Knowledge Organization from Libraries to the Web: Strong Demands on the Weakest Side of International Librarianship

This paper reflects on some major aspects related to library subject access systems in the era of networked information. The main argument builds on the fact that we nowadays witness the strongest demand and expectation on subject access tools, coming from far beyond the traditional library world, but the field remains the weakest side of internationallibrarianship. While the emergence to cope with the practical challenges of a wider environment is emphasized, the need to reinforce the internationalization of knowledge organization as a professional library matter is stressed, not only at the pragmatic level but also, more importantly, in theoretical terms. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: © 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]