University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

"Arsenals of scientific and technical information": Public Technical Libraries in Britain during and Immediately after World War I

Black, Alistair

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Black553.pdf

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/3698

Description

Title
"Arsenals of scientific and technical information": Public Technical Libraries in Britain during and Immediately after World War I
Author(s)
Black, Alistair
Issue Date
2007
Keyword(s)
  • Libraries and society
  • World War I
  • Libraries in Britain
  • Public Libraries
Date of Ingest
2008-02-28T17:03:55Z
Abstract
Although from its inception in 1850 the public library in Britain displayed an economic dimension, attempting to respond in relatively general ways to technical, scientific, industrial, and commercial needs, it was not until the First World War that the institution’s “materialist” role achieved anything like the standing of its traditional sociocultural function. The war generated a series of economic, social, political, and technological problems and proposed solutions. There was considerable anxiety concerning the anticipated escalation in postwar international competition arising from the loss of foreign markets. The war brought into sharp relief Britain’s relatively poor scientific and technological infrastructure. Total conflict engendered extensive social and political disaffection and an accompanying fear of impending radical change. In addressing these problems and tensions, the government initiated a policy of reconstruction in the second half of the war. One element of this policy was a planned extension of public library services, including an upgrading of technical and commercial information provision through the establishment of new “dedicated” departments. In the closing years of the war and in its immediate aftermath, public technical and commercial libraries (generically termed “technical libraries” in this article) emerged in some of Britain’s large cities. An analysis of plans and statements from librarians, the business world, and political elites in support of these new “workshop” libraries throws light on contemporary discourses concerning the future of the economy and sociopolitical ideas. However, outside the grand issues of economic policy and social and political stability, discussion surrounding the intended purpose and practices of technical and commercial libraries reflected debates and tensions in the library and information world concerning the nature, status, and identity of librarianship, its relevance to information work and documentation, and the future of the public library in the postwar world.
Publisher
Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ISSN
0024-2594
Type of Resource
text
Genre of Resource
Article
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/3698
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2007 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Owning Collections

Library Trends 55 (3) Winter 2007: Libraries in Times of War, Revolution, and Social Change PRIMARY
Library Trends 55 (3) Winter 2007: Libraries in Times of War, Revolution, and Social Change. Edited by W. Boyd Rayward and Christine Jenkins.