Archive - Historical Material

Information at the right time in the right place can be the life blood for a person, an organisation, or a country. However, with changes in the economy, hitherto information-rich bodies are finding their resources being constrained whilst, on the other hand, some information-poor bodies are becoming empowered by their greater potential access to information via new information technology.

This paper will explore the ways in which smaller specialised information resources, such as the Library & Information Centre (LIC) of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), fit into this global scenario. For example, how can these smaller but information-rich bodies assist organisations in less-developed countries identify information which is key to their needs? The RSC has many individual members in such countries who have the same rights to information and services as have RSC members elsewhere.

The rise of the Internet and Web-based information resources over the past few years have created a "level playing field" in which organisations (regardless of their size or resources) can make their collections available to everyone.