Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects
Identifieur interne : 000908 ( Istex/Corpus ); précédent : 000907; suivant : 000909Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects
Auteurs : Sean PhillipsSource :
- Library Review [ 0024-2535 ] ; 1998-08-01.
Abstract
The background for university libraries in Ireland is almost identical to that in other EU countries rapid expansion in student numbers and materials price inflation not being matched by reciprocal funding. Among positive steps to combat this EU programmes are noted and cooperative initiatives, notably the IRIS and ALCID projects are discussed. National developments are examined, including the activities of the Information Society Commission and moves towards a national libraryinformation policy. The effects of the Universities Act 1997 are also considered. Future strategy is discussed, particularly the pressures for collaboration and distributed systems and their relevance specifically to research libraries considered.
Url:
DOI: 10.1108/00242539810218979
Links to Exploration step
ISTEX:C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5Le document en format XML
<record><TEI wicri:istexFullTextTei="biblStruct"><teiHeader><fileDesc><titleStmt><title xml:lang="en">Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects</title><author wicri:is="90%"><name sortKey="Phillips, Sean" sort="Phillips, Sean" uniqKey="Phillips S" first="Sean" last="Phillips">Sean Phillips</name><affiliation><mods:affiliation>Sean Phillips was successor to Henry Heaney as Librarian of University College Dublin formerly Deputy Librarian, Trinity College Dublin and Sublibrarian, Queens University of Belfast, where he worked under Henry Heaney. Sean Phillipsucd.ie</mods:affiliation></affiliation></author></titleStmt><publicationStmt><idno type="wicri:source">ISTEX</idno><idno type="RBID">ISTEX:C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5</idno><date when="1998" year="1998">1998</date><idno type="doi">10.1108/00242539810218979</idno><idno type="url">https://api.istex.fr/document/C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5/fulltext/pdf</idno><idno type="wicri:Area/Istex/Corpus">000908</idno><idno type="wicri:explorRef" wicri:stream="Istex" wicri:step="Corpus" wicri:corpus="ISTEX">000908</idno></publicationStmt><sourceDesc><biblStruct><analytic><title level="a" type="main" xml:lang="en">Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects</title><author wicri:is="90%"><name sortKey="Phillips, Sean" sort="Phillips, Sean" uniqKey="Phillips S" first="Sean" last="Phillips">Sean Phillips</name><affiliation><mods:affiliation>Sean Phillips was successor to Henry Heaney as Librarian of University College Dublin formerly Deputy Librarian, Trinity College Dublin and Sublibrarian, Queens University of Belfast, where he worked under Henry Heaney. Sean Phillipsucd.ie</mods:affiliation></affiliation></author></analytic><monogr></monogr><series><title level="j">Library Review</title><idno type="ISSN">0024-2535</idno><imprint><publisher>MCB UP Ltd</publisher><date type="published" when="1998-08-01">1998-08-01</date><biblScope unit="volume">47</biblScope><biblScope unit="issue">5/6</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" from="306">306</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" to="310">310</biblScope></imprint><idno type="ISSN">0024-2535</idno></series><idno type="istex">C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5</idno><idno type="DOI">10.1108/00242539810218979</idno><idno type="filenameID">0350470510</idno><idno type="original-pdf">0350470510.pdf</idno><idno type="href">00242539810218979.pdf</idno></biblStruct></sourceDesc><seriesStmt><idno type="ISSN">0024-2535</idno></seriesStmt></fileDesc><profileDesc><textClass></textClass><langUsage><language ident="en">en</language></langUsage></profileDesc></teiHeader><front><div type="abstract" xml:lang="en">The background for university libraries in Ireland is almost identical to that in other EU countries rapid expansion in student numbers and materials price inflation not being matched by reciprocal funding. Among positive steps to combat this EU programmes are noted and cooperative initiatives, notably the IRIS and ALCID projects are discussed. National developments are examined, including the activities of the Information Society Commission and moves towards a national libraryinformation policy. The effects of the Universities Act 1997 are also considered. Future strategy is discussed, particularly the pressures for collaboration and distributed systems and their relevance specifically to research libraries considered.</div></front></TEI><istex><corpusName>emerald</corpusName><author><json:item><name>Sean Phillips</name><affiliations><json:string>Sean Phillips was successor to Henry Heaney as Librarian of University College Dublin formerly Deputy Librarian, Trinity College Dublin and Sublibrarian, Queens University of Belfast, where he worked under Henry Heaney. Sean Phillipsucd.ie</json:string></affiliations></json:item></author><subject><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>Cooperative organization</value></json:item><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>European Union</value></json:item><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>Information society</value></json:item><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>Ireland</value></json:item><json:item><lang><json:string>eng</json:string></lang><value>University libraries</value></json:item></subject><language><json:string>eng</json:string></language><abstract>The background for university libraries in Ireland is almost identical to that in other EU countries rapid expansion in student numbers and materials price inflation not being matched by reciprocal funding. Among positive steps to combat this EU programmes are noted and cooperative initiatives, notably the IRIS and ALCID projects are discussed. National developments are examined, including the activities of the Information Society Commission and moves towards a national libraryinformation policy. The effects of the Universities Act 1997 are also considered. Future strategy is discussed, particularly the pressures for collaboration and distributed systems and their relevance specifically to research libraries considered.