Guidelines for Libraries of Government Departments - IFLA

Section 7
Organisation and Access Management for
Physical and Electronic Collections
7.0 Preface
Sound management of the materials in a government library is essential in
optimising its value and usefulness. Management is based on organisational
skills and involves identifying, indexing, cataloguing and labelling materials in a
way that will lead to efficient retrieval of content. The library management skills
which are needed stem from the best practices in various sectors of library
disciplines including records management, database design, computer
technology, archives, preservation, and administration.
7.1 Access vs. Preservation
Access and preservation are two important services provided by government
libraries, but the two have a complex relationship with each other. Providing
access to information can interfere with a library’s efforts to preserve that
information; alternately, some efforts to increase access – such as creating a
catalogue – can also provide increased preservation opportunities.
Just as access and preservation enjoy a complex and dynamic relationship, so
too do paper media and electronic media – often called “old” and “new” media.
Increasingly, governments are providing online access to some documents and
forms. According to a study conducted by Brown University 3 , 29% of government
agencies around the world offered online services in 2006, up from 21% in 2004
and 12% in 2002. Although some governments may offer some services online,
all government libraries must still collect and provide access to paper collections.
The balance between offering access to online and paper collections is one that
every government library must negotiate. Some factors that may help
government librarians decide the proper balance between old and new media for
their library are:
• The amount and kinds of publications put out by their government
• The cost of acquiring and providing access to old or new media
• The extent to which the library wants to disseminate government information
beyond the library’s walls.
Government librarians often act as both preservationists and access providers.
This section examines core aspects of providing access to government
information; Section 10 examines core aspects of preserving information. Just
as government librarians balance access to and preservation of information, so
too can they find a balance between paper collections and online or electronic
information.
3 [http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2006-07/06-007.html]
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