The Wonders of technology
Posted by: Barbara Bibel
I returned home from the wonderful and productive conference in Chicago ready to post something about the exciting programs, but my DSL was dead. After three weeks of going round and round with my provider, it is still dead. I am now in the process of changing ISPs. This made me think about how much we have come to depend on technology in our work. Our OPACs and databases are great resources until the system crashes or the proxy servers start doing strange things. This is why print resources will always have a place in our collections. They not only provide information that is too old to be online, they serve as a backup when the electronic sources are not functioning. Of course we do not have print versions of everything, but there are many situations where grabbing the World Almanac or a volume of World Book will get the job done and result in a patron telling you how smart you are. There are also patrons who prefer print because they cannot use computers. At the RBB program on the future of reference collections, the panel members and the audience had a lively discussion about the changes that are taking place. Print directories may be obsolete, but good monographic sources are alive and well. The way that our patrons seek and use information may be changing, but they still need us to help them find the best sources and show them how to use these sources efficiently. So technology is great when it works, but there are times when the faithful old standards come in handy.
