IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jamest/v31y1980i6p389-395.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The library community at a technological and philosophical crossroads: Necessary and sufficient conditions for survival

Author

Listed:
  • Laurence B. Heilprin

Abstract

The community consisting of libraries and library schools is examined for the probability of its long‐term survival in its recognizable present form. Evolution, especially the later human‐artificial stage, shows essential functions tending to continue but intense competition to determine which structures (self‐regulatory adaptive systems) will carry on those functions. The library community is a system that appears insufficiently equipped to compete adaptively over the long term. To be competitively invulnerable would require, in addition to carrying on its present essential functions, assumption of two new ones: (1) support of basic information science, including research leadership in the field, and (2) constant self‐renewal through some drastic form of continuing education, e.g., joint commitment by school and student to lifelong cyclic return to the school, following the first degree. (An example of such a competitively invulnerable community is the medical community.) Assumption of both new functions would be necessary and sufficient. More are not needed, but anything short of both would probably lead to absorption of functions and personnel of the library community by other, more competitively adaptive informational communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurence B. Heilprin, 1980. "The library community at a technological and philosophical crossroads: Necessary and sufficient conditions for survival," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 31(6), pages 389-395, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jamest:v:31:y:1980:i:6:p:389-395
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.4630310602
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.4630310602
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/asi.4630310602?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jamest:v:31:y:1980:i:6:p:389-395. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.asis.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.