ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


December 1990 /1 0 5 7

The future o f reference III: Discussion summary

By John Tongate

Head Librarian, Reference Services D epartm ent 
The University o f  Texas at Austin

An audience discussion followed the panel p re s­
entations. C om m ents identified and developed 
three areas o f interest: capability and extent of 
organizational change, acceptance by and effect o f 
change on the individual, and the identification o f 
opportunities for im plem enting change.

Capability for and extent of change

The opening audience observation was from th e 
adm inistrator’s vantage point. The banquet o f ideas 
presented by th e speakers led to the need to focus 
on specifics. Thinking through the administrative 
responsibility for change is an ongoing problem  o f 
getting program s started while overcoming inertia 
and making already established programs stop. 
Persuasion is necessary to start the new paradigm. 
There will be dislocation, and a focus on pragm a­
tism is needed. W e are moving toward a m ore 
electronic library, b u t what does electronic library 
m ean— in form ation p arad ise? T he m o v em en t 
toward an inform ation paradise is a frightening 
concept for some users and staff, and the vision is 
difficult to deal with. An academic research library 
may never be a total electronic library, although a 
substantial p art may be. W e must begin w ith and 
pursue visions as plans change. W e must focus on 
why libraries exist as we work through new  p ara­
digms, b u t it is necessary to keep ties with th e past. 
As we develop electronic libraries they m ust be 
friendly and grounded in traditional values.

Effect on the individual

A m em ber o f th e audience noted that it has b een  
observed th at it takes a generation for new tech n o l­
ogy to be accepted. Does this apply today? W hen 
using new technology, will people becom e insular 
and will they change psychologically to the extent 
that they will not com m unicate in person with 
librarians or oth er hum ans? A panelist responded 
that developing technology won’t obviate hum an 
contact. Many have seen th e simulated “knowledge 
navigator,” the concept o f John Scully, C E O  of 
Apple C om puter, on video. The am bience in th e 
closing scene is one o f comfort, as in a living room. 
There is only one hum an. But on the com puter

screen th e re is th e face o f an individual which is 
personal. The scholar is not isolated in a room or a 
box. In addition to accessing published literature, 
th ere is the option o f calling someone on a network 
and talking with an image on a screen. How do we 
get the com puter to this point o f responsiveness? 
T he original E D U C O M  audience viewing th e 
concept was very excited, a critical step in getting 
an operational system as dem onstrated.

Technology no longer moves with generations. 
C onsider the acceptance o f flight. W e have to look 
at how we will mold and not be m olded by technol­
ogy; what will it do for us and to us? W e are the 
dom inating factor. No one can know what will 
happen, b u t we should be proactive. It is b e tte r to 
think and make change happen rather than sit back, 
wait, and react.

A m em ber o f the audience questioned what is 
the m odel that people expect th e com puter to 
accomplish. Expert systems and artificial intelli­
gence are thought to be som ething amazing. W hat 
m odel is driving them ? A boy sees his father as a 
hero, yet later as a hum an being. Superm an and 
Flash Gordon were heroes who had answers. Are 
expert systems and artificial intelligence today’s 
super daddy? Is what we really want God in a box? 
Machines which parallel hum an intelligence w on’t 
help us a lot. A servant all-powerful seems to be the 
model. A W izard o f Oz image is envisioned w here 
curtains part and all information is revealed.

A panelist responded, “Are systems a phase in 
evolutionary developm ent, subject to th e vagaries 
o f th e natural world?” W e lurch forward in an 
O rwellian environm ent o f b u d g et deficits and 
rapid developm ents in eastern E urope. W e ad­
vance as the T hird W orld regresses, raising the 
questions o f how developing systems will dislocate 
us fu rth er from other societies th at cannot create or 
even look at the Scully image. W e m ust give more 
than lip service to such situations and we m ust be 
cautious o f how and w here we are going.

Implementing change

A nother panelist noted that th e medical field 
may be a model o f w here we are going. Perfection 
o f th e hum an body is being attem pted, for example,



1058 /  C&RL News

by gene splicing. Are we creating artificial intelli­
gence as a p erfect system? W e are not m odeling on 
any one thing, ra th e r we are attem pting m ultiple 
experts in one system. As in m edicine, we are trying 
to create th e same environm ent o f perfection in 
inform ation systems.

