Literature Review

Rajeet Guha
Literature Review
The Relevance of Libraries in the Digital Age
The debate about whether libraries will continue to be relevant in the wake of the explosion of information resources on the net and the development of tools such as Google book search etc. is one intensely engaging library professionals across the world. However, in a sense the debate about the relevance of libraries is not a new one. A review of the history of libraries particularly in the US literature almost conveys a sense of déjà vu. The heyday of libraries in America was from 1850 to 1914: not the least because of the munificence of Andrew Carnegie. In 1850 there were 50 libraries in America, in 1875 there were 75 libraries and by the 1900s there were thousands. After 1914 libraries have somewhat stagnated in America. During the twentieth century with the advent of radio, TV and movies as alternative sources of information, education and entertainment, the library lost some of its importance. As prosperity increased, more people could buy books and less and less depended on libraries. (Nunberg, 1998)

This had created even almost a century ago considerable concerns amongst library professionals the world over and generated debate about the library’s future. Libraries however contrary to expectations did not lose their position as one of the most familiar, trusted and friendly social and community institutions. Although perhaps the number of new libraries has not grown impressively, the institution of libraries has not declined or diminished in importance or questioned in the public mind. The déjà vu and comparison ends there. The terms, parameters and urgency of the debate have dramatically changed in the twenty first century. With digitization and Internet resources situated thousands of miles away being available to be viewed and read with the click of a mouse at home, the whole question about the need of libraries as a physical space, the way we know them is increasingly being called in question. This is the question that we will address in the essay through a review of existing literature.

At the outset it is important to recall the basics of what we understand by libraries. “A library is a physical space. It is a collection of what is deemed to be important information materials. It organizes those materials and provides assistance in their use. It preserves the material for future users. Libraries need to be considered for both their potential impact upon society and their use of some form of physical space. They are part of the information highway that connects people to the world of knowledge” (Evans, 2005). The question at hand is the possible future of this notion of the physical library with its team of library professionals given the explosion of digital information on the Internet. In the last ten years more digital material has been published on the Internet than total print material published in the last century. More books and periodicals have been created digitally than the total number of books and periodicals printed on paper. Libraries organize information and provide access to patrons. However, if printed resources were being overtaken so fast then the question is whether the print culture, to which we have been used for centuries, is going to survive and therefore whether the library would continue to exist or wither away. We also need to understand that libraries include librarians: we can’t separate one from the other. In an increasingly digitized world the question is whether libraries would continue to be present in physical space with library professionals at work helping patrons, as we are so used to understand them. It may also be useful to examine how different kinds of libraries are affected and how they are responding: public libraries, national libraries, academic libraries, specialized/subject matter or research libraries.

The literature is extensive. There are four broad questions which the literature addresses. First, to what extent the threat to libraries is real and what is its nature? Secondly, how have libraries been responding? Third, what is the new role, if any, of libraries and fourth what is the implication of such a new role?

Is there a threat and if so what is its nature?
Clearly Google and other search engines have issued a challenge to libraries. Google can search innumerable web pages faster than an online catalog or database. Web-indexing that is one to five years old is much superior to indexing methods created by the integrated library system vendors ten to twenty years ago (Pace, 2003). It is also common knowledge how many corporate libraries have been either closed outright or outsourced resulting in major job losses. Libraries today have competition on a scale unknown in the past. This competition is from thousands of students and interns who sit at home and surf the web getting free information (Bates, 1997). Another significant threat however is from internet companies not through technology and format but through forces of globalization, specifically the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) which seeks to liberalize and promote a freer regime of trade in services across the world. Anything that is not a commodity including libraries, museums etc. could come within the ambit of services and therefore government subsidy for libraries could be a major casualty (Fiona Hunt 2001, ALA, 2002). Hypothetically the actual threat could come from internet companies such as Google, Amazon filing cases with WTO declaring public funding of libraries as contrary to the principles of GATS.

