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People Come First: User-Centered Academic Library Service, Publications in Librarianship no. 53
Dale S. Montanelli and Patricia F. Stenstrom, editors
Technology has enabled librarians to give better service than ever before. However, up to now it has not been used to redefine services in the systemwide manner that is needed if users are to be fully served. The time has come to reevaluate the functional approach to library organization. This is the provocative thesis that underlies this collection of ten essays that takes a look at library functions from the user's point of view.
The opening two chapters present overviews of the issues at stake followed by chapters written from a functional perspective, for example, collection development, cataloging, and reference. However, the authors cross these functional boundaries to describe future visions of library sevice and new collaborative relationships within the library. Technology and teaching are presented as tools for providing service, as support for the movement away from the library as a place and toward the library as a service available wherever and whenever the user needs it. Readers will gain insights on how library managers can aid in the implementation of user-centered services.
The challenge to librarians is to make finding information for any library user a seamless process. This thought-provoking book will stimulate a dialogue on the role of service and encourage librarians bold enough to risk change to use the tools they have at their disposal to reshape library activities to better serve users.
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Table of Contents
- Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins, or Technology and the Future of Library Service in Academic Libraries
Michael Gorman
- The Gateway Library: Rethinking Undergraduate Services
Lizabeth A. Wilson
- Collection Development in Transition
Stephen E. Atkins and Patricia F. Stenstrom
- Cataloging: A Case Study of Self-Imposed Obsolescence
Patricia F. Stenstrom
- Reference: Putting Users First
John C. Stalker
- Interlibrary Services from Both Sides of the Desk
Richard M Dougherty and Juliet Williams
- Value-Added Access Services
Lynn Wiley and John Harer
- Toward Self-Sufficient Users: Helping Patrons Learn to Use Information Resources Independently
Stephen J. Smith and Dale S. Montanelli
- Service-Oriented Personnel
Patricia A. McCandless
- It's Only Money: Financial Resources in the User Centered Library
Dale S. Montanelli
- Conclusion
- Biographies
- Index
$31.00; ACRL member $28.00, 202p.
0-8389-7999-8, 1999
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