Library science textbooks for specialised librarys and information services - covers administrative aspects, budgeting, acquisitions, storage, loans service, indexing, abstracting, reference books, information retrieval services, information dissemination, library networks, library automation, etc. Diagrams and references.

This handbook is a reference tool covering essential aspects of special library and information management. This edition provides an update to the core information management subject areas (the acquisition, organization and dissemination of information), as well as incorporating new areas of expertise now required by information professionals, such as making optimum use of the Internet.

The Monograph Series has been planned and organized by the Institute of Information Scientists, in consultation with the pub-lishers. The aim is to provide a series of texts to fill (so far as may be practicable) the considerable gaps in the monograph literature of this fairly new subject, which have greatly complicated the teaching of it; the monographs should be suitable also for people learning on the job, and for information scientists who want to brush up their knowledge of particular fields.

Around the world, legal information managers, law librarians and other legal information specialists work in many settings: law schools, private law firms, courts, government, and public law libraries of various types. They are characterized by their expertise in working with legal information in its many forms, and by their work supporting legal professionals, scholars, or students training to become lawyers. In an ever-shrinking world and a time of unprecedented technological change, the work of legal information managers is challenging and exciting, calling on specialized knowledge and skills, regardless of where in the world they practice their profession. Their role within legal systems contributes substantially to the administration of justice and the rule of law. This International Handbook addresses the policy and strategic issues with which legal information managers and law librarians need to engage in the context of the diverse legal environments in which they work. It provides resources, analysis, and considered studies on an international basis for seasoned professionals, those about to enter the field, and anyone interested in the evolution of legal information in the twenty-first century.

The advent of globally networked information is a historic change. Educational, commercial and industrial institutions depend on its effective exploitation for their success, but cultural and human factors are the biggest obstacles. This book looks at the roots of these problems and how they may be overcome, through understanding recent developments in technical services, the difference between service and technical orientation, organizational culture, the role of subject expertise and the cultural heritage of the information profession. The book provides guidance and outlines best practice in: managing converging technologies; supporting change with organizational models; using cultural audits; the role of focus groups in implementing change; characterizing a learning organization; succeeding as a change agent, and managing change through technical services. Several chapters discuss the Electronic Libraries programme and the TAPin (Training and Awareness Programme in networks) model as examples of how cultural change takes place, particularly in the academic environment; one chapter concentrates exclusively on the characteristics of special libraries. This illuminating insight into the evolution of information cultures and how they do or don’t adapt to networked services will help information and library managers to achieve change with deeper understanding, and will provide useful advice for senior managers restructuring IT and information departments. The book is core reading for students of Information Studies.