Geographical Distribution of Library Software & Systems

Objective: The study aimed to determine the geographical distribution of the library software and systems in different regions of the world.

Methodology: The descriptive-analytical method used. The statistical population included all the libraries whose information is entered to International Guide Website of Lib-Web-Cats (library websites and catalogs), 60986 libraries. A researcher-made checklist used as a data collection tool.

Findings: On the average, the maximum number of the public libraries (956), the private libraries (31), the collegiate libraries (190), the medical libraries (14) and the law libraries (10) were located in the Pacific Region. On the average, Canada and the USA had the maximum number of school libraries, about 1100 libraries. The average number of research and art libraries in the 6 regions of the country was very low and approximately, zero. These regions were not similar in terms of the type of the libraries and the tools being used in each one. In other words, there was a relation between the region and the type of the library and the tools being used in each library of that specific region. Also, these regions were similar in terms of the total number of the libraries; i.e. there was no relation between the type of the region and the total number of the libraries. Discussion and

Conclusion: It could be concluded that the type and number of the libraries in different regions of the world varied according to different privileging conditions of the societies existing in these regions. The type of the tools being applied in each library was different according to the specific geographical region. It would be interesting to mention that the geographical region had no influence on the total number of the libraries, which shows that the focus in all regions was on meeting the customers' needs rather than making a quantified set and complex of libraries.

Innovation: According to the reviews and researches conducted, it seems that no comprehensive Research has been done on comparing library systems throughout the world. This Research provides a perspective on the application of library systems in different regions of the world and presents interesting results.

Keywords: Library System, Information Systems, Library Software, Lib-Web-Cats, Geographical distribution.