Introduction

As illustrated in the other chapters of this book, readers’ expectations and the collection and development strategies of libraries are changing in this digital age. The move to a greater reliance on electronic information is influencing how society searches for and uses information and is impacting on how libraries and their collections are viewed and used.

In the public arena, the British Government is keen to provide more and more information on the internet. This ranges from local government to health information, and how individuals can get involved in the ‘Big Society’. To this end, the British Government launched two initiatives. The first was the Information Matters strategy, which recognized that ‘More information is being created and held today than ever before. It is the lifeblood of virtually every service we use as citizens, whether run by the public or private sector’ (Knowledge Council 2008, 2). The Information Matters strategy aims to enhance and create standards on how government departments find, use, store and make information available. The strategy promotes the concept that government staff had responsibilities as ‘creators, custodians and users of knowledge and information’ (Knowledge Council, 2008, 3) and that they required skills and tools to meet these responsibilities. The second was the ‘Digital Britain’ initiative. The Digital Britain Interim Report highlighted the need for Britain to develop both the technological and skills infrastructure to succeed in the digital economy. The report argued that for the UK to ‘maximise the digital opportunity, we will need to ensure a population that is confident and empowered to access, use and create digital media’ (DCMS & DBERR, 2009, 66). The report of the Digital Britain Media Literacy Working Group (Ofcom, 2009, 9) divided the skills individuals need to operate in today's society as digital life skills and digital media literacy skills.

In academia, there has been a radical shift from print to electronic information in terms of electronic searching tools as well as the electronic full text of journals and textbooks.