The Catholic University of America

School of Library and Information Sciences

CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004

Final Examination
M. Piedad Alliende
1. Identify the five reading assignments (text excluded) you found to
be the most helpful, insightful, stimulating, infuriating, etc. Why did
you select each one?

In order to begin, I want to explain first how I “tackled” this question and the
process I used to identify five readings from among the 180 we received. I think
the process itself was quite interesting. I caught myself gathering up all the
readings, counting and thinking about them in the context that they were given.
We read an average of 20 readings per topic (see table) that varied in length
and style.
Topic # of
articles
Society Scrutinized 20
Libraries Defined 22
Information Define 21
Professionalism Pondered 23
Ethics Exposed 21
Networking/Connecting 17
Access Analyzed 15
Intellectual Property/Copyright Issues 19
Entrepreneurship and future Librarians/Libraries 22
Total 180

Some of the readings were short news clips, some of them were articles from
scholar journals, and others were excerpts of fiction and non-fiction books. The
time frame in which they were published (with the exception of three readings)
spans from 1978 to quite recently, November 2004. All of them, with the
exception of the same three readings, were written in the US.

The exceptions are what I considered foreign classics: Aristotle’ s Ethics, Victor
Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Jose Ortega y Gasset’s article Man Must
Tame the Book, and therefore cannot be considered in the same category as the
other 177 readings. From this latter bulk, most of the readings were written in
the late 1990s, and between 2000 and 2004.

________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society -2-
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
After analyzing the quantitative part of the readings, I had, of course, to focus
on their quality. More questions arose in my mind: What considerations should I
take into account to choose just 2.8% of the reading assignments? What is my
purpose for this exercise? Should I focus on one topic, or try to cover
everything? Should I choose them for their written quality or the time in which
they were written? Should I just pick the one I found easy to read and quit
raising questions? Should I focus on the one I did not like? Should I choose very
odd ones just to defy the fact that we, as a class, will coincide at least with one
reading? Should I…? And on and on and on.

All of these questions were valid and since “it just depends”, I decided to clarify
my train of thoughts, and understand better the circumstances in which I make
decisions. I think this small assignment reflects well what librarians have to deal
with every single day. They have to make decisions about what is relevant to
not so relevant information, especially in these days where an abundance of
information (especially through the Internet) is capable of overwhelming
anybody. In this light the exercise appears not only interesting, but pertinent
and somewhat indispensable.

Keeping this in mind, I asked myself how could I narrow my selection to five
readings. It’s seemed almost impossible. There were several articles that I did
not want to leave aside but I had to. How do I justify my final decisions?

I knew I wanted to be, in certain degree, “fair” and not “biased” in my selection.
I also wanted that the readings I opted for, cover a wide spectrum of topics that
can help understand better the broader sense of libraries and information in
society (or societies?). Since there are so many readings I liked (that were
“insightful”) that to a certain degree there is not a “real” or theoretical

________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society -3-
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
justification that helped me to narrow them down. I decided that my next step
was to think of categories for organizing the readings and then I came up with
the idea of selecting one article per category. Needless to say, no matter how
impartial I wanted to be, the selection reflects my personal taste and values.
Keeping this in mind, here there are the categories and my final selections:

1. Historical perspective. I think that in every issue analyzed, it is always

useful to look at the past: understanding processes that lead to present
situations; assessing what people already have done; placing ourselves in
“other peoples’ shoes”; and pondering values and priorities.

Kenneth E Carpenter. “A Library Historian Looks at Librarianship.” In

Books, Bricks, and Bytes, Daedalus (Journal of the American Academy of
1
Arