Next Generation Libraries: Emerging Technologies, Community Engagement & Future Librarianship

As information professionals, we live in the age of digital information. Recent studies have shown that there is a drastic change in user demands needed to support the teaching, learning, and research activities of the library profession. The desire for physical library collections is in decline. Even though there is high demand for internet access and allied resources, there are certain user categories like traditional resources and demand for the physical space in the library. In such conditions, libraries may reconsider their current spaces and future renovations to reflect these usage trends to meet the changing requirements of the user community. In this book, library professionals from different regions of the world have contributed papers on how Next Generation Libraries (NGL) can be useful for the library users. This book will focus on the following themes such as (a) New Trends & Technologies, (b) Collaboration & Community engagement, and (c) Future Librarianship, Library Spaces & Services. In this age of rapidly changing technologies, it is essential for all library professionals to keep abreast of the latest developments, emerging trends, & techniques in the era of Next Generation Libraries (NGL). Certain issues and challenges faced in these areas need to be taken care of with proper solutions. It helps in understanding the various issues and challenges faced by the library professionals and attempts to provide the probable solutions to adopt in their workplaces. Next Generation Libraries (NGL) will also showcase the challenges and solutions faced by the academic libraries which can be useful for the library policy makers to frame policies to provide value added services to its users.