Automation, the growth of online information and digital formats: the story of libraries

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of technological change, the data deluge, social change and policy change on the materials in their collection, the services they offer and how service is provided.

Design/methodology/approach

The author examines over four decades of personal experience as a library user and library worker to discover the progression of library resources, reference practices and the storage of information from analogue to digital.

Findings

Since the 1970s, there has been a gradual shift away from analogue technologies towards digital ones. One exception is that of the low-tech analogue book which, while it is not as central as it once was, remains important for most library collections. The change was and is driven by internal and external pressures and can be impeded by factors such as financial and skill limitations or decision makers who do not support changes.

Originality/value

While the Data Deluge Column has many instalments that examine problems created by the growing mass of data and information and the progression to technological change, this instalment puts all of that into a human or lived perspective.

Citation

Frederick, D.E. (2023), "Automation, the growth of online information and digital formats: the story of libraries", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 40 No. 2, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-02-2023-0023