Cloud Computing: Today’s Hope for Information Security in Networked Libraries

Abstract

Library environments are increasingly dependent on computer technology. Many libraries of all sizes have discontinued use of card catalogs and have decreased the acquisition of hard copies of information resources in favour of electronic versions of same. Yet, it was observed that library’s server, the hub of library’s networked milieu, is feared to be vulnerable to environmental threats, unauthorized usage, malicious software and technical failures, and thus face problems of securing her e-collections and providing access to them. Hence, this paper was set to appraise the efficiency of one of the recent technological tools in the world referred to as cloud computing for achieving a library’s information security in the networked setting. Thus, it is shown that cloud services, preferentially the models of infrastructure, platform and services, in a community, private or public deployment, provided by a good vendor, would not allow environmental, usage, software and technical threats to befall the quantum of information of the library in a networked environment.