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The purpose of this paper is to present analysis of collection development in a specialized collection given the demand for electronic or online content.

A review of research in digital collection development was conducted with particular emphasis on veterinary medicine or medical libraries. This article provides a critique of research on digital collection development as it pertains to a specialized collection from the perspective of a veterinary medicine librarian.

As collection development tends toward a preference for electronic formats, many advantages for specialized user groups arise from purchasing electronic books.

As there are many specialized library types, collection development differs according to user groups. As a veterinary medicine librarian, the author presents a profile of collection development for a specialized user group.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the information-seeking behavior of Egyptian parents of autistic children.

The study sample consists of 61 parents across Egypt, divided into six focus groups, as equal as possible, to represent Northern, Middle and Southern Egypt.

Dmographically, of the 61 parents, 32 (52.5%) were fathers, and 29 (47.5%) were mothers. A large number of parents' ages ranged from 31 to 45 years old. The highest percentage of them was holding a BA, followed by a high school/diploma, and the highest percentage was found to be married. The parents of autistic children followed many methods and channels to obtain supportive information related to their children's disease. They used many types of information, which varied between formal and informal sources. While just over a quarter of Egyptian parents prefer to use formal sources (books, newspapers, magazines, health publications, pamphlets, as well as specialized libraries), more than three-quarters of them used informal sources, such as mobile/smartphones, the Web, social media and social networking sites. The information related to the search for institutions supporting autistic people came in the first place, then that information related to searching for specialized centers in treating autistic children, then information related to rehabilitation, integration and psychological support centers for these children and then information related to the search for financial aid provided by charitable or even government agencies. Some parents were found to have limited awareness of their children's treatment mechanism, as some of them do not consider the need to treat their children in a systematic, continuous, and systematic manner. Similarly, the lack of basic services and shortage of government centers specializing in the treatment of these children. Parents also emphasized the lack of government support, as well as the lack of curative research centers. Some also pointed out that there was a shortage of workshops for the rehabilitation of their children and themselves as well.

This research is considered to be the first research of its kind at the local and Arab levels, which is also one of the few studies at the regional level that is interested in this community of information seekers. The findings of this research can raise awareness about the information behavior of Egyptian parents of autistic children among those who are interested in the role of the information and its use by specific groups of the information society, as well as decision makers.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-11-2020-0494

The purpose of this paper is to improve comprehension of some of the intricate interrelations between research libraries, the role of media and the knowledge production system.

This paper establishes arguments from a historical analysis of stages in the conceptual development of digital media and stages in the digitization of library functions. The historical approach leads to some discussions and forecasts of the future of research libraries.

Digital media have a disruptive, revolutionary potential, but path dependency is often a modifying component in the historical development. This is demonstrated in different stages of the development of the interrelationship between digitization, digital media and research libraries. Digital media become disruptive due to the strength of the historical dynamic, rather than as a result of particular agencies. Today the historical dynamic has reached a point where all institutions concerned with knowledge handling will have to redefine themselves. Research libraries are gradually incorporated into a number of new “research infrastructures” which are being built around different kinds of data materials, and each research library may specialize according to some sort of coordinated criteria.

This paper demonstrates new openings to a theoretical and conceptual understanding of the interrelationship between digital media and developments of research libraries.

“Library,” as a place, will give way to “library” as a transparent knowledge network providing “intelligent” services to business and education through both specialized librarians and emerging information technologies. Libraries will rely heavily on computers and peripherals to facilitate electronic document imaging, publishing, telecommunications, and information delivery in addition to networked collection management and reference services.

The most widely used method of qualitatively evaluating a library's collections is the list‐checking method, a process in which the library's holdings are compared with one or more lists of selected titles. The types of lists commonly used are published, standardized lists representing core or basic collections, catalogs of other libraries, or specialized subject bibliographies. The literature on this method of collection evaluation is extensive, dating back to the 1930s; covering the types of lists used for evaluations, the advantages and disadvantages of using such a method, and the various ways of implementing this type of evaluation.

ONLY one or two topics of the Scarborough Conference will remain firmly in the minds of most of us. Most firmly, and more clearly than before, will be that of the National Lending Library and Dr. Urquhart's exposition of it or what it is intended to be. It may give no comfort, so far as librarianship is concerned, to existing librarians, but there is little that the public librarian has to fear from it. The second impression that remains is the acute awareness now prevalent of the need for science and technical training in school and college for many more men and women and our relation to that fact. The third was the so often expressed nervousness about the status of the librarian. Fourthly, was the local collection in the light of the ever‐changing character and habits of the people. The President's address was a dignified and grave statement of ideals, in the definition of libraries and librarianship, in book acquirement, reader‐service and in appreciation of the personalities who have made librarianship. It did not produce the press so fine an utterance demanded. What are we to say of the heading a great London paper gave to its two‐inch paragraph devoted to the first day of our Conference: “Librarians are told to be courteous”? To our regret we were unable to hear Mr. O'Leary's paper; judging from the summary in the Programme it was a fine exercise in robust commonsense. We content ourselves in this Editorial with further remarks on one or two of the matters we have mentioned above.

I PROPOSE to deal with two aspects of co‐operation which do not seem to have received sufficient attention as yet. The first I have called “specialisation.”

Public libraries in the twenty-first century are facing the challenges of being relevant in the face of new technologies, neoliberal cost cutting, and changing social realities. One of the fastest growing and changing social realities is associated with the trans community. We may be able to talk about the transgender tipping point; but in Spain, positive representations, access to information, and dialogue between local communities and the trans collective have traditionally been notable for its absence. In order to address these shortcomings in the public library system in Catalonia (Spain), a group of staff at the Biblioteca Nou Barris in Barcelona created the “Trans Identities and Gender” project.

The project envisioned creating a collection of materials aimed at the trans and gender-variant community as well as to all those who might be interested. In addition to the collection, activities were planned to use the library as a communal meeting point between the local and the trans communities as well as a means of promoting the collection and its use. The chapter focuses on the development of the project, on the growing relationship between the library, trans authors, trans community, and general public, and how new possible futures are being forged.

This paper aims to understand how a special library helped firefighters in Illinois navigate the digital revolution by evidencing the elements and forms of work that made its innovative services possible.

The authors examine the history of a special library through a community informatics lens, drawing from sociomaterial perspectives to highlight forms of work often invisible in digital innovation. Data was collected through documentary revision, oral histories and semi-structured interviews. Deductive-inductive coding and constant comparative analysis was used in the analysis.

A historical narrative of the library between 1990 and 2021 highlights three sociotechnical innovations that assisted firefighters through the digital revolution: the facilitated collection, the co-created collection and the inside-out library. To develop these innovations the library drew from institutional relations, personal relations, grants, labor, knowledge of firefighters and technology. Various forms of articulation work brought these elements together to create innovative services.

The role of special libraries in addressing the digital divide has not been sufficiently detailed so far; this paper is a contribution in that direction. It also has practical value for professionals working in specialized libraries and information centers.