Role of Librarians

[Carlos I McEvilly]

On Wed, 18 Oct 1995, Donald A. Barclay wrote:
> I think that the Internet means the absolute end of libraries and 
> librarians. My analogy will demonstrate.

If I haven't missed something, this is the first
message on this list to say that the end of libraries
and librarians was coming, even sarcastically.

Libraries will still be needed to store physical
artifacts and to house a few terminals for people
who do not have computers at home or in their
pockets.

Librarians will still be needed to plan, budget,
purchase, select, and categorize those items that
are absolutely impossible to put on the net, and
provide reference services to a dwindling number
of clients.  And to clean up the unshelved books,
turn off the lights, and remind patrons that the
library is closing each night.

But is this the future that librarians want?

Isn't the exciting and interesting part of the
information environment exactly the part that is
at risk?  Nobody is saying that libraries are
going away.  But I am saying that librarians are
in danger of missing out on the real fun.

Unless.

Unless librarians take up the challenge and 
create a system for helping people access
information on the net that is more enticing
than Lycos, Yahoo, Infoseek, SavvySearch, or
Excite.  It's a world-class challenge, because
the information-seeking tools most people are
using today on the net were created by the
competition.  As Stu said, start your engines.


Carlos McEvilly
cim at lanl.gov