'If you're not wired … you just aren't a librarian these days': Edwin Burgess takes Army library from card catalogs to online information sharing

Information Outlook, April, 2006 by Forrest Glenn Spencer

Burgess was at this post for 13 years, and it was certainly the core of his development in management as a special librarian, which led to his current post at Fort Leavenworth. His job during that time at TRADOC involved coordination with vendors, installing an online ordering and accounting system, and integration of the library systems. TRADOC is the "architect of the Army," an institution that builds a foundation for the soldier, designing and delivering training to soldiers at all levels and developing doctrine: the rules and methods by which the army operates. It oversees a huge training program at 33 schools and 16 U.S. Army bases.

In 1995, Burgess transferred to Fort Leavenworth as chief of public services, supervising reference services for publicly available materials in the collection and responsible for digitizing the CARL's materials. It's not surprising that as the Army and the other services have adapted to the changing global environment that the special library services of Burgess's world have had to change and adapt.

"My feeling is that I've had the privilege to work in a really interesting time in the profession," said Burgess. "Libraries have changed more in the last 40 years than they have in the previous thousand. When you look at pre-1950 innovations--what is there: gee, we started typing catalog cards! Big deal. Now, no one knows what the heck a catalog card is and nobody misses them. It's all computers today, it's all networked, and we are steadily growing through Web interconnections. We're a long way from perfecting that, if it can be perfected, but that's what we have."

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The Old 286

Burgess recalled some 20 years ago when he went out and bought four Zenith PCs for each TRADOC library, shipped them across the country, and performed installation and training. Those were 286-computers with 20 MB hard drives. "Today we routinely create documents that are more than 20 megs," Burgess added with a laugh. "Or, 10 years ago, the CARL effectively served only those who came in, or those who were physically nearby. Now, we routinely field requests from soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. E-mail and virtual reference have enabled us to actively assist people working in those theaters. We're part of a QuestionPoint reference consortium and handle questions every day from overseas. That's been another big change in the profession."

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Computer technology introduced in the library system also brought about a further change with the librarians, especially in the special librarianship of Burgess and his associates, a change that may not be necessarily generational since it requires acceptance and willingness to adapt.

"At the time when computers were entering the system it revolutionized the library business," Burgess said. "We found that the older librarians who had been around for a while weren't really interested in handling the new technology and that was a big problem for them. They had trouble getting their minds around the whole concept of online services and e-mail. The people who didn't like that kind of change are gone from the system. You cannot be a librarian unless you're well wired. If you're not wired--I don't care if you've got a degree or not--you just aren't a librarian these days. It's a matter of keeping up with the technology as it evolves."