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A Feature Review of
BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google
John Palfrey
Hardback: Basic Books, 2015
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Reviewed by Andrew Stout
As the digital age progresses and grows ever more complex, it is not always clear whether we should talk about the plight of libraries or of their growing importance. Do the continually diversifying channels through which we are permeated with information make libraries more or less relevant? John Palfrey, the former director of the Harvard Law School Library, perceives a definite crisis for libraries, but this crisis encompasses both challenges and opportunities. He calls for libraries to redefine themselves in a “digital-plus” era – an original and very descriptive term. Libraries must find new ways to function more effectively as a public option for knowledgeable and personal guidance to information. Finding new ways to promote democratic access to information becomes increasingly important as the privatized interests of Amazon and Google continue to dominate.
According to Palfrey, libraries have a lot of rethinking to do. The digital revolution has created an identity crisis for libraries and librarians. Libraries can no longer be thought of simply as storehouses of printed information. For Palfrey, “The essential challenge for libraries is to balance a broad and growing slate of activities that span the analog and the digital” (36). This includes reevaluating everything from how customers actually use libraries, to how library space is organized, to the way that libraries network to share and preserve materials. He encourages libraries to take their cues from web culture. Following the example of cloud computing, libraries must find ways to collaborate in order to share resources and offer patrons “access to information that libraries offer, the expert advice in navigating through the information environment, and the connections to larger networks” (92). Librarians should find and create “hacks” that facilitate more effective collaboration to create a unique educational environment for all patrons and enable more comprehensive preservation of both analog and digital information.
A strong sense of urgency marks Palfrey’s plea. While he deals with issues that are relevant to academic libraries, archives, and special collections, Palfrey’s primary focus is on public libraries. He is bullish on the future of libraries and on their ability to innovate, but his recommendations come with a dose of tough love for institutions that are often progressive in spirit but conservative in terms of technological innovation.
There is no shortage of examples of the kind of initiatives and programs for which Palfrey calls. He was the founding chairman for the Digital Public Library of America, which serves as a frequent example throughout the book of the ways that libraries should adapt to and take advantage of digital culture. Other examples include the architectural and digital initiatives of the Boston Public Library, a unique “hack/maker/library space” (122) called the Waiting Room in St. Botolph’s, England, and many more. These are innovative libraries that are attune to localized needs while finding new ways to connect to national and international information systems. By surveying these inventive libraries and digitization projects, Palfrey’s book embodies the role that he envisions for librarians – a professional guide or curator of largely digital information. The book itself functions as a kind of platform linking to all kinds of digital information through its footnotes (the annotated bibliography is very helpful in this respect as well).
Though these examples of collaboration and innovation are helpful, many of the conclusions and suggestions that Palfrey draws from them are repetitive, vague, and jargon-laden. The entreaties for libraries to “network,” “collaborate,” and function as “platforms” begin to stretch thin over the course of several chapters, becoming a bit nebulous and redundant in the process. Palfrey’s analysis of the crisis libraries face is clear and compelling. His responses to that crisis are not always as clear. In this sense, the book suffers from some of the vagaries of the library profession itself. The future is uncertain for libraries and librarians, and this very uncertainty makes specific solutions or even recommendations very difficult. Similarly, Palfrey’s insistence that the space of the library remains essential in a digital-plus era is a welcome one. However, it is not clear to me from his recommendations how the space of a library should ultimately differ from an attractively designed and expertly staffed computer lab. The course that Palfrey wants to chart for libraries is not as clear in its details as is his examination of the roadblocks along the way.
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