There is no denying the threat. However the current evidence suggests that Internet perhaps would not eventually replace the library and the significance of the library would not be diminished at least not in the foreseeable future. This is for number of reasons. First the digitization of an estimated 100 million printed books is a stupendous task both in terms of time and costs. In 2002 there were predictions that Google would digitize 7 million books in six years; in reality it has digitized only a million. Therefore despite the huge availability of information on the web, it is “still not everything”. Even with Google Book search and other search engines the task of digitizing books is a vast enterprise and will take many more years. Secondly the other reality is that access to books and articles on the net, particularly those that are still copyrighted, is often a paid access unlike material in public libraries. In the internet today, individuals looking for very specialized knowledge are more and more required to pay a fee to access such information. For the disadvantaged groups therefore the library is the best option to access information, whether specialized or general at none or very little costs. Thirdly, the love of the feel of books as something to hold, possess and preserve, though very intangible, is very real and will continue to outlive digitization and internet (Sherman, 2007, Guy Pessach, 2006).

Finally the public library is still the foundation of access to information and knowledge resources in rural areas. As a recent NBC broadcast emphasized libraries are of massive importance to the extremely poor and the mentally challenged. It is important to recognize the larger social role played by libraries, which goes beyond the role of simple access to information, which the Internet might provide. The role certainly differs in each of the six types of libraries: national, academic and research, public libraries, school libraries, special libraries and corporate libraries. Public libraries in particular play several key societal functions: wealth distribution, educational and cultural roles, and providing increased access to information as part of deepening democracy. It is this social role of libraries and their independence from the market that sets libraries apart even in a digital role. However, corporate libraries will perhaps lose their value more and more in the digitized on-line environment (Bakken, 1998).

Even at the end of the 20th century librarianship as a profession was growing and curriculum of library schools adapting to changes. (A brief history of librarians and Image: http://home.earthlink.net/~cyberresearcher/History.htm) A recent study conducted by the School of Informatics and the Urban Libraries Council had similar findings: contrary to public expectations internet has not reduced public use of libraries but in fact increased library use with the two being complementary. As the study reported, “"55 percent of the library users surveyed had Internet access at home, so it was clear that use of the two information sources was not an either-or proposition. Internet users also use the library rather extensively.” (Urban Libraries Council, ULC Research Archives George D’Elia, 2004: Impact of Youth’s Use of the Internet on Library Use; University of Buffalo Reporter: Patricia Donovan, 2005).

How have libraries been responding? (Linda Johnson, 2000).
The mutually complementary role of libraries and Internet is a tribute to the adaptability of libraries and library professionals to external changes. Librarians are today invariably the ones to guide and train their patrons as users of Internet. The challenge is often in rural areas where rural librarians will need the skills to cope with the demands of a fast-changing Internet enabled information society. (Sherman 2007; Linda Johnson 2000)

Public libraries are also playing a unique role in providing computing and internet access to the information/internet poor citizens and thereby promoting a democratic process on the one hand and linking people up with a whole range of e-government services in normal times as well as in emergencies. Libraries become a refuge during crisis/emergencies in which public access computing and Internet access become a lifeline for the communities in distress filing FEMA and insurance claims. Libraries are a ready access point, in which public access to Internet is vital to personal government related tasks that need to be accomplished online such as enrolling in a Medicare prescription program, applying for accident insurance, filling out student loan forms, submitting immigration information, etc. for people who have no other means of accessing online content or need assistance in understanding the application/information exchange process. Libraries are the first choice, in which the library is a trusted community-based entity to which individuals turn to help in their online activities – even if they have computers and Internet access at home or elsewhere. (Bertot, Jaeger, Langa and McClure 2006)

What is the new role that libraries will need to play?
There are also certain unique roles that only librarians can and will need to play vis-à-vis the Internet, whether in urban or rural areas. One of such roles is that of filtering web material and providing quality assurance (such as peer reviewed journals on the net). Sherman describes this as confronting “the market based crowd wisdom of the web”. There is also a flip side to this. As the library transitions from being agents of social change and institutions through the provision of equal access to hard copy knowledge resources it owns, to one providing access to online knowledge resources to which it has conditional access rights (through fees, copy rights etc.) through the mediation of such purely commercial enterprises as Google etc. there are dangers. The library might become hostage to the market based access practices and polices of the commercial entities. In adapting to the digital age, libraries while continuing to be relevant, have perhaps lost much of their independence in selecting the information and knowledge resources which it can make available to meet the intellectual, educational, recreational and leisure needs of the communities it serves (Guy Pessach, 2006).

