Recently, libraries have been experiencing a revolution similar to that of the web, facing pushes to become digital and focus on public and group communication. The worry that physical books are going extinct is a pressure causing some libraries to reevaluate the way in which their institutions can remain places of free and shared information.
Jason M. Schultz, director of the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at the University of California at Berkeley Law School, describes the role of libraries being two-fold: First, they serve as places to get free information. Second, they are community centers for civic debate. Trends in social media have sent librarians creating circles of conversation mimicking that of twitter and facebook, as well as running blogs and even RFID tagged books that when scanned by phones, read the story to the listener. As libraries become more attune to technology and focus on group conversation and debate, their workers must also alter their job tasks to create topics of discussion, monitor debates, and provide technical support.
All of these changes focus on fulfilling Schultz’s second role of libraries. It appears, then, that libraries’ survival depends on their presence as a source of social commentary, discussion, and debate. If funding continues, libraries will continue to change.
To see the original article, click here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/04/future.library.technology/index.html?iref=newssearch
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