Special library
A special library is a term for a library that is neither an academic, school, public or national library. Special libraries include corporate libraries, law libraries, medical libraries, museum libraries, news libraries, and nonprofit libraries.These libraries are not usually open to the public. Special libraries are also sometimes known as information centers. They are generally staffed by librarians.
Special libraries often have a more specific clientele than libraries in traditional educational or public settings, and deal with more specialized kinds of information. They are developed to support the mission of their sponsoring organization and their collections and services are more targeted and specific to the needs of their clientele.
Special libraries are "special" in their collection, clientle/users and service. All of them provide pinpointed, exhaustive and expeditious service to their users. For example, in a research institute's library, the scientists may not be having time to visit the library for information gathering. In such a situation the apt information and not the document should be supplied to the users. Current Awareness Service[CAS] and Selective Decemination of Information[SDI] are very common.
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[edit] Professional Associations
One major professional association for special libraries is the Special Libraries Association, which has chapters in Canada, the US, and Europe. The UK based Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and the Australian Library and Information Association also have focus groups devoted to special libraries. More special library associations around the world can be found in the List of Library Associations.
[edit] Corporate Libraries
A corporate library is a collection of resources contained within a corporate entity. Corporate libraries help to organize and disseminate information throughout the organization for its own benefit. They often support areas in the company relating to finance, administration, marketing and technical specialization. In terms of size, they are seldom very large, and most library departments employ less than five full time staff.[1] One major issue in corporate libraries relates to the difficulty of putting a dollar value on the intangible services the library provides to its parent company. The information services provided by corporate libraries save employees time, and can aid in competitive intelligence work.[2] However, neither of these values can be easily measured, a fact that is further complicated by the understanding that knowledge may be useful immediately upon acquisition, or at any unspecified time in the future.[3] For these reasons, the budgets of corporate libraries are often challenged.
[edit] Law Libraries
- See law libraries
[edit] Medical Libraries
[edit] Museum Libraries
Museum Libraries are libraries within museums.
[edit] News Libraries
Libraries which maintain collections of news articles and news related items.
[edit] One Person Libraries
[edit] References
- ^ Prusak, Laurence, and Matarazzo, James M. "The Value of Corporate Libraries: The 1995 Survey." SpeciaList 18, no. 1 (1995): 9–15
- ^ Keyes, Alison M. "The Value of the Special Library: Review and Analysis." Special Libraries 86, no. 3 (1995): 172–87
- ^ Edgar, William B. "Corporate Library Resource Selection: Exploring Its Support for Corporate Core Competencies". The Library Quarterly Vol. 77, No. 4 (October 2007), pp. 385-408. doi:10.1086/520996
- Cloonan, Michele V.; Berger, Sidney E. "The Continuing Development of Special Collections Librarianship", in: Library Trends. 52, no. 1, (2003): 9 ISSN: 0024-2594
- Scammell, Alison Handbook of Special Librarianship and Information Work. London: Aslib, ©1997. ISBN 0-85142-398-1
