Special Library : Special Library Types, Characteristics, Services & Organisation by Muhammad Yousuf Ali

This short article about the Special Library. In this short article provide brief answer of the following questions. Special Library is special about its user and collection because special library has special information

1. What is a Special Library?

2. What are the different types of Special Libraries?

3. What are the characteristics of Special Library?

4. What are the services of a Special Library?

5. What are the Important Organization of Special Library?

1. What is a Special Library?

“A special library is a library that provides specialized information resources on a particular subject, serves a specialized and limited library patron, and delivers specialized services to that library patron. Special libraries also exist within academic institutions. These libraries are included as special libraries because they are often funded separately from the rest of the university and they serve a targeted group of users”

2. What are the different types of Special?

Special libraries include Medical Library, law libraries, Military, corporate libraries, government libraries, museum libraries, Media/news libraries, Physics Library, Museum Library and Banking Library and others. Here I discuss two important types of special library Medical and Law Library.

1. Medical Library

Medical libraries are the one of most advance format of special library its known as Hospital Library or Health Library. Because Medical library have a special users like Medical Students, Physician, Medical Researchers, Medical Faculty member it also support to the para medical staff as well Nurses, Medical technician and others

2. Law Library

Law libraries are designed to assist law students, attorneys, judges and their law clerks, and other individuals conducting legal research including members of the general public. Most law libraries are attached to law schools, private law firms, or government courts for the use of the respective institution’s clientele, though some university libraries also maintain a dedicated legal section.

I will describe the each library in details Medical Library, Law library, Media Library and Military Library in separate article.

3. What are the characteristics of Special Library?

There are four characteristics of Special Library

Echelman (1976) identified four characteristics of special libraries :

(i) Parent organization fully support and fulfill the finance need of the special library.

(ii) Assigned the mission of acquiring, organizing and providing access to information and knowledge so as to further the goals of its parent enterprise or organization (where the parent organization may not have direct library objectives).

(iii) Assembling a physical collection of information, knowledge, and/or opinion limited to a single subject or group of subjects and acquire it different format i.e., Journals, conference paper and etc.

(iv) librarian/information professionals are a specialist in the subject(s) covered or format(s) included as per the library domain Medical, Law and etc.

4. What are the services provided of a Special Library?

There are following 11-core service provided by the Special Library

Academic library provide following services to its users

1. Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) services to its library users.

2. Current Awareness Services (CAS) respective update about the current subject domain.  

3. Literature search services either online or within library collection.

4. Document Delivery Services supply of the article and other online document to library user

5. Long Range Reference services to its users

6. Information Literacy Sessions about the information resources and library services

7. Library Instruction And provide instructions about the library usage as well as orientation of the library resources.

8. Research support services

(Citation Management Style APA, Vancoure, MLA, Chicago and etc. Software’s Endnote, Menedely, Zatero,

9. Support in Scholarly Communication

Journal Indexing databases, Impact Factor, find suitable journal for the researchers and scholars and scientist.

10. Indexing and Abstracting Services

11. Translation Services

Many more and any other services which is required by the library client or library users.

5. What are the Important Organization of Special Library?

1. SLA : Special library association

SLA oldest organization and established in 1909. Headquarters are situated at Virginia USA. https://www.sla.org/

If you are interested know more information about Special Library Association

2. ALA : American Library Association

American Library Association have a separate page the training and of special library association you visit the following link where special librarian get the useful information for their respective special library.

https://www.ala.org/educationcareers/libcareers/type/special

3. IFLA: International Federation of Library Association

IFLA is also supporting the various type of special library it has section of Music Library, Law library and law and parliamentary library and medical and health librarianship.

Please visit the IFLA Website to get the information about the special library segment.

Reference

Echelman, S.(1976). Towards the new special library. Library Journal, 101(1), 91-94.

Shumaker, David. “Special Libraries.” Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, 3rd ed., 4966–74. New York: Taylor and Francis, 2011. Shumaker, David. “Special Libraries.” Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, 3rd ed., 4966–74. New York: Taylor and Francis, 2011.

How to Cite this Article

Ali, MY ( 30 Jul 2021). Special Library : Special Library Types, Characteristics, Services & Organisation by Muhammad Yousuf Ali https://profileusuf.wordpress.com/2021/07/30/special-library-special-library-types-characteristics-services-organisation-by-muhammad-yousuf-ali/

Library & Its Type by Muhammad Yousuf Ali

Libraries are considered the hub of information in literary society. Libraries are severed every unit of the society for student there is an Academic Libraries, to serve the general reader there is a public library, to save the special knowledge, research and information special library play their role. National level record National library play very proactive role. In this piece of writing author discuss three main point.

1. Library
2. Library Services
3. Types of Libraries

1. What is Library?

“Library” term derived from the Latin liber, meaning “book.” In Greek and the Romance languages, the corresponding term is bibliotheca. A collection or group of collections of books and/or other print or non print materials organised and maintained for use (reading, consultation, study, research and preparing of Bibliography and etc.).

As per American library Association,

“A library is a collection of resources in a variety of formats that is (1) organized by information professionals or other experts who (2) provide convenient physical, digital, bibliographic, or intellectual access and (3) offer targeted services and programs (4) with the mission of educating, informing, or entertaining a variety of audiences/users (5) and the goal of stimulating individual learning and advancing society as a whole.”

2. What are the basic library services?

There are following Traditional library services provided by the librarian

1. Circulation Services

2. Reference Services

3. Document Delivery Service

4. Reading Room

5. Bibliography Services  

6. Literature Searching

7. Information Literacy

8. Reprography

Online services

1. OPAC

2. Online Resource Access

a. E-books

b. E-Journals

c. e-Database

3. ToC (Table of content)

4.  Digital Repository

5. Discover services 

6. Online Information Searching strategy

7. Referencing Style

8. Plagiarism Software

9. Research support services and many more

3. What are the different types of library by its format?

There are three types of library on the basis of the format

1. Physical library

           Where the library has physical library building

2. e-Library/Online Library/Digital Library

In such library does not have physical collection? But document and collection are maintained in digital format and save on server and provide access through VPN internet and intranet to the library users.

3. Hybrid library

Hybrid libraries are the mixture of both physical library and online library. Libraries are physically exists as well as provide online resources access to library users.     

One the basis of library collection and supporting/parent organizations library can be divided into four types.

1. Academic Library

Academic library further divided into three category, academic libraries run under the any parent organization

            a. School library

b. college library

c. University library

2. Special Library

Special library served under the any special institute like medical, law, military, media and etc.

3. Public Library

Public library serve general readers and run under the local, district, municipal and provincial authority

4. National Library

National library works to serve the national cause and preserve the knowledge and information for the future generation

How to cite this article

Ali, MY (15 July 2021). Library & Its Type. https://profileusuf.wordpress.com/2021/07/15/library-amp-its-type-by-muhammad-yousuf-ali/