Miller, 'Why Bother?', LITA Newsletter v15n03
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/lita/lita-v15n03-miller-why

V15N3.LITAPRES LITANEWS
-----------------------
>From the LITA President
Tamara Miller

Why Bother?

Information technology can be costly. It can consume staff time at an
astounding rate. The budget needed to equip, train and support a
library's staff and the information seekers it serves can and often
does stress the average library's resources. So why do we continue to
push ahead?
   Recently, I was asked by a frazzled reference librarian, "When will
the pace of change slacken just enough for me to master the technical
tools you have given us in the last 12 months?" He was not pleased
with my answer that the rate of change was likely to get even
speedier. His understandable frustration was captured by a long sigh
and a quiet plea, "What good is all this technical stuff anyway?"
   This veteran of the front lines in the information gathering
skirmishes of daily life in an academic library asks an important
question: What good is it? I have always made the assumption that
improving the technology used in libraries enhances service. It has
been a long time since I have examined that assumption.
   Are we just playing with new toys? It certainly can be exhilarating
and even fun to develop or introduce a new technical tool or online
service. Are we guilty of being self-satisfied technology addicts with
an insatiable craving for the newest whiz-bang development?
   The lure of technology for its own sake is strong, but libraries
will be measured by how the technology is used. We seek to provide
better access to information, even to knowledge. From improved access
tools like catalogs and indexes to better delivery of the intellectual
content and full text, libraries are focused on access.

  Access: permission, liberty, or ability to enter, approach,
  communicate with, or pass to and from or to make use of
  (Webster's Online Dictionary)

The wise application of technology allows us to provide some
information that simply could not be delivered in traditional formats.
Technology allows us to reach out to more readers, students and
scholars. It has the capacity to let us deliver information quickly to
isolated and remote communities. Through new technical tools, we have
new opportunities to offer information parity to special
constituencies: the disabled, children, non-readers and even the
homeless.
   The LITA President's Program at the ALA Annual Conference in Miami
will provide an opportunity to hear and see how some librarians have
extended access using technology. The program, "Action for Access,"
will highlight projects in five rural libraries and the Onondaga
Nation School; the Berkeley Public Library program to teach the
general public about Internet; and issues and opportunities for
technically supported library services for the blind and other
disabled groups. I invite all LITA members to join us for the Action
for Access program and bring a colleague who might not otherwise
attend.
   We will chalk up our most notable successes if we keep the
fundamental purpose of libraries firmly in mind as we consider the use
of technology. We always need to understand why we bother with
technology, whether the setting is a large public library or a small
rural schoolhouse. To paraphrase Paul Evan Peters, we need to derive
the future of the library from the future information needs of our
communities. Technology has great value for us as long as it supports,
enhances and furthers the basic mission of libraries: access to
information.