Libraries Without Walls 3

Citation

Freeman, M. (2002), "Libraries Without Walls 3", New Library World, Vol. 103 No. 3, pp. 116-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2002.103.3.116.4

Hang about long enough and the same things come round again, locked onto the great wheel of life – or is it déjà vu already? Lifelong learning has never really gone away from the professional scene, and now, with individual learning accounts, UfI, continuing professional development and the vastness and richness of the Internet it looks like lifelong learning is going to be flavour of the decade (again!) – and libraries have a key role to play in this new game.

Librarians have always been concerned with lifelong learning and it is heartening to note how this excellent, well written and well produced book from the Library Association’s publishing stable (or should it be CILIP Publishing now?) adds to the body of professional knowledge so appropriately. Headed up by the eminent Professor Peter Brophy, the three editors from Manchester Metropolitan University have selected wisely and presciently from the 1999 conference those papers giving a particular illumination to the whole sector of lifelong learning. With “educational inclusion” being the hot number with DfES at the moment it is gratifying to note the inclusion of Watkins and Ebdon’s excellent paper on the quality of information provision to visually impaired people and McKnight and McCarthy’s helpful account of services to distant learners in Victoria, Australia run by Deakin University. Instilling good, productive information skills in the lifelong learner is a vital task that librarians can – and should – do; “information literacy” could well be our big new field to exploit.

Other intriguing and thought provoking papers are those by Nankivell and Dalton of the University of Central England on “People flows” on how people use different types of libraries, and Fletcher’s helpful paper on Web page design. The book’s emphasis on the world view is well supported by good topical papers on how several other countries are approaching the challenges of lifelong learning and libraries.

Perez and Enrech’s article on the Open University of Catalonia gives a good, clear account of this innovative university’s role in lifelong learning provision, and Germeraad and Brander’s interesting account of Rotterdam Public Library’s effective responses to the challenges poised by societal changes in The Netherlands is well worth reading.

Like so many professional tomes nowadays the book is awash with acronyms ranging from FIDDO to VITAL. Nevertheless, this is a good, well written work with many thoughtful contributions – not least Brophy’s observation on the future for LIS being one of hybrid libraries – a mix of electronic and traditional services operating in tandem. Well produced, with good references and helpful, relevant Web site addresses, this book will provide stimulating and helpful information to a wide range of LIS professionals working in the academic and public library sectors.