Publisher's Synopsis
This text aims to fill a void in the literature concerning library and information sciences with its issue-oriented introduction to current matters in library and information science. It is intended both as an introductory text for graduate level students in library and information science, and as an issue-oriented survey of contemporary issues in the profession.;Bruce Shuman examines the role of the library in society and provides a history of libraries worldwide from antiquity to the present day. The work devotes separate chapters to various types of libraries (governmental, academic, public, school, special) discussing the goals, audience, funding sources, services, collections, and issues and problems (public service and policy, organisation and staffing, legal and ethical matters, automation, and professional issues) are considered in separate chapters. Shuman has also written "Libraries of the Future".
