Page 23 - Journal of Library Science in China 2020 Vol.46

Five questions in the construction of smart library in

China 〇a ①

〇b ∗
LI Yuhai , JIN Zhe, LI Jiahui & LI Jue
School of Information Management, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China

Abstract
Due to the rapid development of information technologies and growing demands of users for unlimited
resources and convenient access to resources, the traditional libraries and digital libraries can hardly
satisfy the increasingly diverse needs of users. Therefore, digital libraries are trying to find a way
of changes for smart transformation, resources management, business processes and service modes.
Currently, the construction of smart libraries in China is in the time of exploration stage, which is
lacking the theoretical guidance, and comprehensive plan for various library systems and different
libraries within different regions. This paper attempts to discuss the following five questions: the
concept of smart library, the criteria for smart library, the way of building smart library, the cooperation
that is needed for the construction of smart library, and the lackness of theories during the construction
of smart library. In order to answer above questions and construct smart library, the paper proposes the
following opinions from theoretical perspective, which are construction standards, construction modes,
ways of cooperation, which aims to provide a guideline for the practice of construction of smart libraries
with mature theories of library science.

Keywords
Smart library, Concept, Construction standard, Construction mode, Theoretical research

0 Introduction

The term “smart library” was first proposed by Aittola from Oulu University Library in Finland
in 2003. According to their defination, “smart library is a location-aware mobile library service,
unconstrained by space, which helps users find books and related information” (Aittola, Ryhänen,
& Ojala, 2003). Since then, the concept has attracted the attention of experts and scholars from
different fields all over the world. With the continuous development of cloud computing, big
data, the Internet of Things and other information technologies, especially the AlphaGo event in
2016 that took people’s attention on AI technology, relevant scholars, library staff and cultural
management agencies of the government have became highly interested in the construction of
smart libraries. It is generally accepted that the research and construction of smart libraries are
supported by disciplinary theories and have favorable conditions for sustainable development.
Scholars have carried out research on smart libraries from various perspectives, including

① This article is an outcome of the major cultivation project “Research on Key Technology and Application of Smart Library
Management System” （No. CCNU18JCXK04） supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
* Correspondence should be addressed to LI Yuhai, Email: yhli@mail.ccnu.edu.cn，ORCID：0000-0003-2256-0183.