¶ … Libraries
Changing Role of Libraries
Changing Role of Libraries in Today's Society
Changing Role of Libraries in Today's Society
Changing Role of Libraries in Today's Society
From the time when the recorded history began, all kinds of artifacts of symbolic, religious, social, and educational have been assembled together and protected in the libraries in the form of books and documents. Sumerians were the one who developed and brought into actual formation of a library. People of Mesopotamia, several millennia before, revolutionized the means of communication by using symbols and pictures which represented specific units of speech. According to Derrida (1996), the humans have undergone an "archive fever" which means the urge to preserve all kinds of information regarding the history, facts, experiences of people, etc. This impulse gave rise to libraries like temple libraries which contained organized and arranged books and this was done by trained personnel. Libraries in the past and even now have been the preserving place for printed material in the form of books, documents, maps, folders etc. Along with printed material, libraries also contain visual and audio artifacts which are considered important by the society.
Libraries play an important part in educational institutions even now, and contain in abundance, text material, technology, literacy material etc. The role of librarian since the inception of libraries has been to archive, organize, searching the card catalog, mediate and distribute the various forms of texts and artifacts to people to come to visit the library. These basic roles and responsibilities of a librarian have not changed until two decades before (Bennett, 2006). The role of librarians changed when the sole print-based managements system of text added technology to it.
Introduction
With the rise of digital technology, a discussion regarding the existence of the library is in the ascendant. Some have said that a digital library will replace a real library, buildings, facilities, printed collections, and librarians will disappear, while others advocated that libraries should promote their roles in various aspects and enhance their importance. Academic libraries, for instance, must pay more attention to the activities related to students' learning needs. In this sense, academic libraries have evolved into a place comprising social and technological components. Libraries have to show that they have the ability to be used in extreme technological environments to come (Bennett 2006). As a learning place on campus the library is located in a central area and occupies a large space. For a long time the library building has had both substantial functions and symbolic meaning, as a place in which people enjoy reading, check instrumental data, use Internet computers, and at the same time appreciate artwork and heritage, and meditate.
Nowadays more and more teachers and students also use libraries to discuss and share thoughts with each other. The libraries have become "a forum for students to collaborate, enjoy fellowship, engage in healthy debate, create and challenge ideas, and experience learning and discovery in a multitude of meaningful ways. Good design supports these activities" (Shill, Tonner, 2003). Throughout the world, countries spend billions of dollars on new and renovated libraries for educational institutions. What sort of places are these? When we look at university students' learning behaviors we may gain an idea about how their learning experiences in an advanced technological environment are improved when electronic resources are considered imperative for learning (Van Orsdel, Born. 2002). Academic libraries play an important role because they have a lot advantages over the virtual ones. They were basically designed as a repository to gather access and protect print collections. The libraries were designed and planned in such a way that the main concern was to preserve the materials and to provide it to people with efficiency properly making the catalogs and labeled sections (Freeman 2005).
But things have changed in the past two decades. Shill and Tonner (2003) conducted a survey regarding the academic library projects done across the U.S. during the time between 1995 and 2002. These projects were fairly evenly divided between new buildings and expansions and renovations, and the number of completions was reasonably stable over the period. There was a significant general enlargement in the size of the library. The authors point out that the majority of the libraries were situated in regions where the students came frequently. An obvious inclination was not seen towards significant inclusion of other divisions in library facilities. It was found that few libraries occupied space in buildings constructed mainly for additional reasons. The foremost impetus for constructing and enlarging libraries in the last two decades was to offer additional shelving for printed materials (Bennett...
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