In the previous section an attempt was made to clarify the role and value of libraries and related information agencies in South Africa, with special reference to developmental goals such as those of the Growth and Development Strategy. The question that now needs to be addressed is why specifically there should be a national library. What does a national library contribute that makes it an essential component of the national library and information services system? In the paragraphs that follow, this question is answered with reference to two points of departure:
3.1 The clients of the national library
Who are the clients of the national library? The following broad categories can be considered:
3.1.1 Individual users as clients of the national library
This category comprises individual end-users, i.e. persons who use the services of the national library directly. They could include:
In a fully-developed library and information services system in a developed country, users in most of the above categories would have access to libraries and information centres appropriate to their needs: school libraries or media centres, university, technikon or college libraries, public and community libraries, and special libraries serving companies, professional practices, research institutions and government departments.
In poor, developing countries the national library may be called upon to serve all these needs since the other types of libraries may be rudimentary or non-existent. However, this is not a desirable situation, since (a) the national library's services will only be accessible to those living in or near the capital and (b) its role in meeting these needs may inhibit the development of more appropriate library and information services for students and the general public.
South Africa is in the fortunate position that structures exist at the provincial and municipal government levels to serve the needs of school pupils, students and the general public - categories (a) and (b). Each province has a provincial library service and a school media centre or school library service. (In some provinces these are combined.) At present their networks of library facilities do not extend to all the schools and communities. However, it would be counter-productive (and possibly unconstitutional) for a national library to move in to fill the gaps by attempting to deliver services directly to the various communities and schools. It would be more appropriate for the provincial and local government library structures to be further developed to meet these needs. In the mean time, the national library can selectively supplement the local library facilities to meet information needs which cannot be satisfied there. More importantly, it should seek to promote the development of provincial and municipal structures by expanding its cooperation with them.
Tertiary level students - category (c) - are entitled to use the academic libraries of universities, technikons and colleges, which should suffice for needs at least at the undergraduate level. More advanced postgraduate students would fall into category (e).
Professional and advanced users - categories (d) and (e) - also normally have at their disposal institutional library facilities such as academic, research and special libraries. However, the more advanced their work, the greater and more esoteric the range of information material they need to consult. Therefore they have a legitimate claim to the services of the national library, although in many countries some form of selection is practised by the library . This is done by cards to applicants whose need for access has been established, usually on the recommendation of leading scholars or scientists.
Thus in countries with highly developed library and information services, the national library largely restricts direct end-user services to people working at an advanced level or who need material that is only available in the national library. For other categories of users the national library is a library of last resort.
South Africa falls between the two extremes outlined above. Our national library should concentrate on the needs of more advanced users. On the other hand, we must avoid the danger of isolating the national library from the people by an elitist approach. The national library must reach out to the people in general through (a) indirect services (rendered through other libraries and institutions), (b) services aimed at strengthening service delivery capacity in provincial, local and institutional libraries, and (c) outreach activities such as public lectures and performances and on-site and travelling exhibitions.
Thus the challenge to the national library in South Africa is to be relevant to development and to carry out essential national library functions without alienating members of grass-roots communities. The national library should not neglect its essential functions by venturing into areas for which it is poorly equipped and where it will compete with provincial and municipal institutions which need to be built up. On the other hand transformation requires that we go beyond the mere restatement of traditional library functions.
3.1.2 Libraries and other institutions as clients of the national library
In most countries the national library is immediately accessible only to people living in or near the capital and to those who can afford to travel to it. Therefore the national library serves the majority of the population indirectly, through libraries and other institutions serving them. In this context the national library's role is to improve service delivery by local and institutional libraries by meeting their needs for support (or infrastructural) services such as the following:
3.1.2.1 Collection building
The national library supports the nation's libraries in various ways:
3.1.2.2 Bibliographic control
This includes, for example:
3.1.2.3 Resource sharing
The national library in many countries plays a pivotal role in making possible the sharing of the country's information resources by:
3.1.2.4 Preservation
Since the national library has a special responsibility for the long-term preservation of the nation's published documentary heritage, it normally has excellent conservation facilities which should be used not only for work on its own collections but also for :
3.1.2.5 Information supply
The national library must:
3.1.2.6 International liaison
Following from its central role in the national system of library and information services, the national library serves as a focal point for international liaison in respect of librarianship and information work in the country, especially in respect of:
3.1.2.7 Leadership
The various activities referred to above do not only involve the production of tools and the delivery of information, but also leadership. Apart from leadership in respect of technical innovation, systems development, standardisation and training (which call for a corps of high quality staff who are leaders in their fields), the national library must:
The above points illustrate that one of the main reasons why countries establish and fund national libraries is that such libraries support the other libraries and information agencies in their countries by the provision of infrastructural and other services. In this context the justification for a national library depends firstly on the value of library and information services generally to the country (as discussed in section 2 above), and secondly on the extent to which the national library effectively and efficiently supports these services.
3.1.3 The book trade and related industries as clients of the national library
National libraries serve the needs of publishers, booksellers and related enterprises in the following ways:
3.1.3.1 Bibliographic control
They create bibliographic records describing publishers' products and disseminate this information through the published national bibliography and online databases. In this way the publishers' products are publicised both domestically and internationally.
