Modern libraries need to respond to many challenges and thus must constantly evolve. The series Bibliotheks- und Informationspraxis [Library and Information Practice] takes on new issues and questions and it aims, by contributing information and practical experience, to optimize the operations and services of libraries and comparable institutions.
The series is intended for all who work in libraries or other areas of information dissemination.
This volume is intended as an assessment of the situation of the specialized world of parliamentary and public authority libraries. It brings together contributions from libraries of various sizes, sponsors (federal, state) and institutions (parliaments, ministries, courts, authorities) and describes their current challenges as well as their approaches to address them.
Its central theme is digital change. How does it affect parliamentary and public authority libraries, which business areas are affected?
What adjustments are there, e.g. in acquisitions with regard to print vs. online? Are there any new services being offered in terms of use/customer acquisition and others that have been abolished because there was no longer any demand for them?
How do parliamentary and government libraries function in the "post-COVID" period, what effects do the home office regulations of the institutions have on the internal organization and the relationship between online vs. face-to-face use?
The articles in this volume are based on these and similar key questions. Taken together, they provide an insight into the structural challenges facing parliamentary and public authority libraries and the possibilities for successfully addressing them.
Holger Scheerer, Bibliothek des Deutschen Bundestages, Berlin.
