Library
is a growing organism is a statement which is popularly known as the
Ranganathan’s fifth law of library science which was proposed in 1931. This law
focused more on the need for internal change than on changes in the environment
itself by arguing library organizations to accommodate growth in staff, the
physical collection, and patron use. This involved allowing for growth in the
physical building, reading areas, shelving, and in space for the catalogue. This means that a library should be a
continually changing institution, never static in its outlook. Books, methods,
and the physical library should be updated over time (Rubin, 2004).
is a growing organism is a statement which is popularly known as the
Ranganathan’s fifth law of library science which was proposed in 1931. This law
focused more on the need for internal change than on changes in the environment
itself by arguing library organizations to accommodate growth in staff, the
physical collection, and patron use. This involved allowing for growth in the
physical building, reading areas, shelving, and in space for the catalogue. This means that a library should be a
continually changing institution, never static in its outlook. Books, methods,
and the physical library should be updated over time (Rubin, 2004).
This
law gives the academic library the opportunity and the duty to research itself
and define new roles, more fitted to this changing environment and its users.
Academic libraries and its librarian have a lot to offer. Their expertise
within the field of information including retrieval skills, metadata,
information and knowledge management or even the familiarity of using criteria
in order to judge reliability and accuracy (in other words, the quality) of
information is an important professional tools. It is rare qualities and
valuable ones at the current information environment. This classical theory
offers a solid philosophical ground for the academic library, empowering it to
adapt itself to change, encouraging it to offer its advances to scholar’s
communities at the digital era.
law gives the academic library the opportunity and the duty to research itself
and define new roles, more fitted to this changing environment and its users.
Academic libraries and its librarian have a lot to offer. Their expertise
within the field of information including retrieval skills, metadata,
information and knowledge management or even the familiarity of using criteria
in order to judge reliability and accuracy (in other words, the quality) of
information is an important professional tools. It is rare qualities and
valuable ones at the current information environment. This classical theory
offers a solid philosophical ground for the academic library, empowering it to
adapt itself to change, encouraging it to offer its advances to scholar’s
communities at the digital era.
These
changes can be summarised to be geared towards impacting information literacy,
digital collection development and new contributions to the body of knowledge
through repositories and/or co-publishing of electronic journals in order to
demonstrate the usability of creativity and innovativeness in the way the
library is operated. Implementation this spirit might assist not only coping
better with disintermediation, but with making the academic library organism
expend and flourish for the benefit of scholars, science and society.
changes can be summarised to be geared towards impacting information literacy,
digital collection development and new contributions to the body of knowledge
through repositories and/or co-publishing of electronic journals in order to
demonstrate the usability of creativity and innovativeness in the way the
library is operated. Implementation this spirit might assist not only coping
better with disintermediation, but with making the academic library organism
expend and flourish for the benefit of scholars, science and society.
Ranganathan’s
choice of words can be meaningfully compared to Darwin’s evolution theory which
analyzes organisms. According to Darwin, evolution has no plan or purpose.
Primary differences between organisms are accidental, and those who happen to
be more adapted to their environment, survive and expand. However, sometimes
the environment changes at a quicker pace than the living organism can adapt
itself. In those cases the organism becomes extinct. If the library is the
organism as Ranganathan put it, it should be careful, for if it does not change
fast enough, it will become extinct.
choice of words can be meaningfully compared to Darwin’s evolution theory which
analyzes organisms. According to Darwin, evolution has no plan or purpose.
Primary differences between organisms are accidental, and those who happen to
be more adapted to their environment, survive and expand. However, sometimes
the environment changes at a quicker pace than the living organism can adapt
itself. In those cases the organism becomes extinct. If the library is the
organism as Ranganathan put it, it should be careful, for if it does not change
fast enough, it will become extinct.
Darwin
presented some basic arguments regarding the natural selection process that can
be useful if they are adopted and taken into consideration planning the
academic library future, in general, and coping with disintermediation, in
particular. An argument like, every organism produces more offspring than those
that can survive, can relate to the different organizational structure of
academic libraries and/or the services they offer. There is not one best
organizational structure for an academic library, or its services. It differs
from one place to another, based on wants, needs and capabilities. In keeping
with Darwin’s way of thinking it can be assumed that organisms differ and these
differences are allowed to offspring. Those differences have an impact on the
ability of the offspring to survive and reproduce. Therefore, the offspring
that are, more environmentally-adapted, are the ones that produce more
offspring, and they have the attributes that are best suited to the environment
(Darwin, 1996).
presented some basic arguments regarding the natural selection process that can
be useful if they are adopted and taken into consideration planning the
academic library future, in general, and coping with disintermediation, in
particular. An argument like, every organism produces more offspring than those
that can survive, can relate to the different organizational structure of
academic libraries and/or the services they offer. There is not one best
organizational structure for an academic library, or its services. It differs
from one place to another, based on wants, needs and capabilities. In keeping
with Darwin’s way of thinking it can be assumed that organisms differ and these
differences are allowed to offspring. Those differences have an impact on the
ability of the offspring to survive and reproduce. Therefore, the offspring
that are, more environmentally-adapted, are the ones that produce more
offspring, and they have the attributes that are best suited to the environment
(Darwin, 1996).
