PSU Gateway Library: electronic library in transition
| Published date | 01 June 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830410543539 |
| Pages | 217-226 |
| Date | 01 June 2004 |
| Author | Lesley M. Moyo |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
PSU Gateway Library:
electronic library in
transition
Lesley M. Moyo
The author
Lesley M. Moyo is Head, Gateway Libraries, Penn State
University Libraries, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
Keywords
Digital libraries, Library systems, Academic libraries,
Communication technologies, Information services
Abstract
Developments in information technology have led to changes in
the mode of delivery of library services, and in the perceptions of
the role of librarians in the information-seeking context. In
particular, the proliferation of electronic resources has led to the
emergence of new service paradigms and new roles for
librarians. The Gateway Library at Penn State University (PSU) is
an electronic library in transition, with new technology-based
services evolving to address the ever growing and changing
needs of the academic community. It facilitates access to and
navigation of electronic resources in an integrated technology
environment.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
Introduction
Librarians have in the past been referred to as
“information gatekeepers”. Over the years, the
concept of “gate-keeping” has evolved from one
implying prescription of appropriate information
to mediation in the information-seeking process,
and now to facilitating information access and
navigation. In the traditional library of the 1960s,
“gate-keeping” activities focused on bibliographic
instruction or information retrieval using printed
indexes, abstracts, or catalogs. These were the
primary retrieval tools of the information
profession. By the 1970s and early 1980s, with the
advent of automated library systems, bibliographic
instruction revolved around OPACs, CD-ROMs
and online databases. In addition to printed
sources, these became the primary information
retrieval tools. Consequently, bibliographic
instruction incorporated elements of computer
literacy. At that time, costs for online searching
were significantly higher than they are at present,
and therefore searching was largely done by
designated reference librarians who had special
training and were experienced in database
searching.
The late 1980s and 1990s witnessed an
unprecedented explosion of advanced
technologies that have led to the transformation of
libraries and the information-seeking process. In
particular, the phenomenal growth of the Internet
and related technologies has been the major
driving force of change. Fountain (2000) discusses
some key trends in Web-based services in
academic libraries and projects future trends,
which she believes put librarians in “the best
possible position to assist in ushering in a world of
improved access for both faculty and students”.
The concept of librarians as gatekeepers has taken
on a new dimension – that of the librarian as an
information facilitator within the electronic/digital
environment.
The electronic library is user-centered.
Emphasis is on empowering the user to become a
competent independent researcher within the
networked electronic environment. Furthermore,
the electronic library is extending far beyond the
physical space to a virtual presence in the office,
home or dormitory room. Libraries are now
striving to offer fully fledged library services and
transactions to patrons who come in through both
the physical doorway and the electronic doorway.
Some of the resultant challenges that libraries are
facing now include:
Library Hi Tech
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2004 · pp.217-226
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830410543539
Received 4 August 2003
Revised 16 October 2003
Accepted 9 February 2004
217
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