Century challenges: the view from the Scottish Parliament

摘要

Library and information services increasingly face the challenge of justifying the value they are adding to their organisation. SPICe, the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, was created at the end of the 20th century to meet the needs of the newScottish Parliament. With the opportunity to start afresh, this paper analyses the most important elements on which new services were based. These include the need to align your service with the objectives of your organisation, the need to build and maintain your credibility, and the need to meet your customers face to face. The biggest challenge facing research and information staff in the 21st century is identified as the need to embrace change.