Future Libraries

Providing the network infrastructure for public libraries is only the start. The infrastructure that will be put in place when the Bid succeeds is only the means to improve access to a new world of information, at a community as well as at national and international levels.

Below are a set of links which give an impression of what this new, networked public library system might look like in 5 years time:

General Library Sites

• Singapore National Library
  • This site allows a library user to reserve books, renew books, suggest books the library should buy, have reference questions answered by e-mail, request books to be delivered to your home and even see the front pages of new books. This site shows what can be achieved by making a library catalogue available over the Internet.
• Arhus Public Library, Denmark
  • A nicely presented site that provides lots of information about the library, its services and the community (in Danish). It includes a WWW site with information for immigrants and refugees in Arhus (in English).

Community Information

• Islington Public Library, UK
  • Islington is a public library which has made its community information database available on the Internet. It is a good example of a traditional service being made more widely accessible.
• Hertfordshire Public Library Service, UK
  • Hertfordshire have also made their community information database available on the WWW as well as their library catalogue.

Children's Services

• Mount Arlington Public Library, USA
  • This library has created a hypertext tale for kids about the Raccoons from Mars. To quote the site "They're raccoons, they're from Mars, they wash their food".
• Boston Public Library, USA
  • This library has an extensive children's Internet site and has organised many WWW resources into the format of a 'homework help' page.

Local History Services

• Leeds Public Library, UK
  • Leeds has been making images from its local history photographic collection available on the WWW. It is also possible to send someone a Webcard using one of these images.

Organising the WWW

• Morton Grove Public Library, USA
  • Morton Grove have created a 'Webrary' of the best resources on the Internet classified according to the Dewey Classification System.
• Molndahl Public Library, Sweden
  • Molndahl library has created a Systematic Internet Catalogue using the Swedish library classification system.

Putting on Exhibitions

• Los Angeles Public Library, USA
  • Los Angeles Public Library is using the WWW to mount an exhibition about the rivers of LA.
• Charleston Public Library, USA
  • This library has developed a online multimedia exhibition about the history of Charleston.

Pointers to Further Public Library Internet Sites

• UKOLN's Public Library Pages
  • These pages provide links out to public library research, projects and papers that are available on the WWW.
• Robert and Sheila Harden's UK Public Library Pages
  • The Hardens' pages provide a full listing of UK public libraries with WWW pages.
• Project Earl
  • Project Earl aims to provide access to elecronic resources in libraries. EARL is a consortium of UK Public Library Authorities and other organisations which aim to make available the advantages of the Internet to all library users and other members of the public

© Information for All
For questions or comments, please contact informall@la-hq.org.uk
URL:http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/informall/future/
Last revised 31-Jan-1997

Website by Sarah Ormes and Isobel Stark of UKOLN