Web-Based Services: A Transforming Revolution in Modern Libraries

Many libraries have discovered the advantages of having a presence on the internet and have successfully addressed their objectives by integrating their website as part of their daily functioning. It is a challenge in front of all libraries to accept new technologies and offer new services due to many constraints like funds, trained staff, technologies, space, etc. To help the readers get a better and complete understanding of the topic, a total of 59 different web-based services are shortlisted and mentioned in this book with few examples of how libraries are offering these services. The book not only focuses on web-based library services, but also on the success of quality enhancement, i.e. web-based best practices. This is a unique work where the top libraries from all parts of the world are studied and findings are not restricted to a specific country, region, or area. In this book the Webometric Ranking is used for the very first time for selecting university libraries in library and information science field. The main objectives of this book are to give the current status of online library services of universities in the world; to give an overview of analysis of the web based library services; the best practices and technology used by these libraries; to promote web presence and web-based services in university libraries; to correlate the rankings of world university with their library rankings, which has not been done earlier; to improve developing countries libraries and to suggest the best practices to be followed by university libraries from developing countries to change their profiles into more modern information centres with higher education potential. This book can be used as a guide to web-based services and best practices top world university libraries are offering. These web-based services are classified in four clusters depending on their scope and type as follows 1. Web-based Bibliographical Services, 2. Web-based Patron Education Services, 3. Web-based Patron Communication Services, and 4. Web-based Publishing Platform for patrons. The details of library web-based best practices offered by top world universities are also covered. Library web-based services and best practices are explained in this book with a good number of examples and screenshots which will help the library professionals to understand and implement these services in their libraries very easily and effectively. This book would be useful to library professionals all over the world, LIS students, and administrators of educational institutes. The web-based services mentioned in this book will help the university libraries to improve their rankings at global level.