Developing a strategic planning framework for information technologies for libraries Available to Purchase

The fundamental structural change caused by information technologies not only affects the technical services of libraries but also shapes the library services that are being offered to the public. Libraries are possibly faced with a much more dangerous kind of competition than the one customary among direct competitors: the substitution competition caused by new information technologies. A first step for supporting the necessary strategic planning and decision‐making management is to collect information concerning assumptions, trends and structures of these technologies. In this context, it is a matter of reducing complexity in recognizing risks and trends in order to support the development of measures in terms of preliminary navigation. Based on structured expert interviews conducted in leading US libraries in the summer of 1991. The first level of the study is the sectors: general management, technologies, library services, value chain and resources. The internal pattern of the sectors consisted of contrasting the status quo, the strategic priority, and the strategically expected difficulties of reaching the goal. The result is that the critical success factors for US libraries in the strategic time frame will be a type of technology management that requires a high degree of integration within the areas of user‐oriented services (marketing) and personnel competence.