International Encyclopaedia of Librarianship (In 5 Volumes)

Librarianship deals with the principals and practice of library operation and its administration, the process of storing and transferring information. It attempts to bring together concepts and methods from various disciplines such as library science, computer sciences and engineering, linguistics, psychology, and other technologies in order to develop techniques and devices to aid in the handling–that is, in collecting, organizing, storage, retrieval, interpretation and use of information. By the second half of the 19th century the world experienced such a proliferation of books of all sorts that the nature of the librarian’s work was radically altered; being well read was no longer a sufficient characteristic for the job. The librarian needed some means of easy and rapid identification as well as strong organizational and administrative skills, and the necessity for a specialized training became clear. These training programs have evolved into specialized graduate training programs in Librarianship and Library education. In the 20th century, advances in the means of collecting, organizing and retrieving information changed the focus of librarians. The explosion of the information technology has neccessiated the learning of new techniques and methods by the librarian, who is, increasingly, becoming the keeper and dispenser of information to the society in general and researchers and specialists in particular. The present Encyclopaedia brings to the user the latest methods in librarianship from throughout the world in precise and compact articles. The contributors are all specialists in library science some especially recognized for the new research being carried out and for breaking new ground. The articles are broadly classified under five important headings: International information collection, Preparation and training of library staff, Personnel management, Research methods, Strategies for development of library and information science. The present Encyclopaedia is probably the only such comprehensive work available in the world and will be found quite useful in creating a lively library environment, better equipped staff, trained and motivated personnel, improved library managers and better information dispensers.