Libraries without Walls 4: The Delivery of Library Services to Distant Users

Citation

Cleyle, S. (2003), "Libraries without Walls 4: The Delivery of Library Services to Distant Users", The Electronic Library, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 68-69. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470310462506

This book is the result of the fourth Libraries Without Walls conference, held in the Greek Islands in September 2001. The editors reported in their introduction that this conference saw a change in attitude towards remote services that are now mainstream and fundamental to the services operated by all types of libraries.

The contributors for this resource were predominately from Great Britain, with other contributions from the USA, Greece, Finland, The Netherlands, Denmark, and Canada. The keynote paper from Elizabeth Burge from the University of New Brunswick reported that distance education is continuing to change and we are continuing to rise to the challenge. The key, she suggests, is to stay on the bleeding edge and reflect on the long‐term factors that bring our library services to the computer screens of our patrons.

The book is divided into seven themes: Libraries and virtual learning environments; Online enquiry services for remote users; Virtual libraries and National initiatives; User behaviour and user training in the distributed environment; The public library’s role in serving distant users; Key technology issues in delivering services to distant users. All papers are well researched with the majority falling into the “how we do it” category. The British Council project with remote libraries/information centres, the chapter on services for visually impaired users, and papers reviewing initiatives in different countries and institution types make this a fascinating read full of interesting solutions and choices for any library offering remote services.

Sometimes proceedings have a tendency to lose some of the meaning when they make the transition from presentation to book. However, the editors have done a fine job. The images and charts are clear, the papers well referenced and the index is exhaustive. This book is highly recommended for all libraries regardless of scale.