They allocate international standard book numbers (ISBNs) and international standard serials numbers (ISSNs) to books and periodicals published in the country. These standard numbers are widely used for purposes of ordering, stock control etc., and as the basis for bar codes used in the retail trade.
On the basis of legal deposit, they compile national statistics on the publication of books, periodicals and other publications. These statistics are disseminated nationally and internationally and are a basic requirement for market research in the book industries.
3.1.3.2 Preservation
They ensure that at least one copy of everything published in the country is preserved for posterity - something many publishers, subject to commercial pressures, company mergers, etc., are unable to ensure themselves.
3.1.4 The state as client of the national library
The national library serves the needs of the state through the following activities:
3.1.4.1 Heritage
The national library provides a comprehensive and authoritative repository of the nation's published documentary output, including the state's official publications.
It serves as a coordinator and watchdog (monitoring agency) to guard those collections that form part of the national documentary heritage but which are not under state control. (For example, the national library should be in a position to prevent valuable Africana collections from being sold to foreign collectors, and it should be able to step in to prevent the deterioration of collections in institutions which experience financial difficulties.)
It compiles statistics of the nation's published documentary output.
It serves as a flagship institution which promotes appreciation of the nation's documentary heritage.
3.1.4.2 Leadership and coordination
The national library provides leadership, expertise and training to the nation's libraries, including the departmental libraries of the various state departments.
It promotes a reading and learning culture among the people, fostering information literacy and preparing the population for the coming "information society". (A possible role for the Centre for the Book in Cape Town.)
It undertakes research and development projects on behalf of the country's libraries.
It may assist the state in respect of certain regulatory or monitoring tasks, e.g. assessing the performance and impact of library services in certain sectors, on behalf of the proposed national LIS council and the ministry responsible for it.
3.1.4.3 International liaison
The national library serves as an agency to which international contacts in the sphere of library and information services can be referred. For example, in South Africa's case, the national library should serve as the national focal point through which South Africa's contributions to the Pan-African Development Information System (PADIS) should be channelled and as the institution through which South Africa can channel the provision of infrastructure, leadership, training etc. in support of library development in the SADC countries.
3.1.4.4 Indigenous information
It facilitates the optimal utilisation of indigenous information (referring to the transmission of knowledge generated within South Africa, both in the formal and informal sectors).
3.1.5 The nation as client of the national library
The national library serves the needs of the nation in that it:
3.2 National library and information needs according to Maurice Line
The analysis of the five client groups in the previous paragraph has revealed a range of needs that may be fulfilled by national libraries. In his study, National library and information needs: alternative means of fulfilment, with special reference to the role of national libraries, Maurice B. Line (1989) took national library and information needs (needs to be met at a national rather than the local level) as the point of departure and identified the following types of library and information need:
3.2.1 Collection and preservation of documents of national interest and importance
These documents comprise (a) publications, not only conventional printed publications but also grey literature and audiovisual materials, and (b) unpublished documents such as manuscripts and audio and visual recordings.
3.2.2 Bibliographic needs: creation of and access to records of publications
This comprises (a) the creation of records of the nation's publications, and (b) access for users in the country to bibliographic records describing the publications of other countries. In terms of IFLA's programme of Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC) every country is responsible for creating records describing its own publications and for disseminating them internationally, ideally in an internationally compatible machinereadable format.
3.2.3 Document provision: the national resource
The term "national resource" refers to "the total collection of publications in a country available for use in effect, the sum of the nation's library holdings" (p.9). Provision should not be confused with supply or delivery. It concerns the acquisition and retention, by the libraries of the country as a whole, of those publications (from anywhere in the world) needed to meet the information needs of the country's population. This implies that there must be national planning for acquisitions and retention in order to ensure a stated level of availability.
3.2.4 Access to publications
The principle is that "people should be able both to consult material in collections and to obtain specific items however distant they may be" (p.10). Therefore this function comprises (a) access for reference and consultation (on site or possibly electronically), and (b) remote supply by means of photocopies or loans. In terms of IFLA's programme of Universal Availability of Publications (UAP) every country has a responsibility to make copies of its own publications available within and without its borders.
3.2.5 Exchange of publications
This refers to the disposal of surplus material through its redistribution among the country's libraries.
3.2.6 Access to information
This refers to the supply of information as distinct from documents (cf. 3.2.4). The information provided can be of three kinds: (a) primary information (raw, unprocessed information, e.g. in response to reference questions); (b) processed information (which calls for information analysis and processing on behalf of users); (c) preparation of information guides (such as registers of research).
3.2.7 Services to libraries and information units
The most prominent of these is cataloguing (through the provision of cataloguing records, formerly on catalogue cards and currently in machinereadable form). Other services include preservation and conservation.
3.2.8 Leadership and advice
There is a need for leadership and advice to libraries and information units to help them carry out their functions more effectively.
3.2.9 Planning and coordination
Line (1989:16) makes a distinction between "leading and advising free agencies and telling them what to do". Planning and coordination imply a greater degree of directiveness and organisation than the provision of leadership and advice. Some degree of official policy making and coordination is considered necessary in most countries to ensure "greater overall effectiveness by using the resources available to better effect".
