Legal Basis Of The Social Service Of The University Library

With the acceleration of knowledge growth and update, lifelong educationbecomes an inevitable requirement, while education in school can not meet the needsof individual and social development. Meanwhile, with the development of economyand the urbanization process, public library cannot meet the information needs of thepublic, no matter from the collection quantity or quality. To meet public demand oflibrary use, public library needs assistance from the other types of libraries. Universitylibrary has many advantages in terms of literature information resources, humanresources, technical equipment and resources. Because of lack of library law,traditional idea and administration system of library in university, there is a big gap incarrying out social services between China and some developed countries. This paperfirstly introduces the basic situation of social service of university library, and thensummarizes the legislative process of library law both in USA and China, andanalyzes experience of social service of university library in USA and obstacles inChina. Lastly it designs a system for social service of university library in China fromfour aspects including library law, administration of university library, tactics andultimate goal of social service of university library. Related researches are as follows:(1) The status and achievements of theory research of social service of universitylibrary both in home and abroad. It summarizes Chinese scholars’ focus on topicssuch as whether the university library should carry out social service, advantages andobstacles in carrying out social service, how to carry out and ensure the whole process,and practices in foreign university. It also generalizes foreign scholars’ concerns ontheory research and case study of social service of university library. And finally itpoints out the characteristics of present research and unresolved problems.(2) Overview of social service of university library. It introduces the definition ofsocial service of university library, its theoretical and practical basis, and also itsadvantages in meeting the public’s information need.(3) Experience of social service of university library in the USA. It summarizesthe legislative process of library law both in USA and China, and analyzes experienceof social service of university library in USA and obstacles in China.(4) Design of the system for social service of university library in China. Itdesigns a system for social service of university library in China from four aspectsincluding library law, administration of university library, tactics and ultimate goal ofsocial service of university library.System designed in this paper aims to promote the process of social service ofuniversity library in China, so that university library can take its advantages to help public library with meeting the information needs of the public.