Taking FLITE: how new libraries are visioning their way into the future
| Published date | 01 December 2002 |
| Date | 01 December 2002 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830210452668 |
| Pages | 464-468 |
| Author | Morell D. Boone |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Taking FLITE: how new
libraries are visioning
their way into the future
Morell D. Boone
Recently The Chronicle of Higher Education has
been featuring articles discussing the
introduction and impact of new technologies
into libraries. In one such article, provocatively
titled ``Do libraries really need books?'', the
author expressed the perception among some
librarians of ``a drift toward regarding libraries
as on-ramps to the Internet rather than
alternatives to the Internet'' (Carlson, 2002a)
The implication here ± of course ± is that
cybrarians like myself privilege the development
technologically sophisticated means for access
over the quality of the information that is
obtained, or its impact on the learning
experience itself.
I am brusquely quoted in this article as
supporting this paradigm. When asked if
Eastern Michigan's Bruce T. Halle Library's
Automated (book) Storage and Retrieval
System has affected book circulation, I replied,
``I have no idea, and I don't care''. Perhaps I
should have been more prosaic, so let me
restate: ``Given the veritable technological
explosion of such access and delivery systems as
on-line full-text databases, interactive Web
sites, and in-house retrieval, it is becoming
archaic to consider book circulation as an
indicator of the usage levels of library
materials''.
It is a fact of life that computer technology
has become the dominant means for accessing
materials and, as the capabilities of the Web
continue to expand, this medium will become
even more central to the research and reference
mission of academic and public libraries.
Another Chronicle article reports that ``almost
80 per cent of the surveyed students use
Internet search engines for `every' assignment
or `most' assignments'' (Carlson, 2002b). This
does not mean, however, that the ``cybrary'', as
a new library form, excludes books and printed
materials or even attempts to marginalize them.
At Eastern Michigan's Halle Library, for
instance, the entire third level is dedicated to
open shelves holding 150,000 volumes. The
various ``Gutenberg elegies'' lamenting the
demise of the printed word are a bit precipitate
given that libraries still demand ever increasing
funds for collection development. In a six-year
period, the Halle went from $600,000/yr to over
$2,000,000/yr for the acquisition of printed
materials.
The author
Morell D. Boone is a member of
Library Hi Tech
's editorial
board. He is a Professor of Interdisciplinary Technology at
Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA.
E-mail: morell.boone@emich.edu
Keywords
Architecture, Libraries, Technology
Abstract
The author takes on the assertion posed in recent
educational articles that technology is driving down book
circulation and contributing to the decline of reading-center
learning. In his interview with Richard Cochran, Dean of the
Ferris State University Library for Information, Technology,
and Education, the two discuss the importance of
incorporating technology to support all types of learning,
and using faculty buy-in to insure that as many media as
possible are integrated into the final building design.
Electronic access
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Architectural
464
Library Hi Tech
Volume 20 .Number 4 .2002 .pp. 464±468
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830210452668
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