A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON LIBRARIES Robert Wedgeworth Librarian and Professor Emeritus University of Illinois November 2007

WHERE IS THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY? (A 1980’s question)

TWO LIBRARIES IN ONE: Beginnings of library automation F Preserving the past F Planning for the future F Maintaining the balance F Communicating the transition

GLOBAL FORCES F Economics F Technology F Demography F Culture

GLOBAL LIBRARY ECONOMICS F FUNDING F COST OF MATERIALS F COST OF TECHNOLOGIES F COST OF FACILITIES F SALARIES

CULTURE, INC. F MEDIA CONSOLIDATION (BERTELSMAN & RANDOM HOUSE) F MEDIA CONVERGENCE (TIME WARNER) F MEDIA GLOBALIZATION (DISNEY)

WHO PAYS? F Educational institutions F Employers F Individuals F How do you pay? –By the bottle –by the drink

GLOBAL LIBRARY TECHNOLOGIES F LIBRARY MATERIALS F WORKSTATIONS F LIBRARY SYSTEMS F INTERNET CONNECTIONS F TECHNICAL PERSONNEL

BOOKS AND LITERACY F World book publishing growing F U.S. book publishing leveling off F Literacy (definition?) F Functional literacy F Information literacy

READING HABITS  FEWER BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS READ (52%) F SAME INFORMATION FROM TV (16%) F NEWSPAPERS READ MINUTES DAILY (66%) F Sources:ALA, BISG, Roper

DO BOOKS COMPETE WITH NEW MEDIA? F AS ENTERTAINMENT F AS LEARNING TOOLS F AS REFERENCE TOOLS F AS CULTURAL DIFFUSION TOOLS

BOOKS IN OUR FUTURE F MOST OF WHAT WE KNOW IS IN BOOKS F MORE SPECIALIZED FUNCTIONS FOR BOOKS F BOOKS COMPLEMENT AND COMPETE WITH NEW MEDIA F NO TO FAHRENHEIT 451!!

FROM SPEAKING, TO WRITING, TO READING TO LISTENING, TO VIEWING, TO COMPUTING

DIGITAL LIBRARIES F Text F Images F Multimedia F Delivery systems, telephone, cable or satellite F Specialized personnel

User Database query response

GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHICS F POPULATION GROWTH F EMIGRATION F CHANGING ROLES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN

GLOBAL CULTURAL FORCES F LANGUAGE F RELIGION F EDUCATION F MUSIC F ART F LIFE STYLE

MEDIA AND AUDIENCE DIFFERENTIATION F AGE F GENDER F ETHNICITY F LANGUAGE F GEOGRAPHY F OCCUPATION F INTERESTS

GLOBAL FEARS AND LIMITATIONS F HAVES v. HAVE NOTS F INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM F COPYRIGHT & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY F INTERNET WEB SITE SECURITY F FILTERS

WHO GETS ACCESS? F Students F Workers F Children F Universal service to schools and libraries F International developments

INFORMATION LITERACY F FINDING INFORMATION F EVALUATING INFORMATION F USING INFORMATION F REFORMING INSTRUCTION (reserves, lectures, textbooks) F FINANCING ACCESS TO INFORMATION

INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM R.S.V.P. F RACE F RELIGION F SEX F VIOLENCE F POLITICS

HISTORY F ONLY COUNTRY WITH ABSOLUTE GUARANTEES OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION F FIRST AMENDMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CONTROVERSIAL F HISTORICALLY CENSORSHIP HAS BEEN PRACTICED IN ALL CIVILIZATIONS (RVSP) F ARTICLE 19 OF UN DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

SOME INTERNATIONAL ISSUES F UK--Peter Wright and Spycatcher F China and the INTERNET F France and the Front Nationale F Turkey and the Kurds F Japan and textbooks on WW II. F ISLAM and the INTERNET F CHRISTIANS and the INTERNET F Iraq and government secrecy

The world has undergone radical changes throughout the 20th century. Many claim the new millenium will be the NET MILLENIUM.

NET MILLENIUM F DIGITAL LIBRARIES OF CULTURAL INFORMATION F ANALYSIS ENVIRONMENTS FOR CORRELATING INFORMATION F GLOBAL CULTURAL MEMORY

TOWARD A GLOBAL LIBRARY COMMUNITY F ASYNCHRONOUS F MULTI-LINGUAL F MULTI-CULTURAL F GEOGRAPHICALLY DIVERSE F TECHNICALLY COMPETENT

COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY F International in scope F Includes all media F Tendency to restrict rights of users F Focus on pay per use F Ignores the value of libraries F Government frequently a partner with commercial interests--WIPO TREATIES

GLOBAL AGENDA F CAPTURING DIVERSITY F CELEBRATING DIVERSITY

CAPTURING DIVERSITY F PROMOTE DIFFERENCE F REWARD EXPERIMENTATION F EMPOWER EVERYONE F INVITE OUTSIDERS IN AND SEND INSIDERS OUT F BE INCLUSIVE

CELEBRATE OUR SPECIAL DIVERSITY--WOMEN F COMMUNICATIONS F BALANCE F EMPOWERMENT F COLLABORATION & TEAMWORK F BROAD VISION

NAVIGATING A GLOBAL ROUTE F FOCUS ON DESTINATIONS F REMAIN FLEXIBLE F EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED F RECOGNIZE OTHER EXPERTISE F PAY YOUR WAY