Information Imagineering: : Meeting at the Interface

Citation

Smith, A. (1999), "Information Imagineering: : Meeting at the Interface", Asian Libraries, Vol. 8 No. 9, pp. 356-357. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1999.8.9.356.5

This diverse collection of essays contemplates the “digital divide” between traditional libraries and museums, and the electronic information environment of the future. A wide range of authors considers how information professionals will cross that divide, combining old and new ways of organising knowledge.

Contributors are not just from the information professions: Stephen Gillett, a geologist, discusses how nanotechnology may heighten the value of information when molecular assemblers can create anything, given the correct instructions. Julien Sprott, a physicist and part‐time futurologist, shares the results of the “future project” in which participants gave their views on what the twenty‐second century, and in particular its information handling systems, might look like. The visionary David Brin, in the final essay, pursues his image of the Internet as a commons, a space available to all, and owned by none. Martin Sullivan, one of several writers from a museum background, views the challenges of IT to the museum world. Interestingly, Sullivan sees IT as bringing about greater collaboration between museums and librarians and the other information professions.

Papers offer lateral thinking and fresh perspectives ‐ for instance, Martin Kalfatovic takes the lessons of the computer industry ‐ where many failed to see that the market would be dominated by the software running the computers, rather than by the suppliers of the computers themselves ‐ and applies these to libraries, arguing that it is the “software” of libraries, the systems for organising knowledge, that are important, rather than the hardware.

A wide range of issues associated with the “digital divide” is addressed. Shelley Phipps and Cathy Larson consider the management issues of achieving technological change through the “learning organisation”, and the importance of members of an organisation having a shared vision of the changes (a concept also discussed by Gary Silver in his essay). In the section entitled “Technology serves” several writers examine technological trends and the implications for information work. Carol Ritzenthaler looks at intellectual freedom issues on the Internet, reporting on the shifting balance between freedom and protection in cyberspace. Virginia Scheschy looks at the evolution of electronic journals, where the challenges relate to the technical issues of distribution and preservation, as well as the social issues of publication status and intellectual protection. A thoughtful position statement from the National Humanities Alliance lays out principles for managing intellectual property in the digital environment. The role of the public library is critically evaluated by Howard Besser in “The shape of the twenty‐first century library”, which also draws lessons from the changes that have taken place in other types of service and marketing organisations.

The issues discussed in these papers will not quickly lose their relevance. For those who intend to practice information work in the twenty‐first century, Information Imagineering is essential and thought‐provoking reading.