Resource sharing is built on the take-and-give practices of today’s information explosion. There is no political, geographical, or other barrier in this, to complete this transaction of information, the activities of various organizations are carried out by exchanging information with each other based on specific principles. Resource sharing refers to the development and cost-saving of a mutual service between several libraries. There are two terms, one resource and the other sharing, which must be discussed separately to understand the definition comprehensively.
Resource:
The word research means resources, sources, money, and other resources, but in the language of the library, resources are learning materials, i.e., library resources refer to textual materials. These materials can be of two types, namely conventional and non-conventional.
- Conventional: Here are traditional books, periodicals, and journals that are printed directly on paper and are usually readily available.
- Non-conventional: This stage especially refers to non-printed material. Here again, it can be divided into two parts, namely ancient and modern.a) Ancient: Papyrus, vellum, bone skin, hill tribe clay tablets, etc. indicate the ancient whole. b) Modern: Here, modern technology is included. Such as CD-ROM, Micrographics, E-books, audiobooks, tablets, Makerspace, Virtual Reality Station (VR), DVDs, CDs, etc.
Sharing:
Sharing is exchanging. As resource sharing is meant here, it means sharing of resources i.e. text material is not used by any organization or individual but if they are used together with others then it is called sharing.
A prerequisite for resource sharing activities:
- Purpose: To do the work, one must first decide the purpose i.e. why the work is going to be done, to change the knowledge, skills and mindset to do it, to stick to the purpose.
- Contracted: To do the work should be contracted between respectable institutions i.e. like-minded people.
- Collection Policy: Every organization has its own policy. Agreement should be made on that policy and asset purchase policy should be formulated on this policy.
- Morality: One of the prerequisites for resource sharing is morale. Because resourcing fails without the right mindset.
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Ways to implement resource sharing:
- Donation: One library may be considered trash in another library. For example, there are many text materials that are not needed in an established library but are needed in a small library. So resource sharing can be done by donating something unconditionally.
- Reading together: There are many materials that are of great value, so resource sharing can be done by studying all those materials together.
- Exchange of Publications: Not all libraries are able to purchase all subject publications. So one library can share their own publications with others and another through resource sharing.
- Combined list: To prepare a combined list of all the publications and collections they have with other bibliographic libraries. Through this, sitting in a library, it is known what resources are available in other libraries and the reader can be referred to other libraries if the collection is not available through own resources. Even the readers themselves will know where their required contents are.
- Library Cooperation: When several institutions contract to lend their publications to other institutions. Then it is called interlibrary loan. There will be a contract on the terms stipulated for this. For example – for how many days it will be given, which books can be given, which books cannot be given, security, fine etc. will be known.
- Co-operative procurement: Co-operative procurement is when two or more organizations agree to duplicate new publications and cooperate with each other by exchanging them.
- Networking: Networking refers to the distribution of information collected among different libraries through the telecommunication of computers within the same institution. Moreover, networking can be done through seminars, symposiums, workshops and other programs.
- Online resources: The libraries of different countries of the world are directly connected through modern technology, it is called online search. For example, all the collections of the Library of Congress can be viewed through an online search system.
- Electronic mail: It is one of the technologies of modern library service through which information can be quickly transferred from one library to another library.
- Video conference and Zoom program: Through hearing and vision conference we can learn about the current world and exchange them through each other for resourcing. Using these technologies, users of different libraries can easily express their point of view.