WILIP make a difference? Practitioner perspectives of the challenges facing libraries and information services

Abstract

Resource commissioned the Wider Information and Library Issues Project (WILIP) to discover what challenges are facing the library and information domain, what needs to be done to tackle them, and what role Resource should take in helping to develop and promote strategies for action. In the initial consultation phase of WILIP practitioners identified a number of generic themes. Improved access for users was the primary goal with better advocacy, more effective funding - especially to sustain initiatives - workforce development and building a strategic framework as the key means of achieving it. Many respondents believe better focused, very practical research is essential to provide a coherent body of evidence to support the case for developing libraries and information services as a major component of the Knowledge Society.