Tomorrow's Library Research Articles

The time traveller opens the bookcase: trends in academic art & design in the United Kingdom

A time traveller visiting a British art school library in the 1840s, the 1970s, and the 1990s, would recognise a significant degree of continuity linking the library of the 1840s with that of the 1970s, but would be startled by the changes which have taken place in the last 20 years. Rapid change has resulted from several factors: increasing numbers of students; a growth in the demand from the public for art information; changes in the content and delivery of the curriculum; and not least, new technologies. This rapid pace of change is destined to continue into the foreseeable future, so much so that, instead of adapting to change bit by bit, librarians need to envisage and plan the new art libraries of tomorrow.

The library of tomorrow: A universal window serving independent problem solvers

Penniman describes a mission and vision for the library of the twenty‐first century that go far beyond document delivery. He proposes that the real mission of the library is to help present and future generations of citizens become independent problem solvers—who have available, and know how to use, information tools to address the challenges that face them. To help fulfill this mission, he proposes that libraries seek a vision that can be realized with the help of technology: to create a universal window to the vast array of information held by our libraries and to offer this window to the widest possible audience.

Tomorrow's libraries: more than a modular telephone jack, less than a complete revolution— Perspectives of a provocateur

The annual operating costs for traditional libraries can be shown to be greater than the cost to distributing a portable computer and related sources of electronic information to each library user in the academic environment. For public libraries, opportunity to reach the disadvantaged are inherent in this and other developments in the delivery of information. A time frame for the emergence of an information appliance—the tablet computer—capable of supporting the required information traffic, is presented and a model is developed to predict the migration of content from paper to electroform for each subject discipline. As one viable approach to library planning for the coming “new” information environment, the author suggests converting the “central library” into an “electronic information distribution center” that can support users regardless of physical location, while also incorporating automated storage and retrieval facilities to minimize warehousing costs for residual hard copy materials. The economical provision of information SERVICE is the objective; not greater staffs, collections of little used materials, and buildings.

Towards Intelligent Management of Information Resources — A Case for Special Libraries or the National Intelligence

This article tries to pinpoint a transition from the library of today to a model for a library of tomorrow in an organisation or company setting. The one we envisage here can be called an intelligent library, as it is information-oriented. It is based on the possibilities associated with using modern technology to aid the users by isolating significant factors in the environment that can influence the immediate and long-range development of the company. In a broader term we are looking for an new information service philosophy.

LC and BL: Libraries of Tomorrow

LC and BL: Libraries of Tomorrow

Look — no paper! The library of tomorrow

A scenario is given of a possible library of the future. Such a library might have shelves containing talking books, video cassettes, computer programs on floppy disks and the entire contents of Chemical Abstracts and Encyclopaedia Brittanica on biochips. The catalogue of the library stock and the reference books might well be stored on optical disks and viewed on flat screens. Information on the classification scheme and how to use the collection might be provided by listening to tape recordings and voice synthesisers might inform borrowers where to return items. Robots collect these items from dispensers and replace them on the shelves. Each item in the library has a barcode which is scanned by a laser to provide details of loans/returns and patrons. Terminals linked to computers via satellites enable distant files to be searched on demand for information not stored in the library. Most of the journals taken by the library will be in digital form but a touch of a button on the terminal causes the images to be printed out locally. Fact or fiction? The paper goes on to describe some of the equipment that is currently available to them in the future (such as holography, robotics and satellites). Where we are now in terms of technological developments in libraries and information centres is discussed with reference to some actual projects such as Maggie's Place and Dave's Den. Finally, the impact of such futuristic, electronic libraries on the user as well as the librarian is considered.

Tomorrow's library today

Tomorrow's library today

Tomorrow's Library: Direct Access and Delivery (Book Review)

Tomorrow's Library: Direct Access and Delivery (Book Review)

Tomorrow's Libraries for Teachers Colleges: a Checklist to Aid in Securing Library Plant and Equipment Equal to the Expected Demands of These Institutions; Prepared for the Committee on Standards and Surveys of the American Association of Teachers Colleges (Book Review)

Tomorrow's Libraries for Teachers Colleges: a Checklist to Aid in Securing Library Plant and Equipment Equal to the Expected Demands of These Institutions; Prepared for the Committee on Standards and Surveys of the American Association of Teachers Colleges (Book Review)

Developing a College Library Staff

TH I S DISCUSSION of developing college library staff for both the functional and the subject organization of the library is limited to the college library, because its work differs from that of university in being concerned chiefly with undergraduates and with one educational unit. staff as here considered includes the librarian and professional assistants, but not the student or clerical staff. Functional organization of the library includes the plan of operation and service, such as work in acquisitions, cataloging, lending, and reference. Subject organization covers background and knowledge in subject fields of the professionally trained staff. Developing the library staff begins with the librarian, for the library will seldom be better than its librarian. I do not agree unqualifiedly with the president of Brown University when he says, The least important qualification of the librarian is his training. very nature of his position and the function of the college library make the training of the librarian important. He should be scholar and have the attitude of first-rate teacher, but he must go even further—he must know the functional organization of material and the administration of personnel. 1 Wriston, Henry M. College and University Libraries. In Danton, Emily M., ed. Library of Tomorrow. A.L.A., 1939. p. 147. Assuming good general education, the librarian should be trained in technique (not necessarily routine) and this training should be followed by discipline in service, in order to know applied technique. functional processes of wellorganized library are inseparably interwoven, and each process in its relation to all others needs clear understanding on the part of the administrative head. In short, nothing else entirely takes the place of training and experience. For this reason, it seems to me, the college librarian should not be one who steps from library school, undergraduate or graduate, into this administrative position. trained person who knows first hand the toils and problems of acquisition, circulation, reference, and even cataloging work, is better able to organize the library; better able to develop normal or superior staff; and better able to meet with assurance and decision the administrative problems to be discussed with the administrative head of the college. Such librarian inspires the confidence of the staff and commands its respect, without which the service of the library suffers. librarian needs a command of library procedures on which to build professional performance. There seems to be tendency nowadays to waive much of this in filling certain positions. More men, for instance, are being appointed to executive positions—an undesirable policy unless the man is ap-

In Twenty-five Years: The Library of Tomorrow: Symposium

<i>In Twenty-five Years</i>: The Library of Tomorrow: Symposium