| Michael
Keller "This Magic Moment" |
August 9, 8.30-10.00 Gates Bldg. HP Auditorium |
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| The avalanche called Internet has certainly made more prominently visible the enormous variety of meanings of the term library. And in the contexts of the computer sciences, we certainly heard about digital libraries replacing what one earnest young assistant professor told me was a mausoleum of pulp paper. By that he meant his tribe's perception of traditional libraries. We seem to have moved from such millenarian prophesies to a plethora of libraries. In the news are digital libraries, genomic libraries, software libraries, radio libraries, symbol libraries, clipart libraries, java libraries, and spice libraries. There seems to be no doubt now, however, that libraries and librarians in the traditional senses are destined not to disappear, but to contribute their science and craft and sensibility to non-traditional libraries. The threats of the mid-1990s have disappeared, replaced with a single threat, that of our capacities as leaders of libraries to exploit the advantages of the Internet, desk-top and server technologies, and network-based information resources for our readers, our patrons. Whether one describes the mode of library planning and operations now as "riding two horses simultaneously" or "dealing with the both/and conundrum" or "striving for right brain left brain synergy", we now have the huge advantage of information technology and network'd information resources pretty closely pre-configured out of the box for many of our needs. Even those libraries who cannot afford or otherwise have not adopted digital information resources for their programs must now measure their services and collections against the new panorama. This presentation will present and reflect upon the opportunities offered to us by information technologies, considering as well what our challenges may be for the future in a rapidly changing society. Among the questions which will be addressed are the following ones. … How will digital collections change the access to and delivery of information? … How has information technology helped extend library services and what are the new possibilities? … How can information technology address the needs of the new communities of readers and users, some of them disadvantaged ones? … How can new communication technologies be utilized to enhance the delivery of service? Why will anyone still need the library when they think they can get it at home? | 
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Photo: Patrick Tehan
(SJMN)
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Coordinates http://highwire.stanford.edu/~mkeller/ |
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