</abstract><qualityIndicators><score>3.635</score><pdfVersion>1.1</pdfVersion><pdfPageSize>595 x 842 pts (A4)</pdfPageSize><refBibsNative>true</refBibsNative><keywordCount>5</keywordCount><abstractCharCount>729</abstractCharCount><pdfWordCount>2423</pdfWordCount><pdfCharCount>16414</pdfCharCount><pdfPageCount>5</pdfPageCount><abstractWordCount>101</abstractWordCount></qualityIndicators><title>Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects</title><genre.original><json:string>research-article</json:string></genre.original><genre><json:string>research-article</json:string></genre><host><volume>47</volume><publisherId><json:string>lr</json:string></publisherId><pages><last>310</last><first>306</first></pages><issn><json:string>0024-2535</json:string></issn><issue>5/6</issue><subject><json:item><value>Library & information science</value></json:item><json:item><value>Information behaviour & retrieval</value></json:item><json:item><value>Library & information services</value></json:item><json:item><value>Information literacy</value></json:item></subject><genre><json:string>Journal</json:string></genre><language><json:string>unknown</json:string></language><title>Library Review</title><doi><json:string>10.1108/lr</json:string></doi></host><publicationDate>1998</publicationDate><copyrightDate>1998</copyrightDate><doi><json:string>10.1108/00242539810218979</json:string></doi><id>C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5</id><score>1</score><fulltext><json:item><original>true</original><mimetype>application/pdf</mimetype><extension>pdf</extension><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5/fulltext/pdf</uri></json:item><json:item><original>false</original><mimetype>application/zip</mimetype><extension>zip</extension><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5/fulltext/zip</uri></json:item><istex:fulltextTEI uri="https://api.istex.fr/document/C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5/fulltext/tei"><teiHeader><fileDesc><titleStmt><title level="a" type="main" xml:lang="en">Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects</title></titleStmt><publicationStmt><authority>ISTEX</authority><publisher>MCB UP Ltd</publisher><availability><p>EMERALD</p></availability><date>1998</date></publicationStmt><sourceDesc><biblStruct type="inbook"><analytic><title level="a" type="main" xml:lang="en">Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects</title><author><persName><forename type="first">Sean</forename><surname>Phillips</surname></persName><affiliation>Sean Phillips was successor to Henry Heaney as Librarian of University College Dublin formerly Deputy Librarian, Trinity College Dublin and Sublibrarian, Queens University of Belfast, where he worked under Henry Heaney. Sean Phillipsucd.ie</affiliation></author></analytic><monogr><title level="j">Library Review</title><idno type="pISSN">0024-2535</idno><idno type="DOI">10.1108/lr</idno><imprint><publisher>MCB UP Ltd</publisher><date type="published" when="1998-08-01"></date><biblScope unit="volume">47</biblScope><biblScope unit="issue">5/6</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" from="306">306</biblScope><biblScope unit="page" to="310">310</biblScope></imprint></monogr><idno type="istex">C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5</idno><idno type="DOI">10.1108/00242539810218979</idno><idno type="filenameID">0350470510</idno><idno type="original-pdf">0350470510.pdf</idno><idno type="href">00242539810218979.pdf</idno></biblStruct></sourceDesc></fileDesc><profileDesc><creation><date>1998</date></creation><langUsage><language ident="en">en</language></langUsage><abstract xml:lang="en"><p>The background for university libraries in Ireland is almost identical to that in other EU countries rapid expansion in student numbers and materials price inflation not being matched by reciprocal funding. Among positive steps to combat this EU programmes are noted and cooperative initiatives, notably the IRIS and ALCID projects are discussed. National developments are examined, including the activities of the Information Society Commission and moves towards a national libraryinformation policy. The effects of the Universities Act 1997 are also considered. Future strategy is discussed, particularly the pressures for collaboration and distributed systems and their relevance specifically to research libraries considered.