Distribution in an electronic environment, or will there be libraries as we know them in the Internet world? - Marketing of Library and Information Services

Library Trends, Wntr, 1995 by Kenneth E. Dowlin

Abstract

The new technology and communication tools that are available today are much more powerful than those available even a few years ago. The channels for access and distribution of information and knowledge are much more diverse, they collapse the wait time, and provide more tools directly to the user. While libraries will not be replaced, they will need to adapt their methodologies to take advantage of the new tools. The library that successfully adapts its systems for collection, preservation, organization, and distribution of information and knowledge to the new technology will become a much more central institution in the community served.

Introduction

There are people, particularly those most enamored with high technology information and communication devices, who contend that the Internet world will displace libraries as we know them, and that there will be one gigantic computer chip in the sky, perhaps located at the Library of Congress. These people feel that we are in the midst of an electronic revolution that will engulf libraries. That is a simplistic and undesirable view of the future. Public opinion polls and public referenda consistently show that, in the United States, the communities want their libraries. In San Francisco, 77 percent of the voters approved a bond issue of $109.5 million for a new main library to open in 1996; the Library Foundation of San Francisco raised $30 million from private individuals, families, corporations, and foundations to furnish and equip the new main library in two years; and 70 percent of the voters agreed on a June ballot initiative to increase the public library's budget by 50 percent and require the city to fund the library at that level for fifteen years. In June, all of the library referenda on the ballot in California passed. The public wants public libraries.

With that issue put to rest, the question is what will these libraries actually be doing in the future that is different from now? First, it must be recognized that successful libraries will change. There are significant social, economic, and marketing pressures that will push or pull the continued development of the electronic technology systems for the home and communities. The computer, telephone, and cable television companies, among others, all see the increasing market for electronic entertainment - and sometimes information and knowledge - as the next gold rush. The corporate world is now willing to make changes unheard of a few years ago, such as merging a telephone company and a cable television company, and the President and Congress of the United States are making major changes in laws and regulations that will not only permit changes in the limits on the corporate and public sector world but will stimulate the implementation of the wired nation. The electronic Inter-State Information Highway concept proposed by the President and the Vice President is a call to action for commercial and public sectors to create the system described in the President's National Information Initiative. The library that ignores national political, technology, and community pressures to use the evolving systems and tools will not only face a reduction in support but may miss an opportunity to continue as a major change agent in our society. The traditional library service that requires the person needing material or information to go to library facilities for service is less viable in a networked instant access world. This meant that the library needed to have multiple branches throughout the city or campus. In the past twenty-five years, the vision of neighborhood or academic department collections available to all was virtually accomplished. While viable in the 1960s and 1970s, the increase in labor and material costs makes this mode of operation untenable in tight fiscal times and less cost effective compared with the technological alternatives. So, the library of today must not only deal with the expectations of future services by the public, it must continue to capitalize on the fact that many library supporters are energized by their nostalgic memories of libraries sometime in the past. Many publicly supported libraries are in the "Mom and Pop Store" mode, while the competition is the large grocery store chains. Much of the future success for libraries rests with the library's ability to reconcile the two extremes. The technology is here. The human organizations and institutions to use the technology effectively are not yet in existence.

The Internet World

The Internet has become a global cultural phenomenon. Tens of millions of people have access to the system. It is of the same magnitude as television was in its early years and is a most powerful current trend for societal change. Participation in the Internet collapses geography and time. The cost is independent of distance, and the information is accessed in real or virtual time with little delay. Since the response is immediate, the user accesses the system in an interactive mode. An individual can request something and, if what is requested is not what is wanted, try something else. Even though the number of access points in the world numbers in the millions, they are also very personal and are available to almost anyone with a computer, a modem, and a connection. With cellular telephones and laptop computers, the connection is now portable. The penetration level of the access points in the home, school, and office will continue to climb at an astonishing rate. Unfortunately, the Internet is a cloud of users; it is not well organized and it is difficult to find things.