DIGITAL ERA AND LIBRARY SERVICES: WHAT SHOULD LIBRARIANS DO?

Abstract

Librarians are professionals trained in the acquisition, organization, retrieval, preservation and dissemination of information resources. Librarians also offer helping hand for users to find the required piece of information and to use it for personal and professional purposes. With the coming of the digital era, a lot of information and communication technologies are being introduced in to the libraries. These technologies are very helpful in effective management of the library resources, services and user’s needs. However, it has come with so many implications for the librarians, who are the library managers. Hence, the librarians need to adopt to remain relevant in this digital era or risk being displaced by other players in the highly competitive information industry. This paper therefore, examines factors demanding for adoption of digital environment in library operations; advantages of technologies in library; some of the library technologies in the digital era that the librarians need to adopt to in the digital library environment, major challenges faced by the librarians in adopting to the technologies; and the implications of the new technologies in the library. The paper then, concluded that librarians have to redesign their positions to meet the evolving needs of users in order to remain relevant in this digital era. To this end, the paper suggests among others that the librarians should master how to use the web; act as resource person for information products; and possess technology skills. These could be achieved through constant training of librarians through organised workshops, conferences, seminars and lectures that are centre mostly on information and communication technologies and their applications to library operations. Keywords: D