</p></abstract><textClass><keywords scheme="keyword"><list><head>Keywords</head><item><term>Cooperative organization</term></item><item><term>European Union</term></item><item><term>Information society</term></item><item><term>Ireland</term></item><item><term>University libraries</term></item></list></keywords></textClass><textClass><keywords scheme="Emerald Subject Group"><list><label>cat-LISC</label><item><term>Library & information science</term></item><label>cat-IBRT</label><item><term>Information behaviour & retrieval</term></item><label>cat-LISE</label><item><term>Library & information services</term></item><label>cat-ILIT</label><item><term>Information literacy</term></item></list></keywords></textClass></profileDesc><revisionDesc><change when="1998-08-01">Published</change></revisionDesc></teiHeader></istex:fulltextTEI><json:item><original>false</original><mimetype>text/plain</mimetype><extension>txt</extension><uri>https://api.istex.fr/document/C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5/fulltext/txt</uri></json:item></fulltext><metadata><istex:metadataXml wicri:clean="corpus emerald not found" wicri:toSee="no header"><istex:xmlDeclaration>version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"</istex:xmlDeclaration><istex:document><!-- Auto generated NISO JATS XML created by Atypon out of MCB DTD source files. Do Not Edit! --><article dtd-version="1.0" xml:lang="en" article-type="research-article"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">lr</journal-id><journal-id journal-id-type="doi">10.1108/lr</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title>Library Review</journal-title></journal-title-group><issn pub-type="ppub">0024-2535</issn><publisher><publisher-name>MCB UP Ltd</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1108/00242539810218979</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="original-pdf">0350470510.pdf</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="filename">0350470510</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="type-of-publication"><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">research-article</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Research paper</compound-subject-part></compound-subject></subj-group><subj-group subj-group-type="subject"><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-LISC</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Library & information science</compound-subject-part></compound-subject><subj-group><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-IBRT</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Information behaviour & retrieval</compound-subject-part></compound-subject><subj-group><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-ILIT</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Information literacy</compound-subject-part></compound-subject></subj-group></subj-group><subj-group><compound-subject><compound-subject-part content-type="code">cat-LISE</compound-subject-part><compound-subject-part content-type="label">Library & information services</compound-subject-part></compound-subject></subj-group></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>Irish university libraries: recent developments and future prospects</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author"><string-name><given-names>Sean</given-names> <surname>Phillips</surname></string-name><aff>Sean Phillips was successor to Henry Heaney as Librarian of University College Dublin; formerly Deputy Librarian, Trinity College Dublin and Sub‐librarian, Queen’s University of Belfast, where he worked under Henry Heaney. Sean Phillips@ucd.ie</aff></contrib></contrib-group><pub-date pub-type="ppub"><day>01</day><month>08</month><year>1998</year></pub-date><volume>47</volume><issue>5/6</issue><fpage>306</fpage><lpage>310</lpage><permissions><copyright-statement>© MCB UP Limited</copyright-statement><copyright-year>1998</copyright-year><license license-type="publisher"><license-p></license-p></license></permissions><self-uri content-type="pdf" xlink:href="00242539810218979.pdf"></self-uri><abstract><p>The background for university libraries in Ireland is almost identical to that in other EU countries: rapid expansion in student numbers and materials price inflation not being matched by reciprocal funding. Among positive steps to combat this EU programmes are noted and co‐operative initiatives, notably the IRIS and ALCID projects are discussed. National developments are examined, including the activities of the Information Society Commission and moves towards a national library/information policy. The effects of the Universities Act 1997 are also considered. Future strategy is discussed, particularly the pressures for collaboration and distributed systems and their relevance specifically to research libraries considered.</p></abstract><kwd-group><kwd>Co‐operative organization</kwd><x>, </x><kwd>European Union</kwd><x>, </x><kwd>Information society</kwd><x>, </x><kwd>Ireland</kwd><x>, </x><kwd>University libraries</kwd></kwd-group><custom-meta-group><custom-meta><meta-name>peer-reviewed</meta-name><meta-value>no</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta><meta-name>academic-content</meta-name><meta-value>yes</meta-value></custom-meta><custom-meta><meta-name>rightslink</meta-name><meta-value>included</meta-value></custom-meta></custom-meta-group></article-meta></front><body><sec><title>The background</title><p>Universities in Ireland, and their libraries, have been spared none of the pressures which have affected the third‐level sector in most European Union countries during the last ten years or so. In that period student numbers have almost doubled; an average which conceals an even larger increase of 140 per cent in the number of postgraduate students. In nominal terms, library funding has barely kept pace with this increase; library expenditure per student remains at the level of ten years ago, on average IEP250 per