• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.29
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• pp.63-139
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• 1995

At this point, the universities preparing the 21st century, require a great reform in various ways, especially a renovation of the function of the university library that can provide intellectual and information ability in information society is raised as an imminent task. Information technology, particularly the advanced technology in networking, have already constructed networks for university libraries using the information super-highway and it has enabled formation seekers to get the retrieved results transferred to their personal computers in a second. On the other hand, university libraries playing the most important role as an information center are still not corresponding effectively with the information age since it is tied down to the previous system, policy and tradition. The duty of university library is to distribute the accumulated, processed and stored academic information promptly and accurately to professors, researchers and students who are in need, and thereby to enhance their research capability, However, the present university libraries do not seem to be functioning smoothly due to the lack of an effective administrating system, budget, facilities, and human resources, Accordingly, our university libraries are in urgent need to be of a new and futuristic form appropriate for the 21st century. They must be able to cope with the growth of users' expectation in the future. This study examined several university libraries in the America, the structures of which have been reorganized, and also looked into the network(NACSIS) for the college and research libraries in Japan. In particular, the study focused on the following aspects : 1) changing role of university library, 2) new criteria for evaluating university libraries, 3) urgent need of a network for college and research libraries, 4) administrative support for the university libraries, and 5) case studies of the university libraries in the foreign countries. Finally, this study suggests a model for our university library in the 21st century.