Globalisation in academic libraries: A reflective comparison of academic libraries at Cork, Ireland, and Chihuahua, Mexico

Abstract

Purpose

This paper attempts to compare two academic libraries in very different parts of the world. It aims to look at the influences which their local origins have had on them as well as the commonality which the internationalisation of the library profession has brought on them.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper seeks inferences about the impact of globalisation on the world of academic librarianship. It looks at commonality of experience past, present and future. The process of investigation was to pose a number of questions regarding what academic libraries are, their role in academic landscapes, the impact of globalising technologies and the future of the book.

Findings

The findings are that there is a commonality of experience and that modern library technologies have changed the nature of professional practice significantly in recent decades; that indigenous traditions of practice at local level are being replaced by an integration of internationally shared experience.

Originality/value

The paper should interest those researching the future of academic libraries, comparative developments in academic libraries worldwide, the future of repository storage in the face of digitisation and the future of academic landscapes.

Citation

McCarthy, J.P. and Tarango Ortiz, J. (2010), "Globalisation in academic libraries: A reflective comparison of academic libraries at Cork, Ireland, and Chihuahua, Mexico", Library Management, Vol. 31 No. 7, pp. 505-520. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121011071201