3.2.10 Education and training for library and information work
Suitably educated persons are needed to ensure that the nation's libraries function adequately. Training can take many forms, but there is "a clear national need to ensure that adequate education and training exist" (Line 1989:16).
3.2.11 Research and development
"Research" can range from fact finding for planning purposes to in-depth practical and theoretical investigations. Development is linked to research. There is a national need for "the organisation, conduct and funding of research and, where appropriate, development" (Line 1989:17).
Line has pointed out that these needs need not necessarily be satisfied by the national library. According to him, some or all of them may be performed by other institutions.
3.3 The satisfaction of national library and information needs in South Africa - the current legal and de facto situation
In the following table the categories of library and information need as listed by Line (column 1) are compared with the functions of South Africa's national libraries as prescribed by the National Libraries Act, 1985 (column 2), and the corresponding sections of the Schedule to Government Notice No. R.1619 of 1987 (column 3), which set out the functions in more detail and allocated them to the two national libraries. The last two columns indicate to which of the two libraries the respective functions were allocated as primary responsibilities. In compressing the information into the table, some over-simplification may have occurred. For the full details, readers are referred to the above-mentioned Act and Schedule.
Table 1: National Library needs and functions
National library and National Libraries Act: Schedule in Gov. SAL SL
information needs Prescribed functions Notice R.1619, 1987
(Line)
1. Collection and 4(a)(i) To build up a 1. To build up a X X
preservation of complete collection of comprehensive
documents of material emanating from collection of
national interest and relating to material from and
and importance: Southern Africa. about Southern
(a) Publications Africa. X
2.2 ... national
centre for... X
2.2.1 ... collection
and preservation of X
all legal deposit
material X
...including de luxe
4(f) To act as a editions
national preservation 2.2.2 ...collection X
library and to render a and preservation of
restoration service on rare or unique X
a country-wide basis. material
(b) Unpublished 2.2.3 ...advice on
documents 2.2.1 & 2.2.2
[Not explicitly
covered, but 7. To act as a
manuscripts and related national
unpublished material preservation library
are covered in the and to render a
definition of restoration service
"material" in section on a country-wide
1.] basis.
[See also 2.2.1,
2.2.2, 2.2.3 above.]
[Not explicitly
covered, but par. 7
gives SAL special
responsibility for
"rare and unique
material".]
2. Bibliographic
needs: creation of
and access to
records of 4(b) To collate, 3. To collate, X X
publications: process, preserve and process, preserve
(a) Creation of make available for use and make available
records of country its collections of its collection of
material. material.
(b) Access to 4(d) To render 5. To render
records of other bibliographic services bibliographic X
countries on a country-wide services on a
basis. country-wide X
basis... X
[Note: 4(b) and 4(d) 5.1 ...primary X
here and the points in responsibility
par. 3 and par. 5 of for... X
the Schedule (next 5.1.1 .. current X
column) do not neatly material on or from
match 2(a) and (b) in Southern Africa X
the preceding column, 5.1.2 ...compilation
but taken together they of ...statistics...
are largely 5.1.3 ...exchange of
coextensive.] bibl. records...
5.1.4 ...
registration and
promotion of
bibliographic
activities
5.1.5
...bibliographic
...standards...
5.1.6 ...information
& advice on legal
deposit...
5.2 ...retrospective
bibliographies...
3. Document 4(a)(ii) To supplement 2. To supplement the
provision: the the Republic's Republic's
national resource. possession of material possession of
with selected material with
collections. selected X
collections:
2.1 ...national
centre for - X
2.1.1 ..coordination
... extension of X
national stock of
little-used and X
much-used material
2.1.2
...coordination...
exchange agreements
2.1.3
...redistribution...s
urplus materials...
2.2.2 Collection and
preservation of rare
or unique material
[South African and
foreign?]
National library and National Libraries Act: Schedule in Gov. SAL SL
information needs Prescribed Functions Notice R.1619, 1987
(Line)
4. Access to
publications: 4(b) To ... make 3. To ... make X X
(a) Access for available for use its available for use
reference and collections of material its collection of X
consultation [see above] material [see above]
6.2 ...central
reference
library...make
material available X
for reference
(b) Remote supply - 4(c) To facilitate purposes within the
loans or photocopies access to the material library...
in Southern African publicise...display
libraries by processing
systems. 4. To facilitate
access to the
4(e) To act as a collection of X
national centre for the material in Southern
making available of African libraries by X
material. means of
bibliographic X
processing
systems... X
6. To act as a
national centre for
the making available
of material... [This
refers mainly to
interlibrary lending
("interlending").]
6.1.1 ...systems for
the transfer of
material...
6.1.2 ...policy and
rules for
inter-library loans
6.1.3 ...national
centre for SA and
international
lending
6.1.4 ...make parts
of its collection
available...
5. Exchange of
publications. 4(a)(ii) To supplement 2.1.1 The X
(a) [Line refers the Republic's coordination of the
primarily to possession of material extension of he
disposal of surplus with selected national stock of
materials within the collections. ... little-used ... X
country.] [Marginally relevant material
here.]
