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The library is changing. All the audio and video media is now digital and downloaded via the Web or illegally pirated and shared, so any cd's, dvd's, or, the ancient vhs tapes are all really no longer necessary components of the library's collection. Some would also argue that eventually print materials will have the same fate, with the gradual and steady rise of e-books - even in the face of traditional and modern luddites, or even the faintly reluctant who enjoy reading the book itself and compiling a vast and structurally permanent personal library that will be there indefinitely, barring a statistically improbable disaster. Even presently, the most important components of the vital reference collection can be found on the World Wide Web, and libraries offer so many journal databases that the space reserved for periodicals within the physical layout of the building is slowly becoming obsolete and unnecessary (hopefully these database technologies are moving towards 100 percent full-text coverage). However with the inevitable command and conquer of information by technology the library as a physical place does not become archaic or disadvantageous; its role simply evolves, and, in certain light, becomes even more important than ever in the history of the human race.
The library is now a community center, an informational and technological commons where people can overcome the digital divide (which indeed still exists), an increasingly significant educational extension of the public school system, and, most importantly, a commencement, validation, and sanctuary for research. Information itself needs to be filtered and studied. Bullshit must be dissected and the truth removed, stored and made accessible in the library for eternity, and, if we are lucky, the truth will be embedded into the collective memory of society and gradually formed into history. The library should be the center for information and communication management. The library should be a blackhole where information enters and the ergosphere of gravitation that is the information scientist, who pulverizes and pulls the bullshit passed the event horizon and only allows the truth to escape back out into the community. In the future, there may not be a single book in the library. But it may be the home to some of the most powerful and versatile computers on earth , and managed by some of the most apolitical, trustworthy, and educated professionals the world has ever seen.
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Posted by TheGeneralist on 2008-06-10 18:53:40 | Rating: | Views: 35
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