Libraries are becoming and should become the learning and knowledge centers for the community. They are well positioned to take on this role and this will ensure their relevance in an increasingly competitive world. It is clear that local brick and mortar libraries will have a continuing role to play for quite some time in the future. Libraries as the primary repositories of a print culture through access to print media are also the obvious choice for playing the principle role of providing public access to digital information. (Nunberg, 1998)

Rural public libraries have a special place in this regard. They offer public access computing to poor people and minorities in rural areas. Public access computing increases and quickens access to information, especially medical information that is in short supply in distant areas. Rural public librarians are adapting to technological changes in the 21st century by becoming technologically savvy. According to a survey of rural libraries (Flatley, 2000) most of the librarians felt that the Internet would not replace the library as librarians would be needed to guide and train users. However, in the information age rural librarians will need the skills to cope with the demands of a fast changing society. One way to do this is through continuing education and workshops. In this competitive age the libraries will have to advertise and market their services. Librarians need to induct more people in the library. Libraries could charge businesses and organizations a fee for allowing them to hold concerts, art exhibits, selling tea, selling books, and offering classes and web surfing. Rural libraries could also offer child care services for working mothers. Just like in Netherlands, rural libraries in the United States could house a bank, a bookstore, a post office, local government offices and also tourist offices. The public library is still the foundation of library service in rural areas. In the context of lifelong learning public libraries will connect the formal or informal local learning centre with the worldwide digital information resources. (Flatley, 2000)


What are the implications of the new role of libraries?
Google and other search engines have issued a challenge to libraries. Thus, to survive and compete successfully with the Internet, libraries must look for expertise in the right places and recruit more IT professionals. Libraries should hire these professionals quickly. Libraries should embrace new technologies. They should continue to mimic Internet business models that compete with already existing library services. Libraries must adapt to business models that foster the creation, maintenance and product relevance of digital services (Pace, 2003).

The on-line environment and the intermediary role of libraries between Internet sources and the library public, demands much higher level of resources for libraries and more diversified skills of its personnel. The library will more and more take the role of a portal for entering into a vast information arena. Given the vast availability of information and the specialization that accompanies this expansion, sharing of resources between libraries is a third important recommendation that the article makes. There is a need for major changes in copyright laws and laws and regulations regarding rights to storage and preservation of knowledge resources in order not to undermine the role and character of libraries in the digital world in the evolving changes from “on-shelf information to on-line information.” (Guy Pessach, 2006) Public libraries can play several societal functions like wealth distribution, educational and cultural roles, and providing increased access to information as part of deepening democracy. (Frode Bakken, 1998).

Libraries and librarians must move from information resource management to knowledge management and facilitate the process of knowledge creation. Libraries should become learning and knowledge centres for the community. They are well positioned to take on this role and this will ensure their relevance in an increasingly competitive world. He gives the following examples in support of his argument: The website of libraries must become portals for different and relevant sources of knowledge carefully selected. New ways of cataloguing online knowledge resources need to be evolved. There should be more sharing of resources and networking between libraries, better development of IT in libraries and provision of a wide range of user services that can cater to different kinds of needs and careful human resource management. On a longer-term perspective, it is only libraries, which can archive and preserve information, even the digitized ones. Lifetime storage is a concept alien to the Internet but very special for libraries. (Mackenzie Owen, 1997) All this will help libraries take on a leadership role in facilitating knowledge management. (Lee, 2005)

In a sense actually the advent of Internet and digitization has begun to increase attention to libraries. It is being appreciated that libraries are best suited to bridge the digital divides and deficits if any in society. The role of librarians in (a) providing technical access support to the public and (b) filtering and evaluating services and helping the public to access accurate, objective and authentic information from the maze of information available on the web (often almost exclusively serving commercial and not intellectual or cultural interests) is the other reason why libraries are a natural choice for being the most common gateway to internet resources. All this requires carefully coordinated policy and resource support. There are three areas of support which need attention in response to the important new roles being increasingly taken on by libraries in an internet age: Funding, Education and Training and Information Policy. The major funding so far helping libraries with Internet access has been from private charities such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Federal Government does not provide any additional funding for the Internet services of libraries and this needs to change particularly in recognition of the critical role libraries play as intermediaries linking citizens to a host of e-government services. Degree programmes in Universities in Library Sciences need to incorporate changes in the curriculum better preparing librarians with their new roles. Surveys show that library professionals have been largely self taught in adapting themselves with their new roles in internet filtering, linking people with e-governance services etc. Finally there are many policies relating to information access and copyright, which are not conducive to the new role of libraries and these need to be addressed. (Bertot, Jaeger, Langa and McClure 2006).

