CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN MIGRATING TO WEB-BASED INFORMATION SERVICES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

In this digital age, the great advances made by modern science and technology have speeded up information exchange and information distribution. The internet and web search engines assist users to obtain large amount of information with great speed. On the one hand, large amount of information does exist around information seekers, but on the other hand, scattered and disparate information resources, various formats, and dynamic channels confuse them. Under library settings, for example, many library users need assistance to access, locate, convert, synthesize, and evaluate information effectively and efficiently. Academic information services librarians and executives have primary responsibility of designing, developing, enhancing, implementing, and leveraging high quality library user services to satisfy library users’ dynamic needs. The web was designed as an information space, with the goal that it should be useful not only for human – human communication, but also those machines would be able participate and help. Most of the web-based library service provider is getting a lot of feedback from their effective users. So, libraries also introducing more and more services on the web, a tremendous amount of content and the system has had some continuity over time. The web has become commonplace throughout the world, a natural complement to traditional library services and develops innovative ways to meet the information needs of users. Traditional online services have transformed themselves into web-based services using web technologies. The web also offers libraries the potential for more revolutionary change as well. Library websites have become the main point of access and catalyst for new web-based library services. Emergence of websites is the ideal medium through which knowledge and information can be disseminated very efficiently to every nook and corner of the world. The library is only one of many institutions changing in the face of technological advances. With its wealth of data and information-sharing capabilities, web is a natural complement to traditional library services. The inherent character of the web offers many advantages and improvements for library services including the ability to hyperlink to other resources, use of a graphical interface, and access for remote users. Web based Library services means that library users can obtain services whenever they need them and other databases are accessible twenty-four hours per day from anywhere on campus.