(b) [International 2.1.2 The
exchanges - not 4(a)(ii) ... supplement coordination of
really what Line had ... with selected international
in mind?] collections. [see exchange agreements
above] concluded with other
4(g) To liaise with countries. [see
libraries in other above]
institutions in and
outside the Republic.
[The Act is not
explicit on exchanges.]
6. Access to [Not adequately covered 6.2 The SAL as X
information: in the Act. See 4(b): central reference
(a) Primary "To ... make available library has the
information for use its primary
(b) Processed collections", and responsibility to
information 4(c):"To facilitate make its collections
(c) Preparation of access to the material of material
information guides in SA libraries..." available within the
Neither of these library, to
correspond to what Line publicise it... by
had in mind.] ...publications, and
to display it...
[Does not adequately
cover the needs
identified by
Line.].
7. Services to
libraries and
information units: 4(c) & (d) [see above] 5.1 [see above - X
(a) Cataloguing do not explicitly cover concerned with
this, but it could be national
implied. bibliographic X
(b) Other services services] X
4(f) [see above] deals
only with restoration 7 [see above] -
services. preservation
[Full spectrum of 2.1.3 -
services is not Redistribution
adequately covered.] ...surplus stock
[Not adequately
covered]
8. Leadership and
advice to libraries
and information [Not explicitly
units: covered, but 4(g) Advice:
(a) Leadership implies that advice 2.2.3 [see above - X
(b) Advice could be given - advice on collection
4(g) To liaise with and preservation of
libraries in and SA legal deposit
outside the Republic.] material and rare X
and unique
material.]
5.1.6 [see above -
advice on legal
deposit.]
[Not
adequately/explicitly
covered]
National library and National Libraries Act: Schedule in Gov. SAL SL
information needs Prescribed functions Notice R.1619, 1987
(Line)
9. Planning and 4(g) [see above - 2.1.1 X
coordination authorises liaison with ...coordination of
libraries generally] ... national stock X
[Planning and ... [as above]
coordination are not 2.1.2 X
explicitly covered.] ...coordination of
international
exchange agreements X
[as above]
2.2 ... national
centre for legal X
deposit, rare and
unique material [as
above - coordination X
implied]
4 ... facilitate
access to X
collections in
southern African
libraries X
[as above -
coordination
implied] X X
5.1 ... national
centre for (current)
bibliographic
services [as above -
coordination
implied]
5.2 ... national
centre for
retrospective
bibliographic
service [as above -
coordination
implied]
6 ... national
centre for making
available of
material [as above -
coordination
implied]
7 ... national
preservation
library...[as above
- coordination
implied]
8 ... maintain
liaison [as above -
coordination
implied]
[Not systematically
covered]
10. Education and [Not adequately covered [Not adequately X X
training - implied by other covered]
wording, e.g. "
national centre
for..."]
11. Research and [Not adequately covered [Not adequately X X
development. - implied by other covered]
wording, e.g. "national
centre for..."]
An examination of the legislative texts shows that the various needs are not dealt with equally explicitly. The first five needs identified by Line are fairly explicitly covered by the legislation. These needs correspond to the more technical national library functions. The sixth need (access to information) is not dealt with adequately in the Act, although it can be said to be covered by implication.
It is noteworthy that the last five needs identified by Line are not as explicitly or adequately mandated by the Act as the first five. The last five needs correspond to the functions that are most closely related to the supporting and leadership roles of a national library that has to serve a developing country (services to libraries, leadership and advice, planning and coordination, education and training, and research and development). This weakness in the existing Act is at least partly responsible for the relative inability of the national libraries as presently constituted to exercise the leadership role that the South African situation requires.
However, broadly speaking, the comparison indicates that most of the functions that could be and are normally performed by a national library are either explicitly or implicitly mandated by the National Libraries Act, 1985, either fully or in part. The last two columns indicate that these functions are already being performed by one or both of the national libraries, or were performed in the past but have been suspended due to lack of funding.
3.4 Does South Africa need a national library?
As Line suggests, national library and information needs do not necessarily have to be satisfied by a national library. Other institutions or agencies could perform some or possibly all of the national functions. On what basis can decisions be made about the allocation of national library and information functions that should be carried out on the national level?
A country that does not yet have a national library should obviously think twice about setting up a new institution. A country that already has a national library should consider what the advantages and disadvantages are of continuing to support this institution. The following questions arise in this context:
These questions are answered below in respect of South Africa.
3.4.1 Does the national library carry out all the national library and information functions that are relevant to the country?
As Table 1 shows, together the two existing national libraries carry out, at least to some extent, all the functions that correspond to the national needs identified by Line, even though several of the functions are not adequately or explicitly set out in the National Libraries Act.
3.4.2 Is the national library performing its functions adequately?
There is considerable scope for improvement. The main areas of weakness are in respect of the following:
3.4.2.1 Collection and preservation of documents of national interest and importance (1)
Financial constraints are the main reason for:
Further inadequacies are:
3.4.2.2 Creation of bibliographic records of publications relating to the country (2a)
Financial constraints are the main reasons for:
Technological constraints (due to lack of investment in information technology) have led to:
3.4.2.3 Access to records of other countries (2b)
Financial constraints are the main reason for:
3.4.2.4 Document provision: the national resource (3)
Financial constraints are the main reason for:
3.4.2.5 Access to publications: remote supply (4b)
3.4.2.6 Exchange of publications (5)
Financial constraints are the main reason for:
3.4.2.7 Access to information (6)
3.4.2.8 Services to libraries (7)
Financial constraints are the main reason for deficiencies in respect of:
3.4.2.9 Leadership and advice (8)
Financial constraints are the main reason for:
3.4.2.10 Planning and coordination (9)
3.4.2.11 Education and training (10)
Financial constraints are the main reason for:
3.4.2.12 Research and development (11)
Financial constraints are the main reason for this function being largely in abeyance at present.
