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Article
Skating on Thin Intermediation: Can Libraries Survive?
Legal Reference Services Quarterly (2008)
  • James M Donovan
Abstract
Predictions about the end of libraries point to a real crisis, but assign the wrong cause. Libraries will not be displaced by technology like Google, but can be undermined by librarians’ own reactions to patron demand for Google-like experiences. Librarians can respond with a “weak model” that prioritizes the satisfaction of patrons, or a “strong model” that recognizes higher values rooted in the status of librarianship as a profession. Although recent trends favor the dominance of the weak model, only by embracing the strong model can librarians survive the challenges that threaten libraries. A draft version is available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1347151
Keywords
  • Libraries,
  • Google,
  • Internet,
  • library 2.0,
  • professional ethics,
  • patron expectations
Disciplines
Publication Date
October, 2008
Citation Information
James M Donovan. "Skating on Thin Intermediation: Can Libraries Survive?" Legal Reference Services Quarterly Vol. 27 Iss. 2/3 (2008) p. 95 - 116
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/james_donovan/50/