NOT CHANGE TO…CHANGE! The Last 40 Years in (Academic) Librarianship and What it Tells Us

Abstract

Librarianship. It was once regarded as the most calm, indeed static, of professions – a quiet refuge for bespeckled academic types who explained in hushed tones about use of the card catalog or regretfully informed patrons that food and drink were not allowed in the library. Books and journals were purchased title by title after careful review by subject specialists often in consultation with departmental library committees, keeping shelved books in order was a major preoccupation, filing new cards correctly in the card catalog was necessary drudgery, and circulation desks required special carpentry to accommodate the trays and trays of checkout cards carefully put in order day by day so overdue materials could be easily identified. All that, and much, much more has changed, indeed such reminders feel like viewing a different galaxy, far, far away.

What happened of course was the digital revolution, and indeed more than libraries were changed. The whole culture has changed. People who had grown up with rotary dial telephones used almost exclusively for local calls now routinely talk to colleagues or family in other countries face to face using Skype. A question such as who was the winner of the 1946 World Series in baseball which formerly required a trip to the local library and perhaps consultation with the reference staff, now is answered in seconds in the midst of a night out with friends by asking your smartphone. But while all aspects of our lives have been affected by the digital revolution it has played a special role in the transformation of libraries. This is because libraries, particularly academic libraries, serve as central repositories of cultural information and the digital revolution is above all an information revolution.

The digital transformation of libraries has been not just remarkable, but actually astonishing. And it is clearly by no means over – in fact, the transformation appears to be one of continued acceleration and growing depth. The question facing library professionals today, therefore, is how do we take our bearings in such a dynamic situation, how do we prepare ourselves to productively and creatively shape the future of libraries, and how do we prepare future professionals? While there is no crystal ball allowing us to see the future, paradoxically there is a proven approach which can help us anticipate the future and prepare ourselves for dealing with it. By looking at the past and in particular the path the digital revolution has taken to date in libraries we can gain a perspective which will help us deal with what is to come. After all, the future arises out of, is created by, the past.

URL: http://ijkcdt.net/xml/05673/05673.pdf