ICT and institutional change at the British Library

Bibliographic Data

ID20508189
AuthorsMartin Harris (University of Essex, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume8
Issue2
Pages217-233
Publication date2005-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInformation Communication & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-118X • E-ISSN: 1468-4462
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691180500146342
OpenAlexW2059726697
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited13

The new information and communications technologies (ICTs) have stimulated a wide-ranging debate on the future of learning institutions in the age of the ‘network society’. Recent academic commentary has tended to equate globalized information networks with commodification, the delocalization of learning, and threats to the public service traditions of higher education. This paper investigates the extensive programme of digitisation now under way at the British Library (BL), one of the world's largest knowledge providers and a key player in the UK research libraries network. The findings presented in the paper do not reflect the belief that the spread of global information networks will undermine the public service remit of large knowledge providers such as the BL – but the evidence does show that these providers are becoming more connected to other players in the digital environment, with inherently complex, and potentially far-reaching implications for the production of knowledge in the emergent ‘network society’

Business · Commodification · Economics · Economy · Information and Communications Technology · Knowledge management · Knowledge production · Political science · Public relations · Service provider · Sociology · Computer Science · Knowledge Management and Sharing · Library Science and Administration · Library Science and Information Literacy · Marketing

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