Future of Serials Librarians Marcia Tuttle 10 Aug 1995 15:57 UTC
2 messages: ---------- Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 14:59:41 MDT From: Carol Fitzgerald <fitzgerc@TCPLINK.NREL.GOV> Subject: Re: Future of Serials Librarians (Virginia Hansen) When you consider the cost of preserving paper serials from deterioration, the fact that only one user has access at a time, the increased memory/image capacity of electronic storage and transmission now (and most certainly in the future), and the enhancement of searching electronic text versus using paper indexes or, even, using electronic databases and then finding the paper issuer, the move to e-journals seems not only advisable but critical to keeping up with the increased flow of information. One of the MOST important factors to this changeover for me, however, is the alleviation of the environmental impact that paper journal production has had. The Serials Librarian? The same for all Librarians: stay ahead of the technology, plan for the future, learn the latest systems, demand the best (read: most user-friendly and patron accessible) from the vendors. Keep up with your colleagues to know not only the vendors' reliability but the credibility of what's being produced online. Most importantly, discourage systems that create a Librarians' advantage, like the encoded searching so long used by OCLC. ENCOURAGE systems that help everyone find information on their own, at the least possible cost. (This last concept is more than alien to many Librarians; it's downright frightening. They believe they'll be giving up their very profession.) If we want to see Librarianship still vital and important in the 21st century, we need to let it evolve to a level that is truly **information** management (not paper parcel handling and warehousing). The Serials Librarian **could** be on the very cusp of Librarianship, managing the ever-increasing flow of the most up-to-date information streaming through the NET. Carol Fitzgerald NREL Library, Golden, CO fitzgerc@tcplink.nrel.gov ----- Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1995 07:58:26 EDT From: W Ted Rogers <WTR100F@ODUVM.CC.ODU.EDU> Subject: Re: Future of Serials Librarians (Virginia Hansen) RE:the future of serials librarianship. I do not foresee any major threat to the need for a position like that of a serials librarian at this time nor in the immediate future. E-serials at this time are more of a supplement to print, not a replacement for print. When publishers move completely to electronic dissemination, the vast majority of e-serials (just like their print counterparts) will have some sort of cost. Therefore, there will be a need for someone to handle the invoicing, etc. Another point favouring the continued existence of serials librarians is on-site archiving. Unless libraries wish to give up all control over what they make available to their users, there will have to be some sort of local archiving of e-serials. I do not see libraries turning over control of what is made available to some outside organization that maintains a gopher server or a web site (or some future variation thereof). Therefore, someone to handle this local archiving function will still be necessary. All of this leads me to believe that the future of serials librarianship is fairly secure, but this future will possibly bring some dramatic changes to serials librarians' job descriptions. _______________________________________________________ W Ted Rogers, Serials Librarian Old Dominion University Library, Norfolk, VA 23529-0256 Ph.: 804 683-4144 Fax: 804 683-5035 Internet: <wtr100f@shakespeare.lib.odu.edu or: <wtr100f@oduvm.cc.odu.edu ------------------------------------------------------- "Il n'est pas question de rejeter la technique. Nous ne pouvons pas regresser, nous sommes obliges de passer a travers la technique. Et pour cela nous devons combattre l'objet technique, nous mesurer avec lui." -- Paul Virilio, in "Esclaves de la vitesse [interview]", POLITIS-MAGAZINE, no.19 (1994:July/Aug.), p.75. ************************** EOF**************************