Books AND information

Yep! I have to admit it. I'm a librarian, and yet when it comes to reearching information I choose the internet first. It's easy, it's here and it's huge. But always to be supplemented by whatever the library can provide. Nevertheless for reading for pleasure, it will always be a book. And here is the great divide. Sure the book is dying as a source of information. We still have a role to play here - equalizing access to digital sources and advising on searching techniques. And Michael Rogers makes a good point in hit article, Turning books into bits. '“Governments burn libraries,” says Kahle, “societies go up and down, Iron Curtains go up and down. Having copies in multiple places is the best way to preserve knowledge.”

But this is entirely different to providing a book for the pure pleasure of escaping into a different world. If we are to navel-gaze about the possible demise of librarian, then we should separate the two fields out, because they offer entirely different scenarios.