University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Beyond technical issues: The impact of automation on library organizations

Creth, Sheila

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/1173

Description

Title
Beyond technical issues: The impact of automation on library organizations
Author(s)
Creth, Sheila
Issue Date
1987
Keyword(s)
  • Reference services (Libraries) --Automation
  • Online bibliographic searching
  • Database searching
  • Libraries and electronic publishing
Abstract
Automation is not new to libraries, but the scope and magnitude of the use of technology, and the pace at which technology is developing and affecting collections, communications, and services is overwhelming. As a profession, considerable time and attention has been focused on the demands of technology: how to make automation fit the unique needs of bibliographic records, how to connect local systems to national utilities and networks, and so on. While there is a need to continue to invest time in these important aspects of technological change, there must be a shift in focus to include consideration of the impact that this expanded automation will have on the organization. For the foreseeable future it is people that will continue to make libraries effective and not machines. Automation gives people in libraries a powerful tool to reach beyond present capabilities in providing users with information and thus knowledge. What are the organizational issues that should be addressed as a result of expansion of automation in libraries? This article identifies issues associated with changes in the organization and with the impact of automation on the individual. Within this context, this author hopes to provide some sense of the opportunities and the problems that likely await librarians over the next decade.
Publisher
Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Series/Report Name or Number
Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing (24th : 1987)
ISSN
0069-4789
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1173
Copyright and License Information
Copyright owned by Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1987.

Owning Collections

1987: Questions and Answers: Strategies for Using the Electronic Reference Collection PRIMARY
24th Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing (1987). Edited by Linda C. Smith.