Online Information Services in the Social Sciences - From practice to need, from need to service

Hardback  250pp  ISBN 1843340704      £55.00

Paperback  250pp  ISBN 1843340690      £39.00

Information professionals are increasingly responsible not only for running traditional information and library services but also for providing an online presence for their organisation. This book shows how best practice in delivering online information services should be based on actual user needs and behaviour. A series of case studies provide real life examples of how social science information is being used in the community. The book then draws on these case studies to outline the main issues facing service providers: such as usability, metadata and management. The book concludes with a look to the future and how both technological and organisational changes will shape online information services.

Key features

• Case studies show how - in practical terms - information science issues relate to users' behaviour
• The book is written by experts in the field, with each chapter drawing on both case studies and extensive experience in the field
• The book can be used as a detailed reference or an overview

The authors

The contributors to the book are based at the Institute for Learning and Research Technology, University of Bristol, UK and are responsible for developing and running national online services. The book is edited by Dr Jacobs, an experienced information professional who has worked both in traditional libraries and on national projects and online services.

Contents

Section 1: case studies, describing how information is used in the health, government, academic, trades union, media and other sectors, with particular attention to online information practices.
Section 2: drawing the lessons from the case studies.
Section 3: the major issues facing service providers, including selection, metadata, usability, accessibility, management, and building user skills.
Section 4: the future, covering both technological developments such as the semantic web and portals, and organisational issues such as the changing role of the information professional.