| Abstract: | Abstract In order to provide optimum service in a world increasingly awash with information and technological change all set against a backdrop of escalating costs and static or declining budgets, librarians must make a choice. Based on a careful analysis of the information preferences and needs of their clientele, librarians will be driven by economics and demand to decide whether their particular library will become primarily an archive of materials in traditional formats or a gateway to the world of electronically networked information. Which direction a library takes will have a great impact on interlibrary services. In an “archival” environment, external access to information will be deemphasized and interlibrary services will see cutbacks. In an “access” environment, interlibrary services must be genuinely recognized as vital to the library's mission and must be allocated truly sufficient resources to meet what will be an even greater demand. |