3.4.3 If functions are not performed adequately, what are the reasons for this?
Lack of resources underlies most of the problems listed above. This is reflected in a shortage of human resources, inadequate acquisitions funds, and inability to invest in new information technology. Further general underlying causes are:
3.4.4 Have some functions been overtaken by developments?
The national libraries are under great pressure to adapt to changes brought about by new information technology. In most cases these changes present opportunities as well as threats. One example is the advent of electronic publishing, which has significant implications for legal deposit and bibliographic control. It is essential for the national libraries to keep abreast of the application of new information technology in library and information work, otherwise they risk being overtaken by other, better resourced institutions, and being marginalised.
The advent of a national bibliographic network, SABINET, has had a major impact on the infrastructural role of the State Library, which has therefore has to shift its focus to the provision of expertise and leadership in the technical domain, for example by providing leadership in the decision-making process on the future of the SAMARC format, and by providing training in the use of such formats as well as other bibliographic standards. (For more details, see par. 3.5.1 below.) Two further roles which present themselves in the changing environment are (a) providing a safety net for libraries serving less affluent communities in and outside South Africa; and (b) serving as a neutral monitor and watchdog to ensure that commercially driven decisions by SABINET and its subsidiaries (or other similar organisations) do not impact negatively on what remains a national and subregional resource.
The above is merely an example of the adaptation that changes in the technological and industry environment require of the national library today. More recently, the emergence of regional consortia of tertiary education institutions (Calico, Gaelic, etc.) has added to the complexity of the environment. (See par. 3.5.2 below.)
3.4.5 Are there functions that should be added or eliminated?
Broadly speaking, the originally mandated national library functions should not disappear, but their focus must change, and the emphasis should shift to other functions, particularly those related to the national documentary heritage, nation-building and the provision of a "safety net" for disadvantaged communities.
3.4.6 Are there other institutions which could take over certain or all of the national library functions?
South Africa has several dozen major libraries and institutions that have the necessary capacity and could conceivably take over national library functions. These would include:
Given the economic climate of cost recovery and privatisation and the budgetary constraints to which all the likely institutions are subjected, it is unlikely that any of these would be interested in undertaking national library functions unless they were guaranteed either continuing and adequate state support, or an adequate income from the sale of products and services. With the exception of some minor activities, the latter is unlikely. Because the market for such essential tools as the South African national bibliography and the Index to South African periodicals is relatively small, these projects are unlikely to break even financially. If they had to be operated on purely commercial terms, they would not survive, and the country would be left without important components of the library and information infrastructure. Several of the services that have a commercial or cost recovery potential have in any case already been taken over by SABINET.
A further consideration is that the collections and services of a national library should be freely accessible to the people. In the case of research institutions and some universities, their libraries are located on campuses with strict access control or admission to the library is subject to restrictions or fees. This would make access to national library collections or facilities housed there difficult for users who are not in some way affiliated with these institutions.
It is certain that no other single institution could be found in South Africa that could take over all the national library functions. If the national libraries were to be replaced, the national library functions would have to be distributed over various institutions, at great expense.
3.4.7 What are the likely implications of such a development?
The distribution of national library functions among a number of institutions would lead to a potentially disastrous scattering of the expertise that is currently assembled in the two national libraries. The performance of key national library functions requires expertise. An example is national bibliographic control: compiling a national bibliographic database (such as a national bibliography or a union catalogue) for use by the country's libraries and other external clients is not the same thing as compiling a catalogue for an individual library. If the national library expertise is lost through retrenchments and resignations, it would be very difficult to create new centres of expertise in the various participating institutions.
Another likely consequence of distributing national library functions would be difficulties in coordinating various national library services and products. Some body or institution would have to be given the task of coordinating the national library functions, as well as monitoring and evaluating their performance by the various participating institutions. Providing a legal basis for the distribution, monitoring and evaluation of distributed national library functions would require complex legislation which would be difficult to apply.
The question arises as to what would happen to the other assets (e.g. collections) of the existing national libraries. The costs of dividing up the collections (and the catalogue databases) and of physically moving the collections are likely to be high; more seriously, it is unlikely that there are any candidate institutions with sufficient space to take over significant parts of the national library collections.
Even in favourable conditions, there is an element of risk in distributing national library functions to libraries serving institutions such as universities and statutory research councils, let alone commercial companies. Such institutions have to function in turbulent environments, their institutional priorities can change at short notice in response to political events and economic fluctuations, and their libraries are required to keep in step with institutional priorities. Therefore a situation could easily arise where the continued performance of one or more national library functions could become untenable in a given institutions and would have to be sacrificed. In this context it is of interest to note that in Norway, where national library functions were for many decades performed by the Library of Oslo University, the government has over a period of time been taking steps to separate the national library functions from those of the university library, and is setting up the national library as a separate institution housed in its own premises.
