2. THE INFORMATION REPACKAGING CONCEPT
Information repackaging means to repackage again or anew, in a more attractive format, to be effective in meeting the information needs of library user. Repackaging the information in a way that can be handy, readily understood; packaging information and arranging all these materials in a way that is appropriate to the user, thus combining two essential concepts inherent in the term repackaging, that is, reprocessing, and repackaging. The two strands of repackaging represented by Saracevic and Woods (1981) and Bunch (1986) respectively, that is the scientific/technical strand and the community information work strand, are still apparent in the literature and practice but merge usefully in development information provision for instance, health informatics, both in rural development and highly industrialized setting.
Library service tends to focus on means rather than ends (Buckland, 1992). With numerous sources of information, many library users have turned their backs on the library. For information professionals the focus should shift from provision of information to the satisfaction of information consumers. There is the need for a paradigm shift from holding to access. The clienteles’ needs must guide the library strategy. In the recent years; there has been an increasing volume of writings focusing one way or another on the future of libraries and librarians in the face of electronic networking developments. Boadi (1984) suggested that information repackaging is not a new concept in library and information work manifesting itself as it does in such widely practiced activities as abstracting and indexing services, selective dissemination of