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National libraries
1. Introduction
Famously referred to as the "little red dot" by then Indonesian President B.J. Habibie ([3] Funston, 1999) in his interview with the Asian Wall Street Journal of 4 August 1998, the Republic of Singapore is an island city-state of close to five million inhabitants in Southeast Asia. Singapore's small geographic size and unique political landscape allow for a highly sophisticated and efficient public infrastructure network that supports the daily lives of its residents.
With libraries the world over facing the challenge of meeting the needs of users and improving access, the National Library of Singapore (NLS) has, in the past decade, sought to explore ways in which remote reference services can be improved and access to its collections in the online space can be enhanced.
This paper focuses on the NLS's role in the provision of reference and information services, in particular its initiatives in bringing its services and collections - including resources held by other institutions - to the online space so as to facilitate access to a wider audience. In addition, it discusses some of the recent initiatives launched by the NLS, including the encyclopedic Singapore Infopedia, NewspaperSG, a landmark collaborative project between the NLS and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), and the Singapore Memory Project, a nationwide initiative to build a national digital collection of materials about Singapore.
1.1 The National Library of Singapore and the National Library Board (NLB)
The National Library Board (NLB) is a national institution providing trusted, accessible and globally connected library and information services to the people of Singapore, the region and internationally. NLB oversees the National Library and a three-tier public library system, which includes regional, public, and community children's libraries. In addition, NLB operates 17 libraries for various government agencies, schools and institutions. Through this, NLB is able to provide easy access to the public as well as cater to the varied needs of its different customer segments.
The NLS performs the important statutory role of preserving the nation's published heritage through legal deposit. Its other roles include providing national reference, collection and knowledge services as well as promoting its resources through publishing initiatives and exhibitions, providing digital library services via the NL Web[1] , and playing a networking and advocacy role...