ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries December 1990 /1 0 5 7 The future o f reference III: Discussion summary By John Tongate Head Librarian, Reference Services D epartm ent The University o f Texas at Austin An audience discussion followed the panel p re s entations. C om m ents identified and developed three areas o f interest: capability and extent of organizational change, acceptance by and effect o f change on the individual, and the identification o f opportunities for im plem enting change. Capability for and extent of change The opening audience observation was from th e adm inistrator’s vantage point. The banquet o f ideas presented by th e speakers led to the need to focus on specifics. Thinking through the administrative responsibility for change is an ongoing problem o f getting program s started while overcoming inertia and making already established programs stop. Persuasion is necessary to start the new paradigm. There will be dislocation, and a focus on pragm a tism is needed. W e are moving toward a m ore electronic library, b u t what does electronic library m ean— in form ation p arad ise? T he m o v em en t toward an inform ation paradise is a frightening concept for some users and staff, and the vision is difficult to deal with. An academic research library may never be a total electronic library, although a substantial p art may be. W e must begin w ith and pursue visions as plans change. W e must focus on why libraries exist as we work through new p ara digms, b u t it is necessary to keep ties with th e past. As we develop electronic libraries they m ust be friendly and grounded in traditional values. Effect on the individual A m em ber o f th e audience noted that it has b een observed th at it takes a generation for new tech n o l ogy to be accepted. Does this apply today? W hen using new technology, will people becom e insular and will they change psychologically to the extent that they will not com m unicate in person with librarians or oth er hum ans? A panelist responded that developing technology won’t obviate hum an contact. Many have seen th e simulated “knowledge navigator,” the concept o f John Scully, C E O of Apple C om puter, on video. The am bience in th e closing scene is one o f comfort, as in a living room. There is only one hum an. But on the com puter screen th e re is th e face o f an individual which is personal. The scholar is not isolated in a room or a box. In addition to accessing published literature, th ere is the option o f calling someone on a network and talking with an image on a screen. How do we get the com puter to this point o f responsiveness? T he original E D U C O M audience viewing th e concept was very excited, a critical step in getting an operational system as dem onstrated. Technology no longer moves with generations. C onsider the acceptance o f flight. W e have to look at how we will mold and not be m olded by technol ogy; what will it do for us and to us? W e are the dom inating factor. No one can know what will happen, b u t we should be proactive. It is b e tte r to think and make change happen rather than sit back, wait, and react. A m em ber o f the audience questioned what is the m odel that people expect th e com puter to accomplish. Expert systems and artificial intelli gence are thought to be som ething amazing. W hat m odel is driving them ? A boy sees his father as a hero, yet later as a hum an being. Superm an and Flash Gordon were heroes who had answers. Are expert systems and artificial intelligence today’s super daddy? Is what we really want God in a box? Machines which parallel hum an intelligence w on’t help us a lot. A servant all-powerful seems to be the model. A W izard o f Oz image is envisioned w here curtains part and all information is revealed. A panelist responded, “Are systems a phase in evolutionary developm ent, subject to th e vagaries o f th e natural world?” W e lurch forward in an O rwellian environm ent o f b u d g et deficits and rapid developm ents in eastern E urope. W e ad vance as the T hird W orld regresses, raising the questions o f how developing systems will dislocate us fu rth er from other societies th at cannot create or even look at the Scully image. W e m ust give more than lip service to such situations and we m ust be cautious o f how and w here we are going. Implementing change A nother panelist noted that th e medical field may be a model o f w here we are going. Perfection o f th e hum an body is being attem pted, for example, 1058 / C&RL News by gene splicing. Are we creating