3.4.8 What are the likely costs of such a development?
Two aspects of the costs of distributing the functions of the existing national libraries should be distinguished:
A cost study would be required to determine the costs, but they are likely to be significant.
3.4.9 Conclusion
In South Africa the benefits of continuing to maintain a national library outweigh the alternative of abolishing the existing national libraries and redistributing the national library functions among a number of other existing institutions. South Africa must therefore continue to have a national library.
However, the points cited under 3.4.7 above are equally valid when applied to the two existing national libraries, and this leads to the conclusion (discussed more fully in par. 7.1 below) that a single national library is preferable to two separate institutions.
3.5 Positioning the national library in the South African LIS environment
If a unified national library can be brought about in South Africa, it is nevertheless necessary to consider the relationship of this institution to the other stakeholders or players that have been mentioned above, particularly in par. 3.1. The following are the most important:
3.5.1 SABINET
The rapid evolution of SABINET has tended to erode the role and authority of the State Library in respect of certain of its statutory functions. This particularly affects the union catalogues, interlending and document delivery.
The union catalogues are maintained in computerised form and are managed de facto as part of the national bibliographic database, known as SACat. The ownership of the database, the records in which derive from various sources, is an extremely complex matter which has not been resolved. The SACat serves not only as a location tool. It is also a national resource for shared cataloguing. The requirements of the various roles of the SACat sometimes come into conflict. In addition, the size, rapid growth and multiple contributors of the database make the maintenance of authority files and quality control of records very difficult.
More recently, SABINET has been playing an increasingly prominent role in interlending and document delivery. Its interlending module is now used for the majority of requests. The State Library has a statutory responsibility for making the country's book stock available through interlending and related systems. Assuming that in future most of the interlending traffic will be channelled through SABINET, what are the residual responsibilities of the new national library in respect of this function? Such responsibilities could include the following:
SABINET's role in making bibliographic data available online has also affected the work of the State Library. The integration into the SACat of such bibliographic tools as the South African national bibliography (SANB) raises serious problems of authority and quality control. Conflicting demands also arise in respect of the marketing and pricing of the Index to South African periodicals (ISAP), which is compiled by the State Library and made available online by SABINET.
In the information economy it is commonplace for parties to be, at the same time, each others' suppliers and customers, partners and competitors. The new national library will have to position itself optimally vis-à-vis SABINET, adapting the performance of its functions so as not to compete head-on with SABINET, but without neglecting its responsibilities in respect of libraries and information agencies serving our less affluent communities. At the same time the question arises whether more formal recognition should not be given to a special relationship between the new national library and SABINET.
3.5.2 Regional tertiary consortia
Regional consortia of libraries of tertiary education institutions (universities and technikons) are a relatively recent development. They intend to use shared computer systems which will facilitate resource sharing among them. Two such consortia have made significant progress so far, namely Calico (Cape Library Cooperative, in the Western Cape) and Gaelic (Gauteng and Environs Library Consortium). Others, in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, are still being set up. Their impact cannot yet be gauged, but it is likely to be significant. For example, the libraries forming the Calico and Gaelic consortia together hold very significant proportions of the country's unique holdings of monographs and journals, and probably satisfy around 75-80% of the total interlending demand. Together they also make up the bulk of SABINET usage. The regional consortia are closely linked to SABINET. It is possible that this could lead to a further concentration of resources within a privileged circle of participants.
A likely role for the new national library is to be a participant in one or more of the regional consortia (the State Library is already an observer member of Gaelic), which would enable it to serve non-members as a gateway to resources. Decisions on computer library systems by the two major consortia are likely to influence decisions by SABINET, and would have to be taken into account by the new national library. Ideally, the national library should use for its internal purposes the same software system that is used by SABINET and the consortia. For the national library to survive in the rapidly developing technological environment, it will need the human and technical resources to keep up with the major players nationally.
3.5.3 The university libraries
Together the university libraries hold the bulk of the country's scholarly and scientific research resources. As a group they are well staffed and they have access to the information technology expertise and resources of their institutions. They have a powerful voice in SABINET and are able to exert considerable influence on decisions affecting the total library community, for example, decisions on cost recovery for interlending and on the national computer format for bibliographic records.
The national library needs to collaborate closely with the university libraries. One reason for this is that the national library must ensure that libraries serving less affluent institutions are not detrimentally affected by the decisions taken by university librarians. Another is the prospect of significant growth and diversification in distance education. The demand for library services that this will generate is likely to outstrip the capacity of university and technikon libraries and therefore calls for partnerships between them and other types of libraries. The national library should play a role as a partner and coordinator of collaborative efforts in support of efficient distance education.
Such roles require a well-resourced national library. An eminent university librarian recently described the State Library as a "poor relation" of the university libraries, adding that the State Library is unable to deliver the services the universities expect from it. This comment is significant. Decades of neglect and under-funding under the previous regime have undermined the ability of the State Library to "deliver the goods", thereby weakening the prestige and authority of the national library, and its ability to intervene in the national system of library and information services on behalf of the smaller libraries. This situation must change.
