Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science (Volume 1 & 2)

Description

Library science, the principles and practices of library operation and administration, and their study. Libraries have existed since ancient times, but only in the second half of the 19th century did library science emerge as a separate field of study. With the knowledge explosion in the 20th century, it was gradually subsumed under the more general field of information science. In computer science, a library is a collection of non-volatile resources used by computer programs, often to develop software. These may include configuration data, documentation, help data, message templates, pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications. Information science focuses on understanding problems from the perspective of the stakeholders involved and then applying information and other technologies as needed. In other words, it tackles systemic problems first rather than individual pieces of technology within that system. A library computer system is the software used to catalog, track circulation (where appropriate), and inventory a library's assets. It is intended for home, church, private enterprise, and other small- to medium-sized collections. Larger libraries typically use an integrated library system to manage the more-complex activities, such as acquisitions, interlibrary loan, and licensing online resources. Digital libraries promise new societal benefits, especially for e-learning in digital or mobile times, starting with the elimination of the time and space constraints of traditional bricks-and-mortar libraries. The library and information professionals are required to acquire such knowledge and skills as the library is one of the highly IT influenced service profession. This book attempts to delineate and discuss the applications of the computer that have been behind the technological revolution of library science.