Week 6

Item 15
I read several of the perspectives on the future of libraries. Rick Anderson makes a good argument when he warns libraries of the dangers of 3 potential 'ice bergs', in "Away from ice bergs". So much is available on the web now that it is important not to waste resources on redundant print collections. Libraries should not count on being able to educate their users to use their systems but should put more effort into providing better user interfaces which can be used without teaching. Also libraries can not longer rely on users coming to them but must make the effort to go out to reach users both physically and virtually.
I particularly enjoyed the description of the library 4.0 in Wendy Schultz's, "To a temporary place in time...". This described the libraries of the future having space for all it's previous incarnations including storage, data retrieval and commentary and annotation. The library would become a 'knowledge spa' and new technologies would be used to produce the perception of the library as the comfortable retreat of the past where one could be immersed in knowledge and learning.