The Adoption of Innovations in Library Organizations

To enhance the quality of library and information service, libraries have borrowed from business theory and practice in planning and evaluating library services. However, an area of business theory that has received relatively little attention in library science is organizational innovation. Reports in the business literature provide evidence that innovation is essential for both development and survival. In increasingly unstable times of rapidly changing information technology, libraries must use the literature of innovation as well as that of planning and evaluation to shape better libraries. This paper explores key issues related to innovation in libraries including the nature, the barriers, and the ways to adopt and implement innovative strategies successfully.