This message was sent to the list by Larry Cruse.--------Johnnie
 
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>From: [log in to unmask] at @UCSD
>Date: 1/8/97 6:30PM
>*To: [log in to unmask] at @UCSD
cc: larry cruse at UCSDLIBRARY
Subject: digital librariaes (fwd)
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>Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 15:34:36 -1000
>From: Liz Bryson <[log in to unmask]>
>To: Multiple recipients of list SLAPAM-L <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: digital librariaes
 
MAGAZINES & JOURNALS
 
A glance at the special year-ahead issue of "The Economist":
Libraries in the digital age
 
Two major libraries, the British Library at St. Pancras and the
Bibliotheque Nationale de France at Tolbiac, are due to open
this year at a cost that, between them, amounts to $1.7-billion.
But in this digital age, are such huge physical repositories
still needed? In an article entitled "Evolution of the
Bookworm," Sidney Verba, director of the Harvard University
Library, concludes that they are. "For one thing," Dr. Verba
writes, "the great historical collections are not in digital
form and, with some selected exceptions, never will be.
Libraries must continue to store them, make them available, and,
most important, preserve them." At the same time, Dr. Verba
notes, libraries face the challenges of archiving digital
material. They must grapple with copyright issues, for example,
and figure out how to deal with hardware and software that are
constantly changing. Further, he writes, libraries perform the
vital role of helping researchers navigate through both types of
information, printed and digital. "By building new libraries,"
Dr. Verba concludes, "Britain and France have shown themselves
not only to be keen guardians of the past but societies that
well understand the needs of the future."