<$BlogRSDUrl$> Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
Internet Happenings, Events and Sources


Saturday, February 19, 2005  

Librarians Must Rethink the Future
http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/feb05/voice.shtml

Google's move to digitize the collections of five of the world's leading research libraries marks a major leap forward in the movement to shift the nexus of knowledge from the bricks-and-mortar library to the Web, says Barbara Quint, editor of Searcher Magazine, and librarians must rethink their role accordingly. "Whatever we do and for whomever we do it, we must design our tasks under the principle of Do-Once, Serve-Many. We must look beyond constituency limitations. We must create products and services that can meet the needs of all users of the content inside these those products and services, not just that of our immediate constituencies. That will mean designing or joining projects that integrate and network with others working the same or similar content, the same or similar users… We must recognize that the weight of the future may collapse the structures of the past, that the systems we have relied upon to filter and measure and archive and distribute quality information may dissolve and leave us floating in a sea of disparate data. But the same dangerous future also will provide the tools to build new and better systems, tools open to new players -- like us… Above all, we must recognize that new tasks abound and, now that we are freed from shelf patrol duties, we're the ones to do them."

posted by Marcus Zillman | 4:20 AM
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