Keeping up with the User: the Central Focus of American Librarianship Today

Discussions about the nature of librarianship in the United States is driven by the changing demands of readers. In the 1990s, information-seeking, interaction and supply moved into places seemingly far beyond the influence of the librarian the dormitory, laboratory, family room, public spaces. A number of methods have been developed to meet this challenge. Currently, most popular is the argument that the wonders of digital information are so important that they must be provided to all citizens through publicly-funded libraries. But the convenience of home and office computer use will diminish library visits, so the most important question for us librarians is : how can they master the techniques and technology to permit them to digitize and distribute their own professional skills as well as the data in their files?
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