student. In real terms, of course, this represents a decrease in value measured against general inflation during the period, and a very steep decrease in value if measured against the rise in costs of research periodicals over the same period. Despite their particular difficulties, libraries have not been given especially favourable treatment within their institutions; on the whole the proportion of institutional budgets allocated to libraries has fallen. In short, university libraries have fewer resources to meet the increased demands which have been placed on them. The story will be familiar to most readers, and the Irish situation is not in essence markedly different from that encountered elsewhere; one aspect which is different, at least from that in the UK, is that the resource baseline has always been lower: in general, Irish universities and their libraries have been funded at anything from a half to two‐thirds the level of comparable UK institutions.</p><p>The consequences for research collections are no less familiar than the causes, since libraries have, on the whole, applied their diminishing resources unevenly; giving first priority in collection development and service provision to the support of undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses, while reducing provision for research support at postgraduate and academic staff level. The result has been a nationwide diminution in the coverage and depth of research collections.</p><p>There have, nevertheless, been positive developments, mainly in the application of information technologies and in the growing implementation of networked information services, although the networking infrastructure is still inadequate in capacity for the wide‐scale and intensive provision of digital information systems. It is anticipated that these will be an integral part of library service provision, and this is reflected in the design of new library buildings completed at the University of Limerick and planned for Dublin City University and Trinity College Dublin.</p><p>A major impetus for change has come from the European Commission, which has played a significant contributory role through its support for research into the application of telematics systems in libraries. Indigenous financial support for library and information research in Ireland has always been, and remains, virtually negligible; there is, for example, no equivalent of the British Library Research and Innovation Centre or of the E‐Lib Programme in the UK. With financial support from the EU Télématique and Libraries Programmes, several university libraries have had the opportunity to participate in research projects into a wide range of issues: document access and delivery, library provision for distance education, network navigation, user education, decision support systems, quality measurement, and Z39.50 applications. Apart from the inherent value of the research results, the libraries have benefited from the raising of their research profiles within their institutions, and from the collaboration with other libraries and information organisations throughout the European Union.</p></sec><sec><title>Co‐operative initiatives</title><p>It would be misleading and inaccurate, however, to give the impression that collaboration has only taken place in the international context. In fact, the last ten years or so have seen an increase in the number and in the effectiveness of sustained co‐operative developments between the libraries to meet the challenges of increasing demand and diminishing resources.</p><p>These include the IRIS project, perhaps the most significant collaborative library initiative in Ireland at present. Originally part‐funded by the EU Télématique Programme, its objective was to develop an application of the Z39.50 protocol to enable the online catalogues of six libraries (including one non‐university library) with different computer systems, to be searched simultaneously. A related document request and delivery facility was also developed as part of the project. IRIS was, in fact, the first successful Z39.50 application to search multiple databases from different systems in this way. The original project is now being enhanced to provide a World Wide Web interface, with joint funding from the participants, which now include all seven university libraries. When completed later this year, IRIS will enable all seven online catalogues to be presented and searched by readers as a single virtual union catalogue.</p><p>IRIS has an added significance in the involvement of Forbairt, a non‐university institution. Forbairt is a state agency providing a range of services to Irish industry which includes support for research and development, innovation, and technology transfer. Through the document delivery facility of IRIS, the resources of the university libraries will supplement Forbairt’s own information services to its business and industrial clientele. There is, of course, a very strong case for extending participation in the IRIS consortium to other non‐university participants, especially to those libraries with significant or specialised collections of research materials, for example, the National Library of Ireland and the Royal Irish Academy Library, and such extension is envisaged when the current enhancements have been satisfactorily completed.