Opportunities and Challenges of Subject Services in the Era of Smart Libraries

The advent of digital and intelligent technologies has fueled the development of smart libraries, redefining their roles and functions while bringing subject services to a critical stage of transformation. This paper identifies the opportunities inherent in the smart library era, including the innovation of service models, the provision of precise and targeted services, enhanced inter-institutional collaboration, the redefinition of library spaces, and the professional transformation of librarians. At the same time, it highlights the challenges posed by this transition, such as the complexities of managing and mining massive datasets, the adoption and integration of emerging technologies, the growing diversity and personalization of reader demands, the increasing prominence of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary fields, and the shortcomings in service evaluation mechanisms. To address these challenges, several strategic approaches are proposed: reinforcing technological infrastructure, fostering the seamless integration of technology with library services, establishing personalized service frameworks, building collaborative service systems, and refining service evaluation models. These strategies aim to drive the transformation and enhancement of subject services in smart libraries.