Toward a rational and sustainable division of labor for the preservation of knowledge
| Published date | 13 June 2016 |
| Pages | 166-169 |
| Date | 13 June 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-05-2016-0040 |
| Author | Bernard F Reilly |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,HR in libraries |
Toward a rational and
sustainable division of labor for
the preservation of knowledge
Bernard F. Reilly
The Center for Research Libraries, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to propose a rational and sustainable division of labor between
national libraries and the information industry for the preservation of knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper is a based on remarks presented by the author at the
25th Anniversary Conference of the National Repository Library of Finland, held in Kuopio on May
21-22, 2015.
Findings –Crafting a useful new role for libraries will require imagination and curatorial rigor,
capabilities that the industry has found in the past, and can summon once again. No templates for such
a role exist, but must be newly invented by the current generation of librarians. This is a tall order in an
era of diminishing public funding for libraries and archives. But it will be essential if libraries are to
continue to be key institutions of civil society.
Originality/value –There are formidable challenges to ensuring a rational and sustainable division
of labor for the preservation of knowledge and many of those challenges will not be solved by new
technologies alone. But the discussion needs to move beyond dated, late twentieth century strategies
like mass digitization of books and “web archiving”.
Keywords Big Data, Library, Research libraries, Division of labour, Library management,
Preservation of knowledge
Paper type Research paper
The old division of labor
Anticipation of the appointment of a new Librarian of Congress has prompted an
outpouring of ideas from scholars and media people last year about what should be on
the Library’s agenda (see, e.g. Darnton, 2015; West, 2015). The end of the James
Billington era at the Library is indeed an important moment in that great and unique
institution’s long history, and provides an opportunity to reconsider the role national
libraries play in society. It was 1987 when Mr Billington took the helm at the Library of
Congress, years before the emergence of the World Wide Web. Since then profound
changes have occurred in the information world, and Mr Billington’s successor will
encounter an entirely new set of challenges.
Unfortunately many of the prescriptions offered up are at best half-measures and,
at worst, anachronistic. One idea put forward recently is that the Library should
digitize its collections and put them on the web. Two decades ago, before Google
Books and the abundance of content and information that now floods the internet, the
investment of public funds to digitize the millions of books in the Library would have
made sense. Today such an effort would be, in the parlance of sport, “skating to
where the puck was,”rather than where it is heading. During the print era
information was scarce. The web has now made publishing almost cost-free, and
contentisnownotjustcheapbutubiquitous. What is needed today is not more
content, but better navigation and discovery of the oceans of information and data
pouring forth constantly into the public realm.
Library Management
Vol. 37 No. 4/5, 2016
pp. 166-169
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-05-2016-0040
Received 4 May 2016
Revised 4 May 2016
Accepted 5 May 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
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