</p><p>The ALCID (Academic Libraries Co‐operating in Dublin) scheme was established two years ago to provide reciprocal access for academic staff and postgraduate research students in the four university libraries in the Dublin area, on the basis of a common membership card. Since its establishment, participation in the scheme has been extended to include non‐university libraries. While the scheme only provides access facilities at this stage, the possibility of establishing reciprocal borrowing rights is being explored.</p><p>The libraries have also joined forces in promoting a collaborative approach to staff development. An initiative originally taken some years ago by Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin to share the costs of this activity has gradually been transformed to include all the university libraries and the National Library. A regular staff training and development programme is now conjointly organised and administered by the ANLTC (Academic and National Libraries Training Committee).</p><p>The most recent co‐operative initiative has been in relation to consortium purchasing; at the time of writing discussions are in progress with potential suppliers, and between the libraries’ parent institutions, to explore the possibility of purchasing consortia for periodicals and networked databases.</p></sec><sec><title>Developments at national level</title><p>Thus, within the university system, the general trend has been for libraries to respond to the problems of inadequate funding by investing in new technologies, and by developing a range of resource‐sharing initiatives, many of the latter being facilitated and supported by the former. Where mutually advantageous, these initiatives have been extended to include non‐university libraries. But changes in the library and information environment are also in train at national level, and are certain to affect the future shape and form of university library provision.</p><p>The Information Society Commission was established by Government in 1997 to oversee the strategy for the development of an information society in Ireland through the application of advanced telecommunications and information technologies. It envisages a radical and rapid transformation of the ways in which work, business, learning, domestic activities and public service are conducted. The implications of this initiative for university libraries are not immediately obvious from a reading of the Commission’s First Report (ISC, 1997) or its predecessor’s <italic>Strategy for Action</italic> (ISSC, 1996). References to libraries are few and scattered, and deal mainly with opportunities for lifelong learning, the role of public libraries as access points to networks of knowledge and information, the role of universities as “enablers of the information society”, and so forth. Libraries are nevertheless seen to have a key role in the information society, and while the impact of the Commission on university libraries is unlikely to be felt in the short term, it seems certain to be far‐reaching and pervasive in at least two areas. First, the proposed development of low‐cost, high‐capacity communications networks will facilitate, among other things, the provision of access to digital information services. Secondly, the widespread development and use of digital information services by central and local government and in the public service generally, will gradually produce an environment in which first‐resort access to digital information will be as familiar as print‐based information is now.</p><p>There is at present no comprehensive national policy on libraries or information services in Ireland, and until recently no recognition of the need for one at government level, or for that matter among the generality of library and information professionals. Encouraging, if belated, signs of a change are now discernible. The Eurofocus on Libraries (the Irish National Focal Point for the EU Libraries Programme), in furthering the objectives of the Programme, recognised the importance of developing a national policy in the context of the emerging information society. In 1995, it commissioned a consultative document and initiated wide‐ranging discussions within the library and information community and with government and policy‐making bodies. As a result, a project has recently been established to develop a national policy under the auspices of An Chomhairle Leabharlanna (the Library Council), supported by the Department of the Environment. A Consultative Council has been established which represents all interests in the library and information sector, including the five government departments among which responsibilities for publicly‐funded libraries are distributed. At the time of writing the project is at an early stage, and the full implications for university and research libraries are not yet apparent, but at least there are hopeful signs of an official commitment to a more co‐ordinated national approach to library and information provision, which, if it can achieve the necessary threshold of support both at governmental level and within the profession itself, could do much to rectify the consequences of previous fragmentation.</p><p>There are implications for university libraries, too, in the changing legislative framework. The Universities Act 1997, which established a new legal basis for the seven universities in Ireland, made no specific provision for libraries, but will affect them significantly, and beneficially, in two ways. First, the requirement that universities prepare strategic development plans at regular intervals will tend to encourage longer‐term thinking and planning. This may reduce the short‐termism and expediency which has generally operated to the detriment of their libraries, for most of which strategic planning or at least strategic thinking are familiar concepts. Secondly, universities are required to apply a quality assurance and improvement process to every department and service unit at least once every ten years, through a combination of internal and external assessment. While this requirement will not of itself ensure excellence in library services, it may help to maintain standards at reasonable levels.