Being analog: creating tomorrow's libraries

472 Pages·1999·1.02 MB·English

by  Walt Crawford

Being Analog : Creating Tomorrow's
title:
Libraries
author: Crawford, Walt.
ALA Editions of the American Library
publisher:
Association
isbn10 | asin: 0838907547
print isbn13: 9780838907542
ebook isbn13: 9780585300740
language: English
Library science--United States, Libraries--
United States--Special collections--
subject
Electronic information resources, Libraries-
-United States--Data processing.
publication date: 1999
lcc: Z665.2.U6C73 1999eb
ddc: 020/.973
Library science--United States, Libraries--
United States--Special collections--
subject:
Electronic information resources, Libraries-
-United States--Data processing.
Page i
Being Analog
Creating Tomorrow's Libraries
Walt Crawford
Page ii
While extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of
information appearing in this book, the publisher makes no warranty,
express or implied, on the accuracy or reliability of the information,
and does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person
for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in this
publication.
Trademarked names appear in the text of this book. Rather than
identify or insert a trademark symbol at the appearance of each name,
the author and the American Library Association state that the names
are used for editorial purposes exclusively, to the ultimate benefit of
the owners of the trademarks. There is absolutely no intention of
infringement on the rights of the trademark owners.
Portions of chapter 4 originally appeared, in longer and somewhat
different form, in "Numeracy and Common Sense: Real-World
Engineering," Library Hi Tech 13:3 (1995): 8393. Copyright 1995 by
Walt Crawford.
Project Editor: Louise D. Howe
Cover design by Tessing Design
This book was composed by the author in Arrus BT and Friz Quadrata
BT from Bitstream, Inc., using Corel Ventura 8. Special symbols are
from Microsoft's Wingdings and ITC Zapf Dingbats. All type is
TrueType.
Printed on 50-pound White Offset, a pH-neutral stock, and bound in
10-point coated cover stock by Data Reproductions.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ¥
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crawford, Walt.
Being analog : building tomorrow's libraries / Walt Crawford.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-8389-0754-7
1. Library scienceUnited States. 2. LibrariesUnited States
Special collectionsElectronic information resources. 3. Libraries
United StatesData processing. I. Title.
Z665.2.U6C73 1999
020'.973dc21 98-40764
Copyright © 1999 by Walt Crawford. All rights reserved except those
which may be granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright
Revision Act of 1976.
Printed in the United States of America.
03 02 01 00 99 5 4 3 2 1
Page iii
CONTENTS
Preface v
Part I 1
Being Analog
1 3
The Future Is Not What It Used to Be
2 15
The All-Digital Future Does Not Compute
3 29
Different Strokes: People and the Future
4 42
Coping with Nonsense: Numeracy and Common Sense
Part II 57
Libraries and Librarians
5 59
Tomorrow's Libraries: Complex Places
6 74
Tomorrow's Libraries: Complex Services
7 90
Many Libraries: Strength in Diversity
8 108
Real Librarianship in a Complex World

Page iv
Part III 121
Resources and Users
9 123
Books and Beyond: Thinking about Media
10 137
New Media, New Niches
11 151
Digital Resources and Analog Users
12 168
Telling Your Stories, Hearing Their Needs
Part IV 183
Creating Tomorrow's Libraries
13 185
The Circle of Sharing: Why Cataloging Still Counts
14 197
Partnerships: Libraries and the Community
15 204
Partnerships: The Community of Libraries
16 219
Taking on New Roles
Conclusion
Revolution through Evolution 229
Bibliography 235
Index 237

Page v
PREFACE
Michael Gorman and I wrote Future Libraries: Dreams, Madness, &
Reality based on the writing and speaking that each of us had been
doing in the early 1990s. We designed that book as a call for
sensibility and against the digital pipedreams of the time. I believe we
succeeded. Future Libraries continues to be a vital treatise on what
libraries should and should not be.
The glory days of the all-digital brigade are in the past. Within
librarianship, the peak may have been 19901994. Since Future
Libraries, visions of virtual libraries seem to be fading away. Some
futurist voices continue to argue for the death of print and the
convergence of all media, computing, and communication. The
narrowness and emptiness of these projections are becoming apparent
to most people.
But still they come. Some librarians still assert the all-digital future,
either as a desirable goal to be worked for or as a tragic inevitability.
Some politicians and campus officials still move to dilute or deny
funding for libraries because they have been told books are
disappearing. Librarians must still cope with these harmful, limiting
attitudes.
What Next?
Future Libraries: Dreams, Madness, & Reality exposed contemporary
nonsense and decried dystopian futures. A librarian could