Abstract

Author(s): Satthaiah

Fast emerging information and communications technologies, internet connectivity, growth of
social networking sites, etc., demand automation of organizations, institutions and firms, including
libraries to achieve web-scale. Technological developments also bring out a paradigm shift in the
collections, acquisitions, processing and dissemination of information in libraries. Responding to the
information explosion created by information technology, the information seeking nature of user
community also changed. In order to overcome the challenges posed by burgeoning information
technology and to cope up with the changing information needs of the user community, the libraries
should have an effective library management system that can allow the library to go global, while
managing its affairs at home. The Web-Scale Management Service (WSM) is one such next-generation
solution developed by OCLC, supported by a large community of librarians across the globe. Present
paper reviews the emergence of WSM and discusses the importance of WSM in reducing the work-load on
library staff by avoiding duplication of work. It also throws light on the initiatives to be adapted to build
web-scale for libraries working in traditional conditions.<