</p><p>A side‐effect of the Universities’ Act, or more precisely of the consultative and lobbying activities which preceded it, was the growth of cohesion among the universities themselves. This led to the establishment of CHIU (the Committee of Heads of Irish Universities) and a range of advisory subcommittees, including a Library Committee to advise the university heads ‐ a significant development in that, for the first time, the university heads have established a formal mechanism for obtaining advice on library and information issues.</p><p>Interlibrary co‐operation involving the National Library is envisaged in the provisions of the National Cultural Institutions Act 1997, which extends the scope of legal deposit to include non‐print materials, including those in electronic format. No doubt in anticipation of insufficient resources, the Act includes an option which will enable the National Library to co‐operate with other libraries in the application of its legal deposit arrangements.</p></sec><sec><title>A strategy for the future</title><p>What of the future? In some respects, university libraries will operate in a more assured and enabling national environment. A coherent national library and information policy is evolving which holds out the prospect of greater co‐ordination, and the more rational allocation of national resources. Government has adopted the vision and ideals of an information society firmly based on digital technologies, in which the fundamental importance of libraries is acknowledged, and in which the users of library services will be increasingly familiar with information technology. The implications of new legislation ‐ strategic planning, quality assurance, greater inter‐university cohesion ‐ are, on the whole, beneficial for libraries.</p><p>It is almost universally accepted nowadays that, while university libraries should be self‐sufficient in the provision of services and information for their undergraduates and taught postgraduates, they cannot be self‐sufficient in providing for the research needs of postgraduates and academic staff. But it is surely also true that most university libraries should not, and to an increasing extent need not, be self‐sufficient in research provision. To state the obvious, if each of the seven university libraries in Ireland were funded to the extent necessary to make their research collections independently self‐sufficient, there would be enormous duplication, and therefore enormous waste, of resources. On the other hand, it is possible to envisage a distributed university library system, financially sustainable, and sufficient to support the research requirements of all seven universities. A greater degree of co‐ordination in the development of research collections will be an essential component of such a system. The academic community’s response to resource‐sharing initiatives of this kind is usually to commend it in principle, but to deplore its practical consequences. Despite avowals to the contrary, co‐ordinated collection development is unlikely to achieve widespread academic support unless it is presented as part of an integrated package which includes resource discovery, reciprocal access and document delivery.</p><p>The future of research library provision in Ireland lies in the development of a collaborative and distributed system which combines co‐ordinated collection development, digital information services, reciprocal access arrangements, document delivery (both locally and from BLDSC and other major international utilities), a virtual union catalogue, and liaison with research libraries outside the university sector. The basis for such a system already exists in the co‐operative initiatives already referred to, and its further development will be facilitated by the evolution of a national library and information policy and the wide‐scale application of digital technologies. Much work remains to be done. Many aspects of research library activity suffer from lack of co‐ordination ‐ conservation and preservation is a good example. Managerial and administrative arrangements, appropriate to management at national rather than local institutional level, need to be established. Appropriate financial arrangements, including consortium purchasing and top‐slicing from central funds, also need to be established within and between libraries, between the universities themselves, and with the funding authorities. The perception of the university library as a resource which transcends the boundaries of a single institution needs to be fostered among academics and university administrators.</p><p>Writing in this journal some years ago, the recipient of this tribute identified the need for a national information policy in Ireland as an urgent priority, and deplored, rightly, the debilitating consequences of fragmentation in information provision (Heaney, 1985). This is, therefore, a fitting occasion to record that substantial progress has been achieved in developing the requisite infrastructure and policies. As far as the university libraries are concerned, the coincidence of necessity and opportunity has seldom been more propitious.