The extremely rapid development of information and communication technologies and the global drive to build an information society have caused enormous changes in the functioning of libraries. The ambition of almost every library has become to possess a computer catalog. There was no need to convince anyone of its advantages. If a traditional library wants to properly present its collections to a reader from various points of view, it must build separate catalogs for different types of collections, e.g., monographs, journals, or special collections. In a computer catalog, one description can be used multiple times to present different types of information. The same document informs us, for example, what other works by a given author are in the collections, etc. The description used in card catalogs performs search functions using only one element – the heading. In automated systems – according to any elements of the description. Libraries, just like companies and enterprises, have their own websites. A library website is an invaluable communication tool. In addition to its informational role, it fulfills another important function. By enabling the reader to use the library’s online catalog, libraries go beyond the physically existing facility and extend their opening hours.
Joint efforts
Both in Poland and around the world, a process of transformation of libraries from collection-oriented to access-oriented is noticeable. There is also a common tendency to move away from self-sufficiency and establish close, formalized cooperation. Libraries, especially academic ones, have begun to join consortia in order to share and enrich their resources. Furthermore, the emergence of modern information techniques has forced these institutions not only to use new methods for presenting and making their own resources and services available, but above all, the necessity to organize and provide their users with access to external, virtual sources of information. Joint efforts were therefore used to create central catalogs, which were populated with records from the computer catalogs of individual libraries. Centralized knowledge Librarians and scientific information workers, possessing computer catalogs, are building powerful information networks and coherent, homogeneous central catalogs and other databases. In the past, researchers had to conduct almost detective-like searches to find the literature they needed in Polish libraries. Today, publicly available, network-based information systems, which are increasingly self-service and contain millions of records, are an invaluable and essential tool in the process of acquiring knowledge. By using meta-searching, one can search many different online library resources with a single simple action. Central catalogs make it possible to find the book title we are looking for, indicating a list of Polish libraries that have it in their collections. Bibliographic databases additionally allow us to familiarize ourselves with the contents of journals. When looking for press articles on a topic of interest, we will receive information about which journal, in which issue, and on which page a given publication can be found.
The article comes from the magazine “e-Fakty” 3/2006.