This book provides comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the issues facing librarians involved in managing electronic resources, emphasising the huge changes that have taken place in little over a decade. There has been rapid growth in the quantity and diversity of electronic collections, including journals and other electronic materials – e-books, reference materials and many kinds of local deposit materials.
The author, Peter Webster, argues that traditional library systems are not suited to the needs and expectations of the library users of today. Methods and practices continue to be centred on the integrated library system (ILS) and machine-readable cataloguing (MARC). Although these methods have been adapted for the electronic environment, current practices are ineffective in dealing with the pace, volume and diversity of electronic materials. The world wide web has transformed search and retrieval, communications and our relationship with information. There are now new possibilities and new expectations.
Library services are often judged against Google, Amazon and their ilk. Webster rightly argues for a more unified information environment, in order to create a seamless experience for information seekers. To give one example, he compares the basic library catalogue model with a new model for managing electronic materials. In this model, management and delivery of electronic collections are dependent on many interconnected library and vendor maintained systems. The key point, repeated often in the book, is that users of libraries should be able to access the information they need directly, without having to jump between multiple portals or interfaces.
Webster also examines the modes of provision of electronic content products, from large aggregated full-text and indexing databases to individual journal web pages, describing differences and overlaps between the various types of provision.
Although not explicitly spelt out, more often than not the content seems to be slanted towards larger libraries. The assertion that “libraries have been recognising for some time that individual assessment of each item to be purchased is often not viable given the volume of material to be selected” may apply in large academic and/or public libraries, but does not ring true for me, and, I suspect, many colleagues in the legal information sector. A combination of tight budgets and specialist knowledge mean that we have to give serious consideration to all potential purchases.
This book is one of the Chandos Information Professional Series, which “are designed to provide easy-to-read and …practical coverage of topics…of interest to librarians and other information professionals.” The author clearly displays expertise in the subject. However, as someone with little direct knowledge and experience in this area, at times I found it a far from easy read. The preponderance of unfamiliar acronyms and technical jargon became exhausting at times, and a glossary would have been welcome. Perhaps the book works best as something to dip into when information is required on a specific subject – for example, when needing to know more about link resolvers and their role in electronic resources management. For anyone who may be directly responsible for managing electronic resources now or in the future, this would be a useful book to have to hand.