</p></sec></body><back><ref-list><title>References</title><ref id="b1"><mixed-citation><person-group person-group-type="author"><string-name><surname>Heaney</surname>, <given-names>H.</given-names></string-name></person-group> (<year>1985</year>, “<article-title><italic>Republic of Ireland library and information services: what now?</italic></article-title>”, <source><italic>Library Review</italic></source>, Autumn, pp. <fpage>160</fpage><x>‐</x><lpage>2</lpage>.</mixed-citation></ref><ref id="b2"><mixed-citation><person-group person-group-type="author"><string-name>Information Society Steering Committee</string-name></person-group> (<year>1996</year>, <source><italic>Information Society Ireland: Strategy for Action</italic></source>, <publisher-name>Forfas</publisher-name>, <publisher-loc>Dublin.</publisher-loc></mixed-citation></ref><ref id="b3"><mixed-citation><person-group person-group-type="author"><string-name>Information Society Commission</string-name></person-group> (<year>1997</year>, <source><italic>Information Society Ireland: First Report…</italic></source>, <publisher-name>Stationery Office</publisher-name>, <publisher-loc>Dublin.</publisher-loc></mixed-citation></ref></ref-list></back></article></istex:document></istex:metadataXml><mods version="3.6"><titleInfo lang="en"><title>Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects</title></titleInfo><titleInfo type="alternative" lang="en" contentType="CDATA"><title>Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects</title></titleInfo><name type="personal"><namePart type="given">Sean</namePart><namePart type="family">Phillips</namePart><affiliation>Sean Phillips was successor to Henry Heaney as Librarian of University College Dublin formerly Deputy Librarian, Trinity College Dublin and Sublibrarian, Queens University of Belfast, where he worked under Henry Heaney. Sean Phillipsucd.ie</affiliation></name><typeOfResource>text</typeOfResource><genre type="research-article" displayLabel="research-article"></genre><originInfo><publisher>MCB UP Ltd</publisher><dateIssued encoding="w3cdtf">1998-08-01</dateIssued><copyrightDate encoding="w3cdtf">1998</copyrightDate></originInfo><language><languageTerm type="code" authority="iso639-2b">eng</languageTerm><languageTerm type="code" authority="rfc3066">en</languageTerm></language><physicalDescription><internetMediaType>text/html</internetMediaType></physicalDescription><abstract lang="en">The background for university libraries in Ireland is almost identical to that in other EU countries rapid expansion in student numbers and materials price inflation not being matched by reciprocal funding. Among positive steps to combat this EU programmes are noted and cooperative initiatives, notably the IRIS and ALCID projects are discussed. National developments are examined, including the activities of the Information Society Commission and moves towards a national libraryinformation policy. The effects of the Universities Act 1997 are also considered. Future strategy is discussed, particularly the pressures for collaboration and distributed systems and their relevance specifically to research libraries considered.</abstract><subject><genre>Keywords</genre><topic>Cooperative organization</topic><topic>European Union</topic><topic>Information society</topic><topic>Ireland</topic><topic>University libraries</topic></subject><relatedItem type="host"><titleInfo><title>Library Review</title></titleInfo><genre type="Journal">journal</genre><subject><genre>Emerald Subject Group</genre><topic authority="SubjectCodesPrimary" authorityURI="cat-LISC">Library & information science</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-IBRT">Information behaviour & retrieval</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-LISE">Library & information services</topic><topic authority="SubjectCodesSecondary" authorityURI="cat-ILIT">Information literacy</topic></subject><identifier type="ISSN">0024-2535</identifier><identifier type="PublisherID">lr</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.1108/lr</identifier><part><date>1998</date><detail type="volume"><caption>vol.</caption><number>47</number></detail><detail type="issue"><caption>no.</caption><number>5/6</number></detail><extent unit="pages"><start>306</start><end>310</end></extent></part></relatedItem><identifier type="istex">C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5</identifier><identifier type="DOI">10.1108/00242539810218979</identifier><identifier type="filenameID">0350470510</identifier><identifier type="original-pdf">0350470510.pdf</identifier><identifier type="href">00242539810218979.pdf</identifier><accessCondition type="use and reproduction" contentType="copyright">© MCB UP Limited</accessCondition><recordInfo><recordContentSource>EMERALD</recordContentSource></recordInfo></mods></metadata><serie></serie></istex></record>Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
EXPLOR_STEP=$WICRI_ROOT/Ticri/CIDE/explor/TelematiV1/Data/Istex/Corpus
HfdSelect -h $EXPLOR_STEP/biblio.hfd -nk 000908 | SxmlIndent | more
Ou
HfdSelect -h $EXPLOR_AREA/Data/Istex/Corpus/biblio.hfd -nk 000908 | SxmlIndent | more
Pour mettre un lien sur cette page dans le réseau Wicri
{{Explor lien
|wiki= Ticri/CIDE
|area= TelematiV1
|flux= Istex
|étape= Corpus
|type= RBID
|clé= ISTEX:C2FEBD3EFBF2C7ED126C4B7CDE2812C9F21E7AB5
|texte= Irish university libraries recent developments and future prospects
}}
| This area was generated with Dilib version V0.6.31. |  |