Australian Academic Legal Information Centres: Issues for the Law Library of 2001

• Main Author: NAUMCZYK, Elizabeth
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 1992
• Subjects: Law; Library and Information Science
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/library_research/82; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1083&context=library_research
• Institution: Singapore Management University

By the year 2001, Australian academic law libraries will face different challenges than those of today, especially as an increase in library users and a growth in the volume of legal literature can be confidently predicted. The question is to identify these challenges and to define ways to deal with them. Already, academic libraries with limited and decreasing funds, and under-resourced law schools in Australia, are having difficulty coping with the costs of running law libraries in their present form. A central issue will be the availability of funds to cope with given changes, including how to redirect these funds effectively in light of developments in information technology. Another key question relates to the policy adopted by universities regarding central versus branch libraries. How will changes in information technology affect the thinking of administrators on this topic? Indeed, the role of information technology, which can be expected to change faster than any of the forementioned issues, may be the dominant factor. How to plan within this climate is a challenge for which librarians and the legal profession may well need to access a crystal ball. These factors demand analysis.