Crawford looks at each of his hypothetical whens and counters them with present-day observations. In short, Crawford finds that: …

• reading from digital devices suffers in areas such as light, resolution, speed, and impact on the reader, and no real improvements have been made in the last five years‹people still print out anything longer than 500 words or so; …
• PDAs are hardly omnipresent, and the public seems less than excited about digital book equivalents; …
• print is not dead: more books are being published and purchased and more issues of magazines circulated; …
• all existing library materials are not being converted to digital form, as itıs too big and expensive a task‹the Library of Congress acquires new print materials faster than it digitizes old ones; …
• communications are not "essentially free," and likely never will be; as the prices of PC demonstrates, increased performance for a given price doesnıt mean that prices keep going down for acceptable performance; …
• the Association of American Publishers has made it clear that their vision of digital resources in libraries is strictly pay per view, with libraries serving as distributors‹any idea of a library buying one copy and digitizing it for use by all would eliminate the of motivation of publishers to publish or writers to write; …
• adding the cost of printing to a download fee will likely result in a price comparable to a book‹but the end product (a pile of papers) will likely be less convenient.

Projections of all-digital libraries, says Crawford, have primarily come from academic and other librarians who donıt like dealing with physical collections, library school faculty and others who settled on the "accepted wisdom" of a digital future and "canıt be bothered to change their minds," and people who never cared for boring text. .

Crawford concludes that a more plausible future would include the replacing of some aspects of book publishing with digital publications, such as encyclopedias, parts catalogs, operating manuals, and the like, which are really more effective in a digital format. Crawfordıs future includes both print and electronic communication, both linear text and hypertext, both mediation by librarians and direct access, and a library that is both edifice and interface.

Threaded discussion question:

Crawford foresees a much more limited role for the digital library than the authors of many of our readings, some of whom envisioned an "any book, anywhere, any time" kind of digital future.

Weıve answered lots of essay questions about the future of the library and the role of digitization, but letıs get away from theory for a minute. Tell me about your personal experiences with digital information vs. print. Do you prefer an online or print encyclopedia? Would you buy an e-book reader? Whatıs your gut feeling about digitization in your day-to-day activities of reading, researching, or writing? Have you ever used a digital library outside of classroom assignments? If you extrapolate your experiences across the general population, what do you think the digital/print future looks like?

Reference: Crawford, Walt (1998). Paper persists: Why physical library collections still matter. Online, 22(1), 42+. Retrieved October 5, 1999 from EBSCO online database (#20582, EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite).

The Seven Deadly Sins of Digitization

A Library Without Value

Reviewed by Dianne J.B. Lyons

In the Introduction to the Spring 1999 issue of Library Trends, Janice J. Kirkland and Michael Gorman discuss the negative impact of technology on libraries and librarians.

The authors tell us that libraries are responsible for gathering, selecting, organizing, disseminating, and preserving information in all forms and for providing assistance and instruction in their use. They question whether technology will make some of these tasks unnecessary and others dependent solely on a human-machine interaction. "Will libraries and librarians reside only in the faded memories of the old?"

The authors assert that only a minute fraction of our collective knowledge is available in digital form or will be made available in such a form, based on the tiny scale and enormous expense of digitizing projects.

"Books," said Barbara Tuchman, "are the carriers of civilization." Librarians must understand their role as temporary custodians of the collection, adding to them and then passing them along to the next generation intact; librarians should not concern themselves only with todayıs patron, but with the patrons of the future.

The authors state that our librariesı resources are endangered by technology when we change them, make them less accessible, or discard the originals, and that these acts betray the trust we assumed when we accepted responsibility for them. When we rely solely on the Internet to answer questions, forget the links between the library and the education of students, or substitute training in the use of electronic sources for developing analytical skills to find and evaluate ideas, we are betraying society.

Those who implement new library technologies often make changes without considering whether service or access will be improved, and fail to recognize that people and their needs are more important than the technology we use to organize information.

The authors look at how humankind developed from survival to the creation of money to facilitate trading, then how we changed our lives in order to accumulate more money. "The invention of writing took humankind to higher levels; materialism drags us down from those levels." We created machines to save time and make more money, the most far-reaching of which is the computer. "Though we created computer technology, we have begun to be ruled by it and to regulate our lives by it," the authors assert.

Great minds of the past have discovered new truths about the physical and spiritual worlds and recorded their thoughts; these records were preserved in libraries, archives, and museums.

Accumulating and preserving knowledge is often incompatible or inimical to the money culture. Some may see anything new to be desirable simply because it is new, creating a new religion of sorts with the machine as god.

"Librarians are being told, ŒYou are now much more important than the public, who don't understand computers,ı and ŒYou are ahead of the teachers because you understand library technology.ı" Librarians are told computers will help with their jobs, but what happens is that technology replaces many of them, leaving more money to spend on technology.

The library economy is excessively concerned with hardware and software, which must be maintained by computer specialists. Those who object are seen as obstacles in the computer age.

There is a need to examine how library technology affects human beings, the records of the ages, and the librarians themselves. The article, which serves as an introduction to the Spring 1999 issue, then lists the main points of many of the articles it contains. Some of the more notable points follow:

Suzanne Hildenbrand notes a growing schism in library education resulting from technology which may be dividing library school students into two types of degrees and thus by gender.

