How relevant are libraries in the Digital Age?

RECENTLY, some 10,000 librarians descended at the Washington Convention Centre for a meeting of the American Library Association (ALA). Nancy Kranich, chief librarian at New York University and President of the ALA was asked: Do we need libraries in the Internet Age?

Armed with a bag full of pro-library brochures she answered: "Certainly. Librarians are human search engines. They shift through vast amounts of words and images - and arrange, organise and filter them for the public. Librarians are selective. They are critical and choosy in ways that computers will never be."

She quoted a 1998 Gallup Poll in which an overwhelmingly large number of Americans said that libraries would continue to function in the foreseeable future and 81 per cent of Americans used libraries at least once a year. Only 41 per cent of American homes had Internet facility. "For the rest the library is the number one point of access."

Statistics show that Americans visit libraries three times as often as they go to movies. They check out an average of six books a year from 16,000 libraries. That's more than there are McDonald's outlets, Kranich points out. Librarians all over the country answer more than 7 million questions a week.I put the question to Patrica Hodapp, Public Relations Officer of Denver Public Library, Denver, Colorado, U.S. Here is her passionate defence.

"First there is the digital divide. Most schools have only one computer for 20 to 30 students. The Public Libraries fill the gap. Our public libraries are open nights and weekends which makes them available to a wider population. Even if you are on the right side of the divide, you could be frustrated by the many choices. With over 300 million web sites staring at you, where do you start your search for the information? Libraries provide computers, conduct classes to teach the use of computers, choose the best web sites by topic, and protect the children who use the Internet. Our computers link library collections and other sources of information - no more faxes, slow letters of request, or searching in volumes of books to see what is there now.

Librarians' knowledge and skills are more valuable now that there are computers, for, they can guide customers to the information they need in the quickest way from the most reliable sources. If I typed in 'movie reviews', I would be bombarded with 10,000 sites and URLs. But I would go to imbd.com because my librarian has researched and shared the information.

Besides, not all information is available on the Internet and the format on the Internet may not help the reader. Full text books are still rare on the Internet - and people still want to check out our 2 million collection of books, magazines, CDs, books on tapes, and videos - to the tune of 16 million items a year!"

G.P.

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