Are we ready for the library of the future
A. Librarians today will tell you their job is not so much to take care of books but to give people access to information in all forms. Since librarians, like so many people, believe that the entire universe of commerce, communication and information is moving to digital form, they are on a reform to give people access to the Internet—to prevent them from becoming second-class citizens in an all-digital world. Something funny happened on the road to the digital library of the future, though. Far from becoming keepers of the keys to the Grand Database of Universal Knowledge, today"s librarians are increasingly finding themselves in an unexpected, overloaded role: They have become the general public"s last-resort providers of tech support.
B. It wasn"t supposed to be this way. Today"s libraries offer a variety of media and social-cultural events—they are "blended libraries," to use a term created by Kathleen Imhoff, assistant director of the Broward County Library of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At the newly remodeled San Francisco Public Library, the computers are prominently displayed in the center of the library building while the books are all but hidden on the periphery (外围). Imhoff"s own library has word processing and other types of software for visitors to use, Internet access, audio CDs, videotapes, concerts, lectures, books and periodicals in three forms (print, microfiche and digital). Many libraries have found that this kind of "blending" is hugely popular in their communities, and librarians explain the changes in their institutions" roles by pointing to the public demand for these new services. But other trends are at work, too.
C. For some time, libraries have been automating their back-end, behind-the-desk functions for reasons of cost and convenience, just like any other business. Now, the computers have moved out from behind librarians" desks and onto the floor where the visitors are. This means that, suddenly, library-goers will have to know how to use those computers. This sounds reasonable enough until you take a close look. Unfortunately, the same technology that cuts costs and relieves librarians of work behind the scenes increases it for the public—and for the librarians at the front desk who have to help the public figure out how to use the technology. The unhappy result: People are simply not finding the information they seek.
D. If you are just coming to the library to read a book for pleasure and you know what a card catalog is and you have some basic computer skills, then you are going to be OK. But if you are trying to find some specific information—say, whether software in the classroom helps kids learn better or the causes of lung cancer or the basic procedure for doing a cost-benefit analysis of computer systems (three topics I have actually tried to look up in the San Francisco library)—then you"re in trouble.
E. To begin with, library visitors must now be able to type, to use a mouse and a menu and to understand the various types of computer interfaces (terminal text, windows and browsers). It"s also nice if you know 17 different ways to quit a program, which electronic databases you should look in for what kinds of information, the grammar necessary to define your search and the Library of Congress" controlled vocabulary. After I had been to the new San Francisco library three times, I started keeping a folder of instructions on how to do a keyword search, since I would forget between visits.
F. Probably 50% of the population has never used a computer, fewer know how to type and almost nobody knows anything about electronic databases or searching grammar. As a result, the public library is now engaged in a massive attempt to teach computer literacy to the entire country. Some librarians compare it to the adult literacy programs the library also sponsors, but this is on a far larger scale—and less closely tied to the library"s traditional mission. The response at each library system has been different. Some libraries actually give courses in word processing, accounting program and so on. But even at libraries where the staff has resisted becoming computer trainers, they are still forced to devote significant resources to the problem.
G. Such has been the case in San Francisco, where people with disabilities can sign up to use the voice-recognition program Dragon Dictate—but only if they can prove they already know how to use the software. The librarians have neither the time nor the peculiar skill (nor the time to develop the skill) to teach it to them. At the reference desks, librarians try not to spend a lot of time teaching people the basics of how to use the computer, but sometimes it"s unavoidable. "We try to get them started," says business librarian John Kenney. "We let them do as much as they can on their own and they come get us. It"s certainly a big problem."
H. The San Francisco library offers classes on its own electronic catalog, commercial periodical indexes and the Internet twice a week as well as occasional lectures about the Internet. Although it seems odd to me that people now need to take a two-hour class before they can use the library, the classes are always full. But despite the excellent teachers, two hours is simply not enough to meet the needs of the students, many of whom have never used a computer before in their lives and many of whom simply can"t type. When I took the class one Tuesday, the man sitting next to me said he has used the library"s computer catalog many times, but he keeps making typing mistakes without knowing it. This unexpectedly throws him into the wrong screens and he doesn"t know how to get back. On the floor, he repeatedly has to ask a librarian for help.
I. "Providing technology does not mean people can use the technology," says Marc Webb, a San Francisco librarian and one of the teachers. "Half the voters are still trying to read English." The library has also had to deal with the practical difficulties of making its catalog accessible via the Internet, a new service many libraries are starting to offer. "It"s absolutely overwhelming," Webb says. "Everyone is getting to us with multiple transports, they"re all using different software, they have Winsock or Telnet set up differently, and suddenly the library is forced to become a hardware and software help desk. When you"re trying to tell someone over the telephone how to set up Winsock through AOL when this is the first time they"ve ever used a computer, it"s very difficult."Computers are more prominently displayed than books in San Francisco Public Library.