions of licensing agreements is necessary.

This article examines the options being employed at an academic library in the Caribbean, namely the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, to deliver, and enhance access to, electronic resources via the Internet. Specifically, the focus is on some of the issues related to establishing the appropriate infrastructure for providing these services and the provision of details on the actual interface design. The methodology used for the study phase included a review of relevant documentation, and interviews with participants in collection development and access provision activities as well as subject specialist librarians. Evaluation of the end user Web interface was also undertaken. Using a combination of middleware scripts in Cold Fusion, a backend database built on MySQL, this library has been able to provide a user interface for easily identifying and accessing the electronic resources relevant to the research needs of its clientele. Despite working with limited resources, this developing country academic library is moving in the right direction as far as managing its digital resources is concerned.

Libraries in India are progressing well in automating housekeeping operations, refining old services and starting fresh ones. There is also an increasing presence of electronic information sources, external and internal, and services based upon them. Libraries have progressively adopted library automation software, CD-ROM data bases, and Web access to electronic journals and digital libraries. With each advance in technology the time of the user to retrieve information has shown a drastic reduction. The emergence and increasing availability of the Internet and Web has led to a lot of information outside the library tempting users to depend less on libraries and to explore these alternate routes to fulfill their information needs. The rise in number and variety of information resources and the inability of most libraries to acquire/ access them also leaves the libraries less able to meet the needs of clients, forcing the library and staff to shy away from their new roles. Largely a service in many institutions that does not enjoy the power of research and teaching staff, the plight of library professionals in many of these institutions results in low morale and underperformance. This paper attempts to look into these issues and the cultures and conflicts faced by users, libraries and librarians in academic and research libraries in India. It identifies the library as a service and access centre, managing and enhancing information in a technology-enhanced environment rather than as a mere repository.