Linda Dobb finds that her staff has moved from a view of the library as technology-driven to that of reaffirming human and service values.

Yin Zhang, a doctoral candidate, studies the use of Internet-based sources for research, noting studentsı reluctance to use them because of quality and stability issues.

Laverna Saunders examines the virtual library and the human role within it, concluding that librarians will be needed more than ever to help users and to humanize the technology.

The authors conclude that Americaıs technology is the servant of profits, not human needs. Francine Fialkoff stated in a 1997 Library Journal editorial that, "Books are central to what libraries provide....They entertain and enlighten, inspire and instruct. We can't afford to ignore them." The authors state that most people go to library schools to become librarians but that their education does not equip them to do what they want to do.

The theme of the article is best summed up by Clifford Stoll, who said, "No, I don't worry about the bookless library... Instead I suspect computers will deviously chew away at libraries from the inside. They'll eat up book budgets and require librarians that are more comfortable with computers than with children and scholars. Libraries will become adept at supplying the public with fast, low-quality information. The result won't be a library without books--it'll be a library without value."

The authors suggest that to avoid this scenario, the librarian should develop a library mission statement that will keep the institutionıs true purpose visible to all (not tucked away on the libraryıs home page). This statement should make clear that knowledge and understanding, not data, are the libraryıs central concerns, and that human service to people and communities is the reason the library exists.

Reference: Kirkland, Janice J. and Gorman, Michael. (1999, Spring). Introduction. Library Trends, 47(4), 605+. Retrieved October 20, 1999 from EBSCO online database (#2055775, EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite).

Threaded Discussion Question:

In his 1995 book entitled Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway, Clifford Stoll wrote, "No, I don't worry about the bookless library.... Instead I suspect computers will deviously chew away at libraries from the inside. They'll eat up book budgets and require librarians that are more comfortable with computers than with children and scholars. Libraries will become adept at supplying the public with fast, low-quality information. The result won't be a library without books--it'll be a library without value."

In the article I summarized, Kirkland and Gorman state, "Most people go to library schoolsŠto become librarians but, increasingly, their education does not equip them to do what they want to do."

Is library school education turning us into what Stoll feared‹"librarians more comfortable with computers than with children and scholars"‹rather than librarians that are doing what we "want to do?" With MLS programs emphasizing electronic resources, will any of us be able to point patrons to a good novel because weıve read it, know the authorıs style, or know similar authors‹or will our recommendations come from a digital library of book reviews? Will the well-read librarians of our youth be replaced with computer nerds who never crack a book?

Possibilities for Proactive Library Services

Reviewed by Dianne J.B. Lyons

In library school, we are taught to be proactive rather than reactive-to buy the books before the patrons ask for them. How is this ideal reflected in the digital environment?

We are now able to order books on demand from the likes of amazon.com, but what about other information media? Eric Lease Morgan suggests one way to be proactive is to, first, foster a doctor-patient type of relationship with the library patron in which the patron would trust us with their long-term circulation records, and second, to save and analyze these circulation records to decipher patterns of borrowing behavior and then to make suggestions for future borrowing behavior. If librarians were to retain the names and/or email addresses of borrowers, the writer suggests, suggestions based on previous borrowing behavior could be delivered on demand to patrons' lists of recommended new reading.

Similarly, if patrons were to complete surveys outlining their interests, these interests could be translated into subject headings or call number ranges. As new materials within these ranges were acquired, announcements in the form of email messages could be sent to patrons.

The library's OPAC can also be used in a personalized fashion, directing patrons to outside sources such as amazon.com or bibliographic databases based on their search parameters.

Morgan suggests that another way to be proactive is to create a CD-ROM describing the library's services and products. It might include specialized software that patrons would need to use your services, HTML files or text explaining how document delivery works, lists of library contacts, or guides on how to use the library. CD-ROM's advantages over a network connection include the fact that not all users are connected to a network, large files may be included, and control is exercised over what the patron sees.

Morgan also suggests that while telephone reference is still a popular service, the librarian can turn the tables and call the patrons rather than having them call you. For example, the library's web page can include a Call Me link; after clicking, the patron will receive a phone call from a ready-and-waiting librarian. Morgan admits it sounds hokey, but it might make communication easier and help patrons to articulate a reference question.

Morgan concludes that librarians tend to treat patrons as though they were all the same, when they should instead follow the lead of manufacturers in creating customized output for individuals. By providing proactive and direct marketing, libraries can get away from their image as storehouses and move toward a more important role as evaluators of data in our information-rich society.

Morgan, Eric Lease. (1999, April). Possibilities for Proactive Library Services. Computers in Libraries, 19(4), 34+. Retrieved October 25, 1999 from EBSCO online database (#1725160, EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite).

Threaded discussion question:

Morgan suggests the proactive librarian might analyze patron records and email them with suggestions "of future borrowing behavior," i.e., books they might like. Amazon.com does this already. Does this work for you? Do you find it offensive and Big Brother-like, or is it a worthwhile service that saves you time? Have you ever seen it done in a library? How would you feel if your librarian sent you an email along the lines of, "Your previous borrowing record suggests to us that you might be interested in our new titles, Fat's Where It's At, The Quietly Promiscuous Wife: How Not to Get Caught, and Roaches No More." Is it possible, as Morgan suggests, for librarians to establish a physician/patient type of relationship with a patron? Is this something patrons really want or need?