Lessons Learned
- Making resources available electronically has raised expectations of all. “I think we are selling computers,” says Mason.
- With the Internet, the library inherits responsibility and is held accountable by the public for network performance that often depends on things beyond its control. At the same time, the sources of information have become less obvious to the patrons.
- Staff members have become accustomed to change. According to one staff member “change has become a constant.” Constant change can also be inhibiting and threatening, however. People expect change and when something doesn’t change fast enough to meet their high expectations, they complain. The challenge is to strike a balance between maintaining the old and ushering in the new.
- The electronic library complements the traditional one but does not replace the print products. Online access to information has not resulted in cutting back redundant resources, with the exception of a few CD-ROM periodical indexes cut in branches that now have online access to the same thing.
