Bottom Line on Electronic Libraries -Reply

[Thom Gillespie]

_Points of disagreement_

On Wed, 2 Oct 1996, C. W. Tazewell wrote:

>      Libraries and librarians will be very important.  There will
> be basic changes in the nature of services, however.  As time
> goes by the present public library will slowly become more of a
> community center with a reading room and reference desk.

Long after everyone reading this list is dead. Painting did not disappear 
when photography appeared, theater did not disappear when film appeared, 
radio did not disappear when TV appeared, TV did not disappear when the 
internet appeared ... and that clunky old stuff, paper, is doing just 
fine. Libraries are and have been for quite some time much more than 
reading rooms and desks: kids, videos, games, tools from Berkeley, 
meetings, theater, community TV in Bloomington, etc.

>      The Internet must be adapted to the unsophisticated user.
> Don't even consider training everybody to be web-fluent.  For
> the general public it must be made very, very simple.  That is
> the challenge!

Probably not. It takes almost 8 years to become a _reader_ and we have 
been putting up with that for a long time. There will be material with 
different levels of difficulty. You know what they say: if it is easy 
enough for an idiot to use then only idiots will use it.

>      Web surfing is for the professional librarian/information
> specialist and the dedicated Web Surfing Hobbiest.

Tell that to my son who is 16 and surfs all weekend for music.

>      It's time you set up your local community/area/regional/
> metropolitan digital library - for Jack and Jill AND Little
> Joey.

Didn't yahoo already do that? Don't forget yaholligans.

>      Here is a sobering note: I know of many, many people
> that have had an Internet account for months and even years
> that have never progressed beyond email knowledge.  These
> include many sophisticated professionals.  The web is too much
> for them.  Many are embarrassed to mention their situation.

I know many who can't read and are also embarrassed. 

>      A local middle school has almost 300 computers connected
> to the Internet with fiber-optic cable.  They have about a
> thousand students and seven dozen teachers.   Without a
> local central digital library/k-12 media center they will be
> wasting much of their time!  All those kids will never become
> web surfers - and few of the teachers.  It has gotta be as
> easy as clicking on channel 3!

Does it matter if they all become web surfers? If you want easy channel 
clicking get a TV. A violin has a very difficult interface, takes years 
to master. Would you throw that away? I'd trade in the 300 computers for 
300 pianos and get teachers who could really play. My guess is you would 
see a much greater cognitive gain in that case. 

>      The 21st century will usher in the Information Age.  The
> key and underlying factor to financial success will be
> information.  The Internet is the focal point of information.
> Central digital regional/metropolitan/community libraries are 
> essential for progress and profit in the future.   

Do you think the focal point is information or entertainment? How do you 
tell the difference? Is one more boring? Is one more beautiful? Is the 
issue seriously confused?

>      The Internet is a cultural change greater than the
> Industrial Revolution.

This I agree with. 

--Thom