Evidence-based library and information practice; who could argue or take issue with an idea like that? If asked, almost all of us would say that we make rational decisions based on current practice as described in the professional literature, conference presentations/proceedings, or from our conversations with colleagues from our own organization as well as other organizations. After all, who is going to admit to making irrational decisions, employing conjecture-based practice or flying by the seat of their pants in order to get by in the workplace? From the other chapters in this book, one can assess the extent to which EBLIP has had an impact on the recognized LIS subfields: academic libraries, public libraries, school libraries and health sciences libraries (where things began). This chapter will put EBLIP into context for the remaining subfield of special, or non-traditional libraries.

As with any endeavour of this nature, a few definitions are in order so as to establish the scope of what follows. For the purposes of this chapter, a special library may be part of a larger, parent organization; typically has a collection that is focused on one or more topic areas; and has a defined population of customers, so that it may not be available to the general public. Indeed, in a very large organization the special library may be funded by certain segments of the larger organization, so that the library may be available only to those affiliated with those segments of the organization that actively support/fund the library. There are also a couple of generalizations that we can make about special libraries. First, no two special libraries are alike. While most public libraries will offer very similar services and have very similar collections, if this happens with special libraries it is more by chance than by design. Second, special libraries don't have to exist; there are rarely things like accreditation standards or mandates that compel an organization to maintain a special library. Special libraries exist to provide specific services and develop/maintain a specific collection. If the library fails to do this or those services/collections are no longer needed by the organization, that special library will cease to exist.