University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Digital convergence and the information profession in cultural heritage organizations: Reconciling internal and external demands

Marty, Paul F.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/89728

Description

Title
Digital convergence and the information profession in cultural heritage organizations: Reconciling internal and external demands
Author(s)
Marty, Paul F.
Issue Date
2014
Keyword(s)
  • Digital Convergence
  • Cultural Heritage Organizations
  • Information Professionals
  • W. Boyd Rayward
Abstract
Nearly twenty years ago, W. Boyd Rayward became one of the first academics to examine how electronic information and the functional integration of libraries, archives, and museums has affected, and will affect, the information profession. In doing so, he laid the groundwork for an entire research agenda on the topic of digital convergence, where the increased use of, and reliance on, digital resources in libraries, archives, and museums has increasingly blurred the traditional distinctions between these institutions. This paper explores how Rayward’s early work in this area influenced the development of this topic over time, focusing on how information professionals in cultural heritage organizations can and should reconcile their internal perceptions of identity with the external expectations of their users, particularly those who do not or cannot clearly distinguish between different institutions or the information resources they manage. In a world where the traditional assumptions we take for granted about information organization and access in libraries, archives, and museums are simply not shared by our users, the future of the information profession depends on the ability of cultural heritage information professionals to transcend the traditional boundaries between libraries, archives, and museums to meet information needs in the digital age.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ISSN
1559-0682
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/89728
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2014.0007
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2014 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 62 (3) Winter 2014: Essays in Honor of W. Boyd Rayward: Part 2 PRIMARY
Library Trends 62 (3) Winter 2014: Essays in Honor of W. Boyd Rayward: Part 2. Edited by Alistair Black and Charles van den Heuvel.