5.1 Classification of functions
The classic national library functions, as exercised by the well-established national libraries of developed countries, are well known. In his draft Guidelines for legislation for national library services Lor (1996) took as his point of departure the national library and information needs identified by Line (1989), which have been summarised in par. 3.2 above and which also feature in the first column of Table 1. In the draft Guidelines it is pointed out that the relative importance of Line's national library and information needs depends on various factors, but especially on the general level of development of a country's library services and its information sector. Five clusters of functions are distinguished, which are related to the needs identified by Line:
In the light of the discussion of the client groups and their needs in par. 3.1.1 above, it is clear that cluster (c), functions concerned with a comprehensive national service, is not appropriate to the South African situation because provincial, municipal and institutional structures exist to carry out these functions and should be empowered to do so. This leaves clusters (a), (b), (d) and (e) as most relevant to the NLSA. To these library functions should be added the generic administrative functions (e.g. finance and personnel) which are common to all institutions. Thus three broad groups of functions can be distinguished:
(1) Core library functions: There are a number of typical library functions that are carried out to a greater or lesser extent by all libraries and related information agencies. They comprise:
(2) National functions: A national library must carry out national or leadership functions that are related to its role as a national institution. They comprise:
Other national institutions such as a national museum, archives, performing arts board, medical research institute, trade union federation or chamber of commerce would essentially carry out similar generic functions, although they could be concretely manifested in quite dissimilar activities.
(3) General administrative functions: They are functions common to all organisations, whether national or local in scope, for example, financial management, marketing and technical services.
5.2 Core library functions
In Table 2 the generally recognised core library functions are related to the three clusters of functions relevant to the NLSA, namely (a), (b) and (e).
TABLE 2: CORE NATIONAL LIBRARY FUNCTIONS
Core Heritage Infrastructure Direct International
function service to
end-users
A A1a. A2a. Coordinate application of A3a. A4a. Maintain
Acqui-si Acquire a legal deposit legislation by Acquire exchange
tion comprehensiv legal deposit libraries and reference agreements
e official publications and other with
collection depositories. documents libraries in
of the A2b. Provide guidance and to support foreign
national training to official information countries
published publications depositories. service to with a view
documentary A2c. Acquire documents of end-users to acquiring
heritage, foreign origin and not relating "patriotica"
i.e. to SA, to supplement the (as in A1a)
documents collections of SA's libraries and/or
originating (e.g. foreign official material to
from and publications). supplement
relating to A2d. Coordinate collection the
SA i.a. by building policies of SA's collections
legal libraries. of SA's
deposit. A2e. Coordinate retention and libraries (as
disposal policies of SA's in A2c).
libraries.
A2f. Collect, sort and
redistribute surplus materials
relegated by SA's libraries.
A2g. Monitor the coverage and
state of collections of SA
libraries.
B B1a. B2a. Provide access to databases B3a. B4a. Exchange
Biblio-g Compile describing national documentary Compile bibliographic
raphic in-house heritage (by means of printed in-house records with
organis- catalogue(s) bibliographies, such as the catalogue(s) foreign
ation national bibliography, and and libraries and
(database(s) online database access). databases international
) of B2b. Compile statistics of the describing agencies in
bibliographi national production of published material support of
c records documents. acquired in B2a and B2c.
comprehensiv B2c. Provide access to databases terms of B4b.
ely describing the world's A3a. Contribute
describing production of documents. national
the B2d. Reduce cataloguing costs of statistics
national SA libraries by supplying (cf. B2b) to
documentary authoritative bibliographic international
heritage. records for the materials databases.
referred to in A1a. B4c.
B2e. Support in-house Participate
bibliographic organisation in in
SA's libraries by promoting international
standardisation, maintaining standardisatio
authority lists of SA names and n activities,
terms, providing advice and including
training. international
B2f. Serve as SA's national standard
centre for international numbering
document numbering, e.g. ISBN, systems.
ISSN, ISMN, ISRN.
B2g. Monitor the extent and
status of bibliographic access
to SA collections. in SA's
libraries
B2h. Monitor technological
advances in bibliographic
organisation and develop SA
applications.
Core Heritage Infrastructure Direct International
function service to
end-users
C C1a. Make C2a. Organise and administer a C3a. As C4a. Serve as
Docu-men items in national scheme for interlending C1a. SA's national
t its and document supply between SA's centre for
access collections libraries and promote facilitating
available inter-library cooperation. interlending
for direct C2b. Compile location tools and document
use (union catalogues, finding supply
(in-house lists) to facilitate between SA
or distant interlending and document supply and foreign
users). between SA's libraries. libraries.
C2c. Monitor the availability of
collections in SA's libraries,
and the state of and access to
location tools.
C2d. Monitor technological
advances in document supply and
develop SA applications.
C2e. Provide guidance and
training to staff of SA
libraries in the use of document
supply systems.