The online environment has helped public libraries overcome a chronic deficit of yesteryears, viz. inadequate content. Internet and its “open access” policy has suddenly brought the best (as well as worst) of knowledge resources within the reach of the library portal: all that is needed is updated hardware and software and the continuing flow of resources for this purpose from public and private sources combined with a reformed copyright regime that allows libraries to access, store and preserve the best of knowledge resources. (Lee, 2005)

While the Internet has ushered in a time of profound change for libraries and library professionals, perhaps because this change underscores the importance of knowledge and information, the role of libraries is expanding and diversifying. Thus while physical attendance (50,000) at the American History Archives at Wisconsin Historical Society has dropped 40% from that in 1987, every year it is receiving an additional 85,000 online visitors. (Will Sherman, 2007). People in both rural and metropolitan areas appreciate the way libraries are adapting to the changes. What is needed is government recognition of the new roles that libraries and librarians are embracing and adequate funding, training and policy support. Libraries will have to be understood as valued partners in public education and supported in much the same way as the latter. Libraries and library professionals on their part will have to market their new roles more aggressively as part of their overall, conscious change management strategy. This is a new area which needs greater appreciation, greater alliance building and careful strategizing. There will be no dearth of goodwill from library patrons who are in the ultimate analysis the libraries’ greatest capital.








References:
1. Bakken, Frode (1998). The possible role of libraries in the digital future. www.ifla.org/V/ifaj/news
2. Bates, Mary Ellen (1997). Avoiding the axe – How to keep from being downsized or outsourced. www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/raja/competencies/avoiding-the-axe.htm
3. Bertot, John Carlo, Jaeger, Paul T., Langa, Lesley A., Mcclure, Charles R. (2006). Public access computing and internet access in public libraries: The role of public libraries in e-government and emergency situations. www. Firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/bertot/
4. Boris, LuAnn Walker (2005). The digital divide and its impact on the rural community, rural libraries, vol.xxv, no.2, (7-30)
5. D’Elia, George (2004). Urban Libraries Council Research Archives. www.urbanlibraries.org
6. Donovan, Patricia (2005). Impact of youth’s use of the Internet on library use. www.urbanlibraries.org/youthsuseoftheinternet.html
7. Flatley, Robert (2000). Characterizing the role of the rural librarian: A survey, rural libraries, vol.xx, no.2, (8-28)
8. Gordon, Andrew C., Gordon, Margaret T., Heuertz, Linda, Moore, Elizabeth J. (2003). The impact of public access computing on rural and small town libraries, rural libraries, vol.xxiii, no.1, (51-77)
9. Hunt, Fiona (2001). EBLIDA statement on the WTO GATS negotiations – Libraries and trade in services. www.eblida.org/uploads/eblida/11/1167686768.pdf
10. Haggstrom, Britt Marie (2004). Libraries in lifelong learning. www.ifla.org/VII/s8/proj/ Lifelong –LearningReport.pdf
11. Johnson, Linda (2000). The rural library: Programs and Services, Community coalitions and networks, rural libraries, vol.xx, no.2, (38-60)
12. Kurp, Patrick (2007). Libraries struggle to adapt to the digital age. librariansplace.wordpress.com/2007/03/16/libraries-struggle-to-adapt-to-the-digital age/
13. Lee, Hwa-Wei (2005). Knowledge management and the role of libraries. www.white-clouds.com/iclc/cliej/cl19lee.htm
14. Nunberg, Geoffrey (1998). Will libraries survive? www.prospect.org/print/v9/41/nunberg-g.html






15. Owen, J.S.Mackenzie (1997) The future role of libraries in the information age. http://cf.hum.uva.nl/bai/jmackenzie/pubs/Future-Role-Of-Libraries.htm

16. Pace, Andrew K. (2003). The ultimate digital library – Where the new information players meet.

17. Pessach, Guy (2006). The role of libraries in A2K: Taking stock and looking ahead. research.yale.edu/isp/a2k/a2kresources/gpessach.pdf

18. Sherman, Will (2007). Are libraries totally obsolete? www.degreetutor.com/library/adult-continued-education/librarians-needed

19.Taylor, Chris (2003). Report on Senate Hearing Inquiry into the role of libraries in the online environment. www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/ecita_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/online_libraries/report/index.htm

20. http://home.earthlink.net/~cyberresearcher/History.htm