Key Issues and Opportunities Information technology offers local and global opportunities for the provision of information, and Government libraries must work closely with IT experts. The costs involved must not be overlooked, including the costs of information which must be paid for as well as the cost of the technology. The importance of developing skills in IT must be recognized. Many Government departments remain slow to acknowledge the need for professional staffing in their libraries. The increasing computerization of government information and publications is to be welcomed and encouraged.
Much material is still largely in text format and as such is easier to read off-screen.
Printed material also has strengths in terms of browsing and the wider overview. While Government librarians are ideologically prepared for the information society, the appropriate resources and staffing structures are not available to all librarians in this sector. The Information Authority could have responsibility for creating and maintaining appropriate inter-relations between departments and with other agencies and organizations, maintaining publication standards, and identifying information needs. A possible model is the State Information Service in Denmark. An Information Authority could assign responsibility and resources for national bibliographic control and indexing of all literature in all major sectoral areas.