ERIC Number: EJ999854
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Nov
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1041-7915
EISSN: N/A
Preserving Library Value through the Shifting Tides of Technology
Breeding, Marshall
Computers in Libraries, v32 n9 p27-29 Nov 2012
The core mission of libraries has always centered on making content and related services available to patrons. The form in which that content is delivered has changed continually. The most ancient libraries or archives organized clay tablets or cylinders written in cuneiform. Centuries ago, the transition from scrolls to codices must have been traumatic. Many may have seen the humorous video where a scholar in the middle ages who was used to unwinding scrolls experiences a book for the first time and struggles with how to open it and find information in the unfamiliar format. In the present times, these kind of radical transformations happen not every few centuries but every few years. In recent decades, libraries have worked their way through a succession of changes in technology and in media that creates opportunities for library services that may or may not endure. The author does not anticipate any end to the ongoing cycle of technology-related services offered by libraries, as long as libraries adapt quickly to each round of change.
Descriptors: Library Services, Institutional Mission, Influence of Technology, Technological Advancement, Library Development, Library Materials, Organizational Change, Institutional Characteristics, Access to Computers, Electronic Publishing, Library Role, Library Automation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Adult Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A