Keynote 1: Information and Library Services in a Connected World

Once upon the time when information was difficult to find and hard to access, libraries and other information agencies were the key curators of information resources and the gatekeepers of information access. They were places that people visited to satisfy their information needs -- borrow a book, examine a document, find a piece of data. The collections were selected and developed mainly with the local users in mind and with expectations that the level of service should be comparable to the customs of the specific organizational and geographic environment. Information and communication technology revolution together with Internet forever changed the dynamics of traditional information production, organization, access and sharing. In the globally connected information environments users' information behavior has been transformed from resource hungry and dependent consumers to active creators and disseminators. How is this change affecting information and library services? What aspects of their functions are being transformed and which ones seem to remain unchanged? How are these transformational processes evolving under the unique national, regional and local conditions? Exploration of these questions is critical for all library and information professionals if their organizations were to continue engaging users with relevant and meaningful services. Novel models of shared and collaborative involvement among end-users, non-profit information organizations and commercial information providers need to be developed to ensure seamless information experience in a connected world. These models will have successful implementations only if they are scalable, sufficiently flexible, and transportable to diverse global communities.