All these stakeholders now have much to say about the role of libraries and the place of resource sharing. It is thus important for the community itself to know what changes are taking place. To initiate the information gathering and the consultation, a set of questionnaires was sent to some 400 Canadian libraries and library groups. The brainstorming was based on an informal set of questions asked of all the participants. Interestingly enough, a number of the identified issues demonstrated the ongoing concerns of libraries related to the traditional functions of resource sharing.
Resource sharing involves cooperative action by at least two libraries or library systems.
Regular functions include collections development, cooperative cataloguing, location, interlibrary loan and document delivery services based on union catalogues and approved guidelines, and reference and referral work based on directories and service agreements. More current concerns identified by the group focused on licensing electronic products, resource discovery and navigation, electronic collections developed through digitization and the creation of new content, funding, advocacy and training. In other words, the range of challenges encompasses technical, policy and service issues. The focus is on building a sustainable library service at a time when the maintenance and upgrade of the technical infrastructure, the ongoing costs of telecommunications, the costs of staff and user training and the continued need for both traditional and electronic content are issues of survival. Users are turning to public libraries for the expertise, collections and services libraries have developed over the years, and for access to the new services, collections and skills that the Internet promotes.