فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Introduction: The important role of information and communication technologies and theirinfluence on methods of storing, retrieving information in digital libraries, has not only changedthe meanings behind classic library activates but has also created great changes in their services.However, it seems that not all digital libraries provide their users with similar services and onlysome of them are successful in fulfilling their role in digital environment. The Iranian NationalMedical library is among those that appear to come short compared to other digital librariesaround the world. By knowing the different services provided by digital libraries worldwide, onecan evaluate the services provided by Iranian National Medical library. The goal of this study is acomparison between Iranian National Medical library and digital libraries of selected countries.Materials and Methods: This is an applied study and uses descriptive – survey method. Thestatistical population is the digital libraries around the world which were actively providing libraryservices between October and December 2011 and were selected by using the key word “DigitalLibrary” in Google search engine. The data‑gathering tool was direct access to the websites ofthese digital libraries. The statistical study is descriptive and Excel software was used for dataanalysis and plotting of the charts. Results: The findings showed that among the 33 digitallibraries investigated worldwide, most of them provided Browse (87.87%), Search (84.84%), andElectronic information retrieval (57.57%) services. The “Help” in public services (48/48%) and“Interlibrary Loan” in traditional services (27/27%) had the highest frequency. The Iranian NationalMedical library provides more digital services compared to other libraries but has less classicand public services and has less than half of possible public services. Other than Iranian NationalMedical library, among the 33 libraries investigated, the leaders in providing different servicesare Library of University of California in classic services, Count Way Library of Medicine in digitalservices, and Library of Finland in public services. Results and Discussion: The results of thisstudy show that among the digital libraries investigated, most provided similar public, digital,and classic services and The Iranian National Medical library has been somewhat successfulin providing these services compared to otherdigital libraries. One can also conclude thatthe difference in services is at least in partdue to difference in environments, informationneeds, and users. Conclusion: IranianNational Medical Library has been somewhatsuccessful in providing library services indigital environment and needs to identifythe services which are valuable to its usersby identifying the users’ needs and specialcharacteristics of its environment