The Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE (discussed in the
February 9, 1996 Scout Report) has added the first in what will be a series of library literature, Michael Buckland's
Redesigning Library Services: A Manifesto. Buckland argues against what he sees as library literature's over-emphasis on technology for technology's sake, "on means, rather than on ends, and tactics rather than strategy." Though electronic library management has certainly changed and grown since
Redesigning Library Services was first published (1992), the book's primary emphasis on the goals and purposes of library services still serves as a relevant touchstone. Buckland's book is meant to countervail against the fact that "there is so much more written, for example, on how to build collections than on the roles that collections play." The text can be read online, downloaded (.pdf), or searched for keywords (Note that searches return only links to chapters, not passages of text).
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