3.5.4 Statutory research councils and the Science, Engineering and Technology community
Twelve years ago, when the present National Libraries Act was being debated, at least one of the statutory research councils, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), was a major player in the library field. Its library then seemed set to develop into South Africa's national science library. Not long afterward, financial constraints and strategic repositioning resulting from moves towards cost-recovery and privatisation, in conjunction with developments in information technology, put paid to the notion of a "national science library" in the traditional sense. The Medical Research Council (MRC) possessed only a rudimentary library, while the development spurt of the library of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) came too late and was cut short by factors similar to those at the CSIR. The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) appeared upon the scene much later. It inherited very substantial library facilities from the Department of Agriculture.
Both of the existing national libraries have collections that focus on the humanities, social sciences and public administration. Other than legal deposit materials and foreign official publications they do not have strong holdings in fields such as agriculture, medicine, mining, natural science, technology and engineering. They maintain good relations with the libraries of the statutory research councils, but with the exception of the CSIR, cooperation is not particularly close. The CSIR, HSRC and MRC have contracted to undertake indexing of research journals for the State Library, for inclusion in ISAP. The CSIR mounts the ISAP database on its InfoAccess service. The State Library has also undertaken certain other cooperative ventures with the CSIR, with varying results.
Nevertheless there is considerable scope for further cooperation between the new national library and the statutory research councils, for example:
As suggested earlier, there should be an explicit link between the new national library and (among others) the National System of Innovation (NSI), since the national library:
In view of this the new national library should be recognised as one of the "stakeholders" listed in par. 3.3 of the White paper on science and technology.
A precondition for successful participation in this arena is that the new national library should have a modern information technology platform and adequate human resources (professional expertise) if it is to be taken seriously. A big technology and expertise gap would be an inhibiting factor for cooperation with the research councils and the SET community, as it is with the universities.
3.5.5 The legislature and the Library of Parliament
In par. 3.1.4 above the state was mentioned as an important client of the national library. In South Africa government officials and the legislature are significant users of the existing national libraries. Hence it has been suggested that the national library should be combined with the Library of Parliament. There are precedents for this. The Library of Congress (LC), which is generally considered to be the world's greatest library, serves both the United States Congress, as a legislative reference library, and the nation, as the de facto national library of the USA. A similar situation obtains in Japan, where the National Diet Library serves both roles. However, the experience of the LC shows that combining the dual roles is fraught with problems, as the demands placed on the LC as a legislative reference library are frequently in conflict with those placed on it as the national library of the USA. Recent congressional hearings have indicated that even with the immense resources at its disposal, the LC is unable to satisfy the needs of its two constituencies. This is not a good example for us to follow.
This leaves the question of how a new South African national library should relate to the Library of Parliament and to the libraries serving the provincial legislatures. In the first place, the national library should continue to play its present role as a backup library to the legislative libraries and their users. A strengthened national library will be able to improve its services to these important clients. In the second place, the creation of a new national library provides a historic opportunity to re-examine the activities of the South African Library and the Library of Parliament. Specifically, this is an opportune time to relieve the latter of the burden of caring for the Mendelssohn Collection, freeing it to develop its legislative reference function in line with the needs of it more demanding post-apartheid clientele.
3.5.6 Legal deposit libraries and official publications depositories
The existing two national libraries are legal deposit libraries in terms of the Legal Deposit of Publications Act, 1982. Three other libraries are legal deposit libraries in terms of the same Act:
New legal deposit legislation is being prepared which will give the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology the power to decide which libraries will serve as legal deposit libraries in the future. In the interests of continuity it is hoped that the existing libraries will continue to serve as legal deposit libraries, since the transfer of legal deposit status (with or without the large legal deposit collections built up over at least seven decades) is likely to be extremely disruptive.
The proposed new legal deposit legislation also provides for the establishment of at least one official publications depository (OPD) in each province. The OPDs are intended to ensure that government publications and information are made widely available to citizens of all nine provinces.
Since five legal deposit libraries will (as in the past) be collecting essentially the same South African materials, there is considerable scope for cooperation in respect of legal deposit acquisitions and cataloguing. Given improved computer resources and network access, the existing two national libraries that will constitute the new national library should be able to rationalise their legal deposit acquisitions and cataloguing, which should lead to the cooperative compilation of the SANB. Taking this a step further, there should be network links between the national library, the other three legal deposit libraries and the OPDs, to further rationalise the legal deposit responsibilities of all these institutions. The OPDs in particular will require assistance from the national library, especially in their establishment phase.
When considering the future relations of the national library with other institutions receiving legal deposit, it must be borne in mind that the National Film, Video and Sound Archive of the State Archives will under the proposed legislation be one of them.
3.5.7 Provincial public and school library services
Historically, the national libraries have maintained cordial relations with the provincial library services - those providing public library services as well as those providing school library and media services. Nevertheless, the provincial library services have made use of the national libraries' products and services to varying extents. For example, the provincial library services have tended to rely on their own (often slow and cumbersome) internal "special requests" systems, turning to interlending only as a last resort. School libraries and media centres are almost uniformly cut off from the Southern African Interlending Scheme. This means that there are substantial barriers separating ordinary citizens and students from the collective resources of the nation's libraries.