artificial intelli gence as a p erfect system? W e are not m odeling on any one thing, ra th e r we are attem pting m ultiple experts in one system. As in m edicine, we are trying to create th e same environm ent o f perfection in inform ation systems. A th ird panelist offered a different perspective. Can we anticipate u ser acceptance based on p rac tical experience? Users in reference d epartm ents refuse to use p a p e r indexes in deference to a com p u te r index. A co m p u ter version is seen as b etter, even if only tangentially related to th e subject pursued. O n th e o th e r hand, p a p e r can be seen as authoritative. A photocopy looks m ore like th e real thing. A list o f citations is okay, b u t an article on a co m p u ter screen is questioned. W hat is th e au th o r ity b eh in d th e article? It could have b een d u m p ed into a w ord processing package and changed. F ac ulty question th e source o f data from a com puter. A panelist no ted th a t th e Society for Scholarly P u b lishing is in terested in related issues o f th e online environm ent. H ow do you bind online inform ation to g e th er so th a t it cannot be cut and pasted, thus avoiding false inform ation? Final observations cam e from two panelists. C onsider th e p resen t academ ic environm ent and th e tu rn o v er o f faculty as older m em bers retire. This is an opportunity to look at doing things differ ently w ith new, younger faculty m em bers. Be ag gressive in form ing expectations o f new faculty and building a new future w ith them . T h ere may be a problem o f a gap in th e generational developm ent. A “lost generation” o f th e 1970s was driven ou t o f Ph.D . program s, especially in th e social sciences and hum anities. T he p re se n t new generation has b e e n train ed by rem aining faculty 30 to 40 years older. N ew P h .D .’s have com e out with th e same old habits learned from th e sam e old faculty. T he intrigued audience was very in terested in th e ideas and speculations o f th e presentations and discussion, having already b e e n exposed to changes m ade as th e paradigm has begun to shift in th e ir own work environm ents. Some ideas discussed are still untested, b u t th e audience drew upon experi ence to relate th e m to reality, evaluating th e new ideas accordingly. A fter devoting an h o u r and a half to considering and discussing both th e theoretical and practical aspects o f new structures o f service in an electronic environm ent, participants left th e program w ith renew ed enthusiasm for involve m en t in ongoing grow th and change. ■■ New Jersey media assessment available T he A-V C om m ittee o f th e N ew Jersey Library Association, College and University Section, has ju st published th e results o f a survey o f academ ic m edia collections and services in N ew Jersey. T he survey is thought to b e one o f th e m ost extensive surveys o f state m edia ever com pleted. It was done to encourage th e exchange o f inform ation at a tim e o f p ro liferatin g technologies, skyrocketing ex penses, and b u d g et cutbacks. It includes invento ries o f hardw are and software, circulation statistics by form at, services offered, m edia production fig ures, teleconferencing and satellite inform ation, m edia p erso n n el inform ation, and inform ation about borrow ing and lending. W hile not all schools in N ew Jersey responded to th e su rv e y , m a jo r in s titu tio n s (e .g ., D re w , M ontclair, N JIT, Princeton, Rutgers, Seton Hall, and T ren to n State) did. Also included is a directory o f academ ic m edia contacts in th e state. Copies o f th e 47-page publication are available from th e N ew Jersey Library Association, P.O. Box 1534, T renton, NJ 08607. Include a check payable to th e N ew Jersey Library Association for $3.25 to cover p rinting and mailing costs. ■ ■ C&RL News acting editor appointed Sandra Naim an began as th e C & R L N ew s acting editor on O ctober 8, 1990. N aim an has an MLS from Rosary College and a P h.D in English from th e University o f Arkansas. She has taught English and journalism at N orthern Illinois University and served as a subject specialist in literature at th e N orthern Illinois University Library. N aim an replaces G eorge E b e rh a rt w ho r e signed after editing C & RL News for te n years. T he search for th e new ed ito r o f C & R L N ew s has begun and ap p lications are due N ovem ber 15,1990. F o r fu rth e r infor m ation call th e ALA H um an Services D ep artm en t, (800) 545-2433 x2466. N aim an can be reach ed at x3248 ■ . ■