Continuity and change for U.S. libraries in the digital age: How U.S. public and academic libraries are confronting the challenge of the digital library

摘要

The french saying Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose seems particularly appropriate for libraries. Libraries are extraordinary institutions, they have persisted throughout the centuries and millennia despite the destructive forces of man and nature. There are far too many examples to cite, but a short list would include the Alexandrian Library in Egypt, the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, in 1812, and more recently, great libraries in Venice, Florence and Sarajevo. Libraries have survived the burning and censorship of books by those who considered the ideas they contained unacceptable. One recent and tragic example being the libraries of Afghanistan, which suffered heavily under the Taliban. Finally, libraries survive and will continue to survive despite predictions that they have no future because of the direct accessibility of the Internet, e-books, and other digital and electronic media.