D D1a. D2a. Answering reference and D3a. As D4a. Serve as
Inform-a Provide a information inquiries relating D1a. a national
tion reference to SA and other selected fields centre for
supply and of knowledge, on a national answering and
information level. referring
service D2b. Compile registers of information
based on research, directories and guides inquiries on
the to information sources to topics
documents facilitate reference and related to SA
held in its information service provision by from foreign
collections. other libraries in SA and institutions
abroad. and
D2c. Monitor technological individuals.
advances in information supply D4b. See D2b.
and develop SA applications.
E E1a. To E2a. Monitor the preservation E4a.
Preserv- preserve as status of the collections of Participate
ation comprehensiv documentary heritage and other in
ely as significant collections held in international
possible SA's libraries. cooperative
its E2b. Coordinate preservation and projects for
collections conservation activities in SA's the
of libraries. preservation
documents E2c. Provide advice and training of the
originating on preservation and conservation world's
from, or to SA's libraries. documentary
relating E2d. Undertake specialised heritage
to, SA and conservation projects on behalf (e.g.
other of other SA libraries. UNESCO's
national Memory of the
bibliographi World
c programme).
collections
for use.
The core functions of the national library can be summarised as follows:
A. ACQUISITIONS
Heritage and direct service:
A1 Comprehensive collection of national published documentary heritage (A1a & A3a). Infrastructure: A2 National collection management (A2a-A2f; A4a)
B. BIBLIOGRAPHIC ORGANISATION
Heritage and direct service: B1 Recording the national published documentary heritage (B1a & B3a) Infrastructure: B2 National bibliographic agency (B2a-B2h; B4a-B4c)
C. DOCUMENT ACCESS
Heritage and direct service: C1 In-house document access (C1a, C1b, C3a) Infrastructure:
C2 National availability of publications (C2a-C2d; C4a)
D. INFORMATION SUPPLY
Heritage and direct service: D1 Reference and information service (D1a & D3a) Infrastructure: D2 National reference and information service (D2a, D2b, D4a, D4b)
E. PRESERVATION
Heritage: E1 Collections preservation (E1a)
Infrastructure: E2 National preservation agency (E2a-E2d; E4a)
5.3 National functions
The national or leadership functions of the national library are manifested in the performance of its core functions, as set out in Table 3.
TABLE 3: NATIONAL (LEADERSHIP) FUNCTIONS OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY
No. Function Relation
to core
functions
(Table 3)
A B C D E
Acquisition Biblio-gra Document Information Preservatio
phic access provision n
Organisati
on
F Services to A2c A2f B2a B2b C2a C2b D2a D2b E2d
libraries A3a B2c B2d C3a D3a
B3a B3c
G Leadership and A2b B2d B2f C2a C3a E2c E3a
advice
H Planning and A2a A2d B2d C2a C3a E2b
coordination A2e
I Education and A2b B2d C2a C2c D2a E2c
training C3a
J Research and A2g B2e B2h C2c C2d D2c E2a
development
Table 3 shows that the national role of the national library (frequently referred to as its leadership role) largely coincides with the Infrastructure and International clusters of functions. The table also shows that the national functions are manifested in relation to the core library functions, each of which has a national and international dimension. The national functions can therefore be subsumed under the core functions. However, for the purpose of drafting legislation it is important that the national functions be identified and stated explicitly. Brief explanatory comments on these functions follow:
F. SERVICES TO LIBRARIES
Delivery of products and services to the country's libraries and related information agencies that enable them to serve their users more effectively and efficiently. The national library produces tools that make possible resource sharing (e.g. coordination of collection building; interlending) and rationalisation of professional work (e.g. cataloguing), it enhances professional services (e.g. through the compilation of databases), or performs operations that are beyond the capabilities of individual libraries (e.g. conservation of valuable books).
G. LEADERSHIP AND ADVICE
Leadership can be provided on the basis of recognised expertise (which requires well-qualified and experienced staff able to take the lead in solving problems affecting many libraries) as well as statutory recognition. An important element of leadership by the national library is getting individual libraries to cooperate with it and with one another and to adopt national and international standards. As a further example of the leadership role, it has been suggested that the national library can play a useful role in providing advice on copyright as it affects libraries.
H. PLANNING AND COORDINATION
The design, operation, maintenance and development of systems for resource sharing (which is not restricted to interlending and document supply). Implementation of appropriate standards is an important element of this function.
I. EDUCATION AND TRAINING
South Africa has a well-developed system for formal training of library and information workers in universities, technikons and colleges of education. The emphasis in the National Library must therefore be on in-service training, especially the training of staff in libraries participating in cooperative systems, training for the uniform application of national and international bibliographic standards, and in specialities such as conservation..
J. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
South African universities and technikons already conduct research in library and information science. The National Library will therefore emphasise the monitoring of the state and effectiveness of various library and information functions in South Africa, the identification of problems and the redesign of systems. The National Library will also monitor advances in information technology, standards and professional practice with a view to their implementation in South Africa.
5.4 A missing national function: Promotion
The functions identified so far have been evaluated in the light of the proposed mission statement of the NLSA (par. 4.2) as well as the comments made earlier on the contribution of libraries to the Growth and Development Strategy (par. 2.2), the clients of the national library (par. 3.1) and the positioning of the national library in relation to heritage institutions (par. 3.5.7), literacy (par. 3.5.8) and the Information Society (par. 3.5.9). This evaluation shows that there is a major omission in respect of the role of a national library in promoting awareness of the national documentary heritage and in promoting information literacy. This is a particularly serious omission in the context of a developing society.
Two further national functions must therefore be added:
K. HERITAGE PROMOTION
Raising awareness of the nation's documentary heritage by means of in-house and travelling exhibitions, publications, newspaper and magazine articles, radio and television programmes, and electronic media. This has two dimensions: (a) The NLSA should promote awareness of the documentary heritage as reflected in its own collection. (b) The NLSA should provide services which will assist SA's other libraries in promoting awareness of the national documentary heritage as reflected in their collections. These could include oral history projects and other means of repackaging heritage materials, and the promotion of indigenous authorship, with an emphasis on writing and publishing in African languages. More generally conceived, this function implies promoting books and reading. The Centre for the Book in Cape Town will develop this function.
L. PROMOTION OF INFORMATION AWARENESS
This comprises participation not only in print literacy campaigns, but also the promotion of numeracy, visual literacy, media literacy and computer literacy. By this is meant an enhanced awareness of information and the ability to find and harness it using various media and modern IT. A variety of activities is implied. These range from the publication of bibliographies of materials suitable for newly literate readers to the digitisation of parts of the NLSA's collections to make this material accessible on the Internet. More generally this function implies a contribution to promoting a culture of learning and information use. The Centre for the Book will support this function.
5.5 General administrative functions
The following functions have been identified:
M. GENERAL (STRATEGIC) MANAGEMENT
Includes the preparation of strategic plans and the creation of a new corporate entity (structure and culture) out of the existing institutions that will form the NLSA.
N. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Includes development of business plans and budgets, unitary budgetary control, financial administration, internal auditing, etc.
O. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Includes development of unified HR policies and procedures (e.g. on affirmative action, unions, HR development and evaluation), conditions of service, salary structure, HR administration.
P. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISTICS
Includes office management, secretarial services, records and registry, purchasing and inventory, transport, accommodation, maintenance etc.
Q. TECHNICAL SERVICES
Includes printing, binding, microfilming, etc.
R. INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY
Includes management of computer and data communications, including electronic and optical technologies. Planning and implementing an advanced IT platform for the unified functioning of the NLSA on two campuses will be a key task. Also crucial are monitoring emerging technologies, identifying appropriate applications and planning for implementation.
S. MARKETING
Comprises inculcating an organisation-wide marketing approach, conducting market research, participating with functional units in market-driven product and service development, pricing and promotion of products and services.
T. CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
Comprises internal (staff) and external (PR) communications, including corporate publications and possibly exhibitions, in collaboration with functional units.
U. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The coordination of international relations (with libraries and other institutions in foreign countries as well as with international organisations with which the NLSA collaborates).
The above list is not exhaustive and the grouping of general administrative functions should not be regarded as definitive.
5.6 Summary of functions
In documents submitted to the Working Group and in discussions between the two national libraries, various groupings of functions were suggested. Some of these are summarised in Annexure A. In scrutinising the proposals, the Task Group on Programmes and Structures found that there had been some confusion between functions and roles. Because programmes and structures should follow functions, the Task Group proposed that functions be understood as generic groups of activities which an organisation carries out in the pursuit of its mission. Functions should relate, where possible and appropriate, to:
The following set of functions is therefore proposed for the NLSA:
Core functions
A. ACQUISITIONS A1 Comprehensive collection of national published documentary heritage A2 National collection management B. BIBLIOGRAPHIC ORGANISATION B1 Recording the national published documentary heritage B2 National bibliographic agency C. DOCUMENT ACCESS C1 In-house document access C2 National availability of publications D. INFORMATION SUPPLY D1 Reference and information service D2 National reference and information service E. PRESERVATION E1 Collections preservation E2 National preservation agency
National functions
F. SERVICES TO LIBRARIES G. LEADERSHIP AND ADVICE H. PLANNING AND COORDINATION I. EDUCATION AND TRAINING J. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT K. HERITAGE PROMOTION L. PROMOTION OF INFORMATION AWARENESS
General administrative functions
M. GENERAL (STRATEGIC) MANAGEMENT N. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT O. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT P. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISTICS Q. TECHNICAL SERVICES R. INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY S. MARKETING T. CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS U. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS