| This study investigates and compares the development, organizational structure, and information services offered of selected special libraries/documentation centres that serve the international women's community, with emphasis on services to economically developing countries. Placed within the theoretical framework of development communication, feminism and the role of libraries and information centres in the global south, the research addresses the provision of information technology and services to diverse communities on a global scale. The inquiry focuses on differences and trends in sustainability and service between grassroots-based centres and institutionally based centers. The success or failure of these selected special libraries in their ability to serve their target communities and their relationship to the larger international library and development communities is explored. Research findings suggest that grassroots centres are more sustainable and successful over time than are the centres supported by mainstream institutions. An examination of major initiatives that emerged between 1970–1990 and how they developed is presented, followed by a series of in-depth case studies of specific resource centres. The third phase of the study presents survey results from 160 documentation centres currently operating in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Asia/Pacific rim, West Asia, Europe and North America. These findings establish a framework for additional research on the development and success of special libraries serving developing countries and, along with the work of other librarians and documentalists working in these communities, attempts to develop a new paradigm for the delivery of information services. |
