Information Tomorrow: Reflections on Technology and the Future of Public and Academic Libraries
Edited by Rachel Singer Gordon Foreword by Stephen Abram
Publication Date:
September, 2007
Price: $24.50
“A richly enjoyable, thought-provoking collection from LibraryLand’s best innovators, practitioners, and field philosophers.”
— K. G. Schneider, Free Range Librarian
Any discussion of the future of libraries must consider the impact of the technological advances and innovations that are inextricably wound up with library operations and user expectations. According to Rachel Singer Gordon, librarians remain relevant and useful by confronting technological challenges head-on and finding ways to integrate the best and most appropriate innovations into library services and operations.
In Information Tomorrow, Gordon brings together 20 of today’s leading thinkers on the intersections between libraries and technology. They address various ways in which new technologies influence librarians’ actions and goals and offer ideas for using technology to meet patrons where they are. The result is an engaging, wide-ranging, and sometimes provocative discussion for systems librarians, library IT workers, library managers and administrators, and anyone working with or interested in technology in libraries.
In addition to a preface by Gordon, the book’s foreword and 16 chapters feature insights and opinions from these library leaders, bloggers, and futurists:
Stephen Abram Lori Bell Steven J. Bell John Blyberg Robert Bocher Daniel Chudnov Jill Emery Meredith G. Farkas Megan K. Fox Beth Gallaway
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Joseph Janes David Lee King Jenny Levine Tom Peters Dorothea Salo John D. Shank Michael Stephens Rhonda B. Trueman Jessamyn West Alane Wilson
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Writing in the book’s foreword, Stephen Abram says, “I can’t agree with every position in this work, and that is just wonderful! ... I need to have my buttons pushed regularly. I believe there’s enough in this book to push a few buttons for you and your organization. And that, to me, is what a collection should do—educate, inform, irritate, and inspire.”
“Information Tomorrow provides an excellent overview of the technologies and services tomorrow’s librarian needs today. ... an oasis of clarity in a world of change and confusion.”
— Michael E. Casey, Library 2.0