It has been argued above that the national library should not become involved in direct service delivery to schools and communities. On the one hand the national library is not equipped for this type of service. On the other hand, public and school library services are provincial responsibilities and each province has one or more structures set up for this purpose to deliver these services. Therefore the national library should not be competing with the provincial services and in the process possibly undermining their bargaining power and authority within their provinces. Such arguments are valid. However, this position has one serious weakness: it limits the capacity of the national library to reach out to communities and to demonstrate its relevance to national development at grass roots level.
Given the relative strengths of the various players described so far, the role of the national library in levelling the playing field to ensure that all citizens can gain access to the nation's information resources, and the imperatives embodied in the national Growth and Development Strategy, the new national library needs to take provincial public and school library services seriously as its key strategic partners. In practical terms this means that the new national library should inter alia:
What has been said here in relation to provincial library services is also true of the metropolitan public library services which are not controlled by the provincial services.
In a report to the Board of the State Library, the international library consultant Maurice B Line suggested in 1994 that the national library should establish an office or appoint an agent in each of the provinces to improve liaison between the national library and the libraries in that province. Such an agent could:
Such an approach would be an interesting variation on the structure of the National Library of Nigeria, which is establishing branches in each of Nigeria's federal states (Aje 1977:126; Raseroka 1994:4-6).
3.5.8 Heritage institutions
One of the main thrusts of the new national library should be to position itself as the custodian of a major component of the national heritage: the documentary (and mainly published) heritage. Thanks to their history and the legal deposit privilege, the existing national libraries have built up major heritage collections, but they have tended not to position themselves as national heritage institutions. As suggested by Bendik Rugaas, then National Librarian of Norway, the national library is one of the institutions which is able to meet a new democracy's need for unifying national symbols. The new national library must position itself (in addition to its other roles) to play a role as a national heritage institution, inter alia by participating in UNESCO's Memory of the World programme. The Centre for the Book in Cape Town offers excellent scope for expanding this role.
In order to position itself as a national heritage institution, the new national library must build relationships with other heritage institutions, such as:
3.5.9 Literacy organisations
Literacy is one of the key challenges faced by librarians and information workers in South Africa today. If people cannot read, they will not use libraries. Libraries will remain elitist outposts and impositions on communities. More seriously, millions of people will remain cut off from information resources that can enhance their quality of life. Use of audio-visual and electronic media will not greatly alter this fact; information literacy in one or other mode is a prerequisite for the utilisation of all media. Without universal literacy, South Africa is poorly prepared for the global information society.
The new national library will have to develop a role for itself as a participant in the movement for universal literacy, refocusing certain of its products and services to serve this movement. The South African Library already has plans to use the Centre for the Book to promote books and reading.The new national library could contribute in other ways as well, for example by publishing bibliographies of literacy materials and reading matter suitable for newly literate adults. If the new national library wishes to position itself in the field of literacy and the information society, it should build relationships with organisations concerned with literacy work, such as:
3.5.10 Information society stakeholders
One of the most remarkable (and to many, unexpected) features of late twentieth century librarianship is the national library building boom which can be observed in the national capitals of countries in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, South America, South-east Asia and the Far East. Why should these countries be spending hundreds of millions of dollars on erecting national library buildings at a time when many are expecting that conventional libraries will be replaced by virtual libraries or the Global Digital Library - essentially a distributed electronic resource?
The answer to this question is twofold. One the one hand, governments in even the most advanced countries are anticipating that the production of print and other discrete documents will continue practically unabated until well into the next century, and they are making extending physical accommodation accordingly. On the other hand, the national library is seen as a leading institution in promoting information literacy and preparing the masses for the coming Information Society. Both motives are illustrated by the magnificent new building of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris. It is to serve as a showcase of French culture, using the latest information technology and a large-scale digitisation programme to make its treasures accessible to all French citizens.
South Africa's new national library should similarly serve as one of the country's leading institutions in creating national awareness of modern information technology and in promoting information literacy. To be able to do this, it should have an information technology platform which can support a digitisation programme for purposes of preservation and access. It should also support the electronic transmission of digitised documents both within and beyond the library. Such a platform is in any case necessary to enable the national library to deal with electronic and audio-visual materials received under the proposed legal deposit legislation.
To position itself for this task, the national library should be empowered to build up relationships with relevant organisations, participating, for example, in the National Information Technology Forum.
3.5.11 Other players
There are many other role-players with which the new national library will need the authority to develop partnerships and cooperative relationships. These include:
3.6 Conclusions
In this section we arrived at the conclusion that South Africa should continue to have a national library and that a single national library is preferable to two separate institutions (par. 3.4.9).
What emerges from the foregoing analysis is that there is a need for a strong national library. There are important tasks for such an institution to carry out, and its contribution would be welcomed by most institutions in the library and information services system. Thus unification of the two national libraries would be a big step forward. However, the new institution must have the resources to function effectively. In particular, it will need a level of funding that will enable it to strengthen its collections through purchases (instead of relying largely on legal deposit), reinforce its human resources, and acquire and maintain an up-to-date information technology platform. If these resources are not made available, the new institution will be unable to deliver the services that are expected from a national library.