The Ranganathan’s
fifth law opens the options not only for direct mediation between the consumers
and the sources of information which is of course necessary, but also mediation
which ensures the success of the independent information activities by imparting
information literacy. By mediation that has involvement in creation and
preservation of quality information and academic knowledge for researchers in
the present and future through development of local digital projects. Another
direction is the field of publication. All can benefit from the librarian
heritage. Librarians have understanding and the experience in development of
collections. Librarians have real recognition of metadata importance and
practical ways of implanting it. They also have a close familiarity with
academic knowledge, needs and personnel. All are advances that can contribute
to better retrieval, to expending and deep the information sources available to
the academic communities and all others. These are mere examples, but they
accurately reflect the proactive approach necessary for the academic library in
the new environment, in general, and it’s coping with disintermediation, in particular
(Housewright, 2009).
fifth law opens the options not only for direct mediation between the consumers
and the sources of information which is of course necessary, but also mediation
which ensures the success of the independent information activities by imparting
information literacy. By mediation that has involvement in creation and
preservation of quality information and academic knowledge for researchers in
the present and future through development of local digital projects. Another
direction is the field of publication. All can benefit from the librarian
heritage. Librarians have understanding and the experience in development of
collections. Librarians have real recognition of metadata importance and
practical ways of implanting it. They also have a close familiarity with
academic knowledge, needs and personnel. All are advances that can contribute
to better retrieval, to expending and deep the information sources available to
the academic communities and all others. These are mere examples, but they
accurately reflect the proactive approach necessary for the academic library in
the new environment, in general, and it’s coping with disintermediation, in particular
(Housewright, 2009).
Collaboration
is a key word for other new roles the academic library can define itself. A
digital library, existing in the Internet is independent of physical time or
space, offers many opportunities for innovation beyond the technological ones.
Digital collection projects for instance, resulting from local initiative, are
a kind of enterprise allowing actual contribution on an international level.
Such collections, organized in a way that allows information retrieval,
contribute to the expansion of the human knowledge-base while preserving its
heritage and documenting it for the good of the public in general, and researchers
in particular. The role of preservation, in particular, is a classic role of
libraries, as is the development of unique local collections; the innovation
here is in the organization of the information in a database that allows search
and retrieval using rich metadata describes visual items that lack independent
verbal information. In terms of user accessibility, the challenge is developing
a tool for online browsing that able the user to discover, select and request
desired materials (Calhoun, 2007).
is a key word for other new roles the academic library can define itself. A
digital library, existing in the Internet is independent of physical time or
space, offers many opportunities for innovation beyond the technological ones.
Digital collection projects for instance, resulting from local initiative, are
a kind of enterprise allowing actual contribution on an international level.
Such collections, organized in a way that allows information retrieval,
contribute to the expansion of the human knowledge-base while preserving its
heritage and documenting it for the good of the public in general, and researchers
in particular. The role of preservation, in particular, is a classic role of
libraries, as is the development of unique local collections; the innovation
here is in the organization of the information in a database that allows search
and retrieval using rich metadata describes visual items that lack independent
verbal information. In terms of user accessibility, the challenge is developing
a tool for online browsing that able the user to discover, select and request
desired materials (Calhoun, 2007).
Another
way of recreating the academic library is to take an active part in the very
heart of academic work – creation of knowledge – as a distributor and publisher
of new contributions to the body of knowledge, whether through repositories or
through co-publishing of electronic journals. Academic libraries have always
been part of the academic communication system, but with the move to a digital
environment came the opportunity and possibility for even more substantial
support – they “merely” have to accept the challenge. The opportunity
is formed by the need to develop a computerized network environment, capable of
storing and providing access to full-text scientific information to their
consumers, a development that is the infrastructure for repositories – those
institutional or disciplinary archives of research products (Kennan &
Wilson, 2006).
way of recreating the academic library is to take an active part in the very
heart of academic work – creation of knowledge – as a distributor and publisher
of new contributions to the body of knowledge, whether through repositories or
through co-publishing of electronic journals. Academic libraries have always
been part of the academic communication system, but with the move to a digital
environment came the opportunity and possibility for even more substantial
support – they “merely” have to accept the challenge. The opportunity
is formed by the need to develop a computerized network environment, capable of
storing and providing access to full-text scientific information to their
consumers, a development that is the infrastructure for repositories – those
institutional or disciplinary archives of research products (Kennan &
Wilson, 2006).
Ranganathan’s
fifth law encourages the library to not only reclaim the role of mediation, but
also to expand its boundaries and define new goals and roles. Creativity and
innovativeness will allow it to survive in the same way that the gifted survive
the war of existence, as a living growing organism.
fifth law encourages the library to not only reclaim the role of mediation, but
also to expand its boundaries and define new goals and roles. Creativity and
innovativeness will allow it to survive in the same way that the gifted survive
the war of existence, as a living growing organism.
REFERENCES
Calhoun,
K. (2007). “Being A Librarian: Metadata and Metadata specialists in the
twenty first century” ,Library Hi Tech ,Vol. 25, No. 2, pp.174-187
K. (2007). “Being A Librarian: Metadata and Metadata specialists in the
twenty first century” ,Library Hi Tech ,Vol. 25, No. 2, pp.174-187
Darwin,
C. (1996). The origin of species ,Oxford : Oxford University Press
C. (1996). The origin of species ,Oxford : Oxford University Press
Housewright,
R. (2009). Themes of change in corporate libraries: Considerations for academic
libraries Libraries and the Academy, Vol.9 , No.2, pp. 253-271
R. (2009). Themes of change in corporate libraries: Considerations for academic
libraries Libraries and the Academy, Vol.9 , No.2, pp. 253-271
Kennan,
M.A & Wilson, C.S. (2006). “Institutional Repositories: review and
information systems perspective” Library Management, Vol. 27, pp.
236-248
M.A & Wilson, C.S. (2006). “Institutional Repositories: review and
information systems perspective” Library Management, Vol. 27, pp.
236-248
Rubin, R. E. (2004) Foundations of Library and Information Science.
2nd ed. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.
2nd ed. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.