Development of Libraries and Information Centres in the Electronic Age: a Developing Country Perspective

Many libraries and information centres in the developing countries are still far behind the libraries in developed countries in the transition from traditional to electronic libraries. They are expected to continue acquiring print material, while simultaneously seeking out electronic sources. However, few developing countries such as India, Kenya and Thailand are competing with those in the developed world in the transition from traditional to electronic libraries. The libraries in these countries are seriously addressing the issue of electronic information resources acquisition keeping in view the meager economic resources. The paper discusses the challenges posed by the accelerating pace of change in the world of information especially in developing countries and stresses the importance, of managing the change by focusing on collection development (inclusive of electronic resources), training and development skills of the information professionals and also library users. It also examines and provides general views on how libraries and information centres should approach the situation in order to accomplish and acquire at least simple electronic resources while taking into consideration the library and information policy.