Interconnected and Innovative Libraries: Factors Tying Libraries More Closely Together

This article considers the many developments in technology and practice that are making libraries more connected and interdependent. It looks at new integrated online services and reviews the increasing importance of both formal and informal standards. Global centralized Web services are discussed. The relationships between information industry companies and libraries are considered. Virtual reference services and far-reaching digitization projects are explored. The article concludes that close cooperation is allowing libraries to take their services to new levels and is key to the continued innovation of those services. Introduction Library consortia, organized at the local, state, national, and international levels, are what we most commonly think of when we discuss library resource-sharing networks. Library consortia—for shared catalog services, interlibrary lending, document delivery, and shared electronic licensing— are growing in infl uence and importance. However, library communities also work together in a variety of ways, both formal and informal, that go beyond, or underpin, consortium activities. What follows is a consideration of the many different ways in which library communities are becoming more closely interconnected. The inherent capabilities of networked technology have presented libraries with opportunities to take their services to new levels. Libraries have been affected by general trends in computer technology. Libraries also share the enormous challenges of integrating new skills and methods, facing new sources of competition, and adapting to the rapid pace of technological change. The 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition Interconnected and Innovative Libraries: Factors Tying Libraries More Closely Together