Briefly reviews the nature of the information society and discusses its revolutionary aspects. Examines the main characteristics of the new information revolution in relation to the UK Government’s expressed policy, stressing network infrastructure, content creation and national IT training. Illustrates the nature of changes by some new developments within Croydon libraries: CD‐ROM network, public access training resources, Croydon Online. A discussion of lifelong learning leads to examination of the function of the public library and its greatly strengthened future role as an information and enabling force within the community.
Chris Batt is Borough Libraries and Museum Officer. He can be contacted at the London Borough of Croydon, Libraries, Museum and Arts, Central Library, Croydon Clocktower, Katharine Street, Croydon CR9 1 ET, UK (fax: + (44-181) 2531004).
The Croydon Libraries Internet Project is providing customers with access to the Internet, firstly by using Internet resources to answer reference enquiries and secondly by allowing direct access to a controlled (and trained) user group. The main aim of the project is to benefit other public library authorities who are considering the introduction of Internet access, by assessing its value for public libraries.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.