Being Analog: Creating Tomorrow's Libraries - Softcover

American Library Association

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0838907547 ISBN 13: 9780838907542

Publisher: ALA Editions, 1999

Synopsis

Examining digital resources in libraries and the people that use them, this work offers an alternative model to a simplistic digital future. The author challenges popular notions of the virtual library, asserting that the complex mix of technologies projects no clear path to the future and that people use technology in unexpected ways. In today's competitive funding environment, digital dreams of virtual libraries pose the real threat of misguided physical and budgetary planning. Crawford's arguments aim to help the reader to articulate his or her own viewpoints to administrators, staff, users or those who claim that the virtual library will do it all for less. He explores the roles of libraries and why people use libraries. He helps the reader make choices among the ever-shifting, complex combinations of digital and analogue resources. ""Being Analog"" celebrates the remarkable results professional librarianship has achieved in sensibly combining human intelligence and computer power. It points the way to a real world where flexible libraries support today's services and resources, while accommodating tomorrow's changes.

About this title

About the Author

Walt Crawford is a highly prolific writer and editor, currently a senior analyst at the Research Libraries Group, Inc. (RLG). He has authored or co-authored fourteen books and more than 300 articles and columns on such topics as libraries, technology, media, publishing, and personal computing. An award-winning author, he is also a popular speaker at library professional meetings. He has contributed to numerous library publications over the years, and his columns regularly appear in American Libraries (""The Crawford Files""), EContent (""disContent""), and Online (""PC Monitor""). He is the author and publisher of the Web-based ezine ""Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large"" and was named one of the ""Top Librarian Personalities on the Web"" by Searcher magazine. He is active in the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), winning their Library Hi Tech Award for Outstanding Communication for Continuing Education in Library and Information Science.

Edition details

• Publisher: ALA Editions
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0838907547
• ISBN 13: 9780838907542
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264