Unit 2: Resource Sharing - Concept and Need

1) What is the philosophy behind the concepts of resource sharing in Libraries? 
The philosophy behind the concept of resource sharing in libraries is "access" to information resources available in the libraries. It is also based on the concept of "equivalence" which means libraries should not only receive but should also give.

2) List out the objectives of resource sharing 
The objectives of resource sharing are to:

• provide access to information resources irrespective of geographical location;
• reduce all round cost;
• avoid duplication of many, manpower and material; satisfy wider variety of users;
• develop specialised area of collection building.

3) What are the basic requirements of resource sharing 
Resource sharing requires to reach an agreement on: a) type of material to share, b) acquisition policy, e) circulation policy, d) production of union catalogue with uniformity and standardisation for bibliographic control, and e) co-operative cataloguing and maintenance of up-to-date catalogues etc.

4) Mention some of the existing national and local library networks programmes in India. 
The existing national Library Network Programme is named as INFLIBNET (Information and Library Network) at Ahmedabad, besides there are some local library networks such as Delhi Library Network (DELNET), Calcutta Library Network (CALIBNET) etc.

KEY WORDS 
Automation: The organisation of machine handling of routines or operations, requiring minimal human intervention.
Document Delivery Service: The process of supplying the relevant documents on a specific topic to the user.
Electronic Mail: The transfer of messages, memoronda, letters, reports, etc. between individuals or organisations by the use of Videotex, online, online networks.
Gateway: A system which permits users of one computer system to access another computer.
Inter- Library Loan (ILL): A library activity which lends on loan documents required by other library users.
Network: A system of physically separate computers with telecommunication links allowing the resources of each participating machine to be showed by each of the other members. If such a network is used for sharing library esources it is known as Library Resource Sharing Network.
OPAC: On line Public Access Catalogue (an automated catalogue system stored in machine-readable from and accessed online by the library clientele via a VDU employing a User-friendly software.
Resource Sharing: A sort of agreement amongst participating libraries wherein each participant is willing to spare its resources with other members and in turn it is privileged to share the resources of other participant members as and when the need arises.