Librarians against Machines

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 156; no. 3776; pp. 746 - 750
• Main Author: Shera, Jesse H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science 12-05-1967
• Subjects: Academic libraries; Automation/Automator/Automated; Cataloging; Conservative/Conservatives/Conservatism; Emerging technology; Humans; Information retrieval; Librarians; Librarianship; Libraries; Library operations; Library/Libraries/Librarian/ Librarians; Technological innovation; Technology/Technological/ Technologically; University/Universities
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.156.3776.746

The major U & Coll libraries have been doubling in size every 16 yrs & projections of library growth have turned out to be rather conservative. The major problem of the library is not storage but retrieval. New technological means to greatly reduce texts in size, for easy storage, are discussed. The majority of librarians have been skeptical of this new technology. However, enthusiasm for mechanized information retrieval spread rapidly during the late 1950's & 1960's, esp among engineers, whose vision of automation was unlimited, among sci'ts who were bedeviled by the burden of bibliographic search, & among executives who were eager to reduce the mounting costs of library service. These automata have not yet realized their promise. The role of the library throughout history has been to maximize the soc utility of graphic records for the benefit of society. The librarian stands as a mediator between man & his records. However, the importance of organizing & servicing knowledge in the most effective & efficient ways possible has been neglected. This may be due to the failure of librarians to develop a substantial body of theoretical knowledge & a system of graduate educ that is truly professional in its orientation & content. Men fear the introduction of new mechanisms. Librarians must overcome their fear of the new technology & extend the boundaries of their thinking to accept into the body of their professional knowledge ideas that may at first seem alien, if not hostile. They must be open & responsive to change & must seek closer contact with the sci'fic world. COMM must be established among the several subsystems, the Sch librarians, the public librarians, the academic librarians, & the special librarians. Librarianship must become res oriented, & practice must be made more responsive to theory. M. Maxfield.