Exploring Ideas from Here Comes Everybody: Part 1: Libraries in an Age of Abundance
Clay Shirky's new book, Here Comes Everybody, is definitely worth reading and has some thought provoking ideas that I'll be exploring in a series of posts.The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from "Why publish this?" to "Why not?" p. 60
Physical limitations as well as the cost limitations of printing are no longer a factor with online publishing. Emergency medicine textbooks don't have to be less than 700 pages if they're online. The important news stories to publish today are no longer limited to the length of the TV news hour or the space available in the print newspaper.
Libraries thrived and played a mission critical role when information was scarce and expensive. The Internet means unlimited copyability by anyone with a computer. Instead of scarcity we have an information explosion.
What is libraries' "sweet spot" in a world filled with abundance of information?
What do we offer? Definitely we can offer the role of guides. We can play this role in our face to face interactions or through online publishing. This role requires us to change from "content agnostics", where we say "here are all the databases on X" to here are the resources we recommend for X. There are lots of other roles to consider: personal information management coaches, advocates and access points for exploring accessing digital content, enhanced discovery services, etc. What else do you see in a world full of abundance that libraries are especially well suited to do?
Exploring Ideas from Here Comes Everybody
- Part 1: Libraries in an Age of Abundance
- Part 2: From Scribes and Scrolls to Librarians and Libraries
- Part 3: Conversations and Collections
Other Posts about Clay Shirky's Book
Tags: abundance | book | change | Clay Shirky | copyability | Here Comes Everybody | library | quote | scarcity | technology
