Libraries & Librarians Re-defined

Libraries are defined more by what they do than what they look like. While new technologies might be replacing print collections, they are not replacing librarians — whose roles as research guides have become more even important as available resources have multiplied. it’s important to look at the type of reference question that are asked. The number of directional and simple questions has dropped, because we’ve provided the tools to make answering those questions easier. “If you look at the number of more difficult, research-oriented questions, we find it has grown as the complexity of the tools to provide answers to those questions has become more intense. You still need us.

while the functions and appearance of libraries has changed, nobody is about to tear them down just because they have fewer books and more social spaces.Maybe the whole idea of is the library, as a place, dead or not is a red herring. Should the question be who knows what the library means anymore? That is what we are still trying to answer.