BiblioTech : Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google /
John Palfrey.
- 1 online resource (289 pages)
Crisis : a perfect storm -- Customers : how we use libraries -- Spaces : the connection between the virtual and the physical -- Platforms : what cloud computing means for libraries -- Hacking libraries : how to build the future -- Networks : the human network of librarians -- Preservation : collaboration, not competition, to preserve culture -- Education : libraries and connected learners -- Law : why copyright and privacy matter so much -- Conclusion : what's at stake.
Libraries today are more important than ever. More than just book repositories, libraries can become bulwarks against some of the most crucial challenges of our age: unequal access to education, jobs, and information. In BiblioTech, educator and technology expert John Palfrey argues that anyone seeking to participate in the 21st century needs to understand how to find and use the vast stores of information available online. And libraries, which play a crucial role in making these skills and information available, are at risk. In order to survive our rapidly modernizing world and dwindling government funding, libraries must make the transition to a digital future as soon as possibleby digitizing print material and ensuring that born-digital material is publicly available online. Not all of these changes will be easy for libraries to implement. But as Palfrey boldly argues, these modifications are vital if we hope to save libraries and, through them, the American democratic ideal.
9780465040605
Libraries and the Internet. Libraries -- Social aspects -- United States. Library information networks. Libraries and electronic publishing. Library users -- Effect of technological innovations on. Librarians -- Effect of technological innovations on.