Collaborating in a different way: some issues for university libraries

Universities have today to cope with two manifestations of inflation, which it is useful to think of together: an increase in clienteles, and an increase in references (documents etc.). Several consequences concerning professional collaboration ensue. In competition with one another, universities must have a clear policy of scholarship, which cannot be developed without strong documentary support. Open to new kinds of user, they cannot have a real educational policy without transmission of study practices, among which dealing with documentary material is of major importance. Playing a part in the life of their social environment, they cannot do so without coming across libraries "at the forefront of" this scene. For these reasons, closer collaboration with one another, at all levels of action and decision-making, is a requirement for the future.
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