The changing role of a professional society library

The Library and Information Centre (LIC) of the Royal Society of Chemistry has undergone much change in the past three years. This paper is based on the experiences of that period and describes some of the activities involved in changing a professional and learned society library into a business centre. The principal change has been the development of a priced information service called the Chemical Industry Enquiry Service (CIES). CIES serves non-members of the Society from within the chemical industry. LIC staff, not used to running a priced enquiry service, have had to face many changes, not least in the development of a pricing policy. Increasingly, electronic sources of information are being made available in the LIC and are being used to answer technical and business enquiries. Online searching and CD-ROM databases are now being joined by other resources such as the Internet and RSC electronic journals. Greater emphasis has also been placed on general marketing and promotional activities, in order to raise the profile of the LIC as well as generate revenue from specific services.