A th ird  panelist offered a different perspective. 
Can we anticipate u ser acceptance based on p rac­
tical experience? Users in reference d epartm ents 
refuse to use p a p e r indexes in deference to a com ­
p u te r index. A co m p u ter version is seen as b etter, 
even if only tangentially related to th e subject 
pursued. O n th e  o th e r hand, p a p e r can be seen as 
authoritative. A photocopy looks m ore like th e real 
thing. A list o f citations is okay, b u t an article on a 
co m p u ter screen is questioned. W hat is th e au th o r­
ity b eh in d  th e article? It could have b een  d u m p ed  
into a w ord processing package and changed. F ac­
ulty question th e source o f data from  a com puter. A 
panelist no ted  th a t th e Society for Scholarly P u b ­
lishing is in terested  in related issues o f th e online 
environm ent. H ow  do you bind online inform ation 
to g e th er so th a t it cannot be cut and pasted, thus 
avoiding false inform ation?

Final observations cam e from  two panelists. 
C onsider th e p resen t academ ic environm ent and

th e tu rn o v er o f faculty as older m em bers retire. 
This is an opportunity to look at doing things differ­
ently w ith new, younger faculty m em bers. Be ag­
gressive in form ing expectations o f new  faculty and 
building a new  future w ith them . T h ere may be a 
problem  o f a gap in th e generational developm ent. 
A “lost generation” o f th e 1970s was driven ou t o f 
Ph.D . program s, especially in th e social sciences 
and hum anities. T he p re se n t new  generation has 
b e e n  train ed  by rem aining faculty 30 to 40 years 
older. N ew  P h .D .’s have com e out with th e same 
old habits learned from  th e  sam e old faculty.

T he intrigued audience was very in terested  in 
th e ideas and speculations o f th e presentations and 
discussion, having already b e e n  exposed to changes 
m ade as th e paradigm  has begun to shift in th e ir 
own work environm ents. Some ideas discussed are 
still untested, b u t th e audience drew  upon experi­
ence to relate th e m  to reality, evaluating th e new  
ideas accordingly. A fter devoting an h o u r and a half
to considering and discussing both th e theoretical 
and practical aspects o f new  structures o f service in 
an electronic environm ent, participants left th e 
program  w ith renew ed enthusiasm  for involve­
m en t in ongoing grow th and change.

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New Jersey media assessment available

T he A-V C om m ittee o f th e N ew  Jersey Library 
Association, College and University Section, has 
ju st published th e results o f a survey o f academ ic 
m edia collections and services in N ew  Jersey. T he 
survey is thought to b e one o f th e m ost extensive 
surveys o f state m edia ever com pleted. It was done 
to encourage th e  exchange o f inform ation at a tim e 
o f p ro liferatin g  technologies, skyrocketing ex­
penses, and b u d g et cutbacks. It includes invento­
ries o f hardw are and software, circulation statistics 
by form at, services offered, m edia production fig­
ures, teleconferencing and satellite inform ation,

m edia p erso n n el inform ation, and inform ation 
about borrow ing and lending.

W hile not all schools in N ew  Jersey responded to 
th e  su rv e y , m a jo r in s titu tio n s  (e .g ., D re w , 
M ontclair, N JIT, Princeton, Rutgers, Seton Hall, 
and T ren to n  State) did. Also included is a directory 
o f academ ic m edia contacts in th e state.

Copies o f th e 47-page publication are available 
from  th e N ew  Jersey Library Association, P.O. Box 
1534, T renton, NJ 08607. Include a check payable 
to th e N ew  Jersey Library Association for $3.25 to 
cover p rinting and mailing costs. ■ ■

C&RL News acting editor appointed

Sandra Naim an began as th e C & R L N ew s acting 
editor on O ctober 8, 1990. N aim an has an MLS 
from Rosary College and a P h.D  in English from 
th e University o f Arkansas. She has taught English 
and journalism  at N orthern Illinois University and 
served as a subject specialist in literature at th e 
N orthern Illinois University Library.

N aim an replaces G eorge E b e rh a rt w ho r e ­
signed after editing C & RL News for te n  years.

T he search for th e new  ed ito r o f 
C & R L N ew s has begun and ap p ­
lications are due N ovem ber 
15,1990. F o r fu rth e r infor­
m ation call th e  ALA H um an 
Services D ep artm en t, (800) 
545-2433 x2466. N aim an  
can be reach ed  at x3248

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