Outreach and dissemination of information services through electronic media: the case of Specialized Library on Climate Change, TERI

The dynamic library and information science sector demands that libraries maintain and develop the information resources and services to anticipate and serve the information needs of users. There is a growing need for developing and disseminating information resources and services pertaining to specific subject areas to enable easy access by focused user communities. Climate change is one such area that has generated much interest in the national as well as international arena. Activities related to outreach and dissemination of library and information services has been growing steadily in the present information era. The electronic media has emerged as a powerful tool for such activities. The Specialized Library on Climate Change (SLCC) at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) was initiated with an aim to function as an information collection, compilation and dissemination centre on issues related to climate change. The paper outlines the information resources and services of SLCC such as collection development, current awareness services, database development and selective information services. The paper focuses on the outreach and dissemination mechanisms undertaken by SLCC using the electronic media.