Network-Accessible Resources and the Redefinition of Technical Services.

Abstract

States that as use of networks becomes more innovative and widespread in higher education libraries, current approaches to the organization of network‐accessible resources reveal flaws. Moving forward from the recommendations of the Follett Report, and adopting an approach which seeks to redefine conceptually conventional practices and standards the study examines, from a technical services perspective, issues and approaches relating to the development of existing cataloguing rules and practices, and machine‐readable standards, and proposes these standards as the most effective means of enhancing accessibility to electronic resources. Characterizes the current period as one of organizational, technological and conceptual transition, and addresses the broader issue of academic network‐accessibility in the local, regional, national and international context. Additionally, identifies the challenges to and implications for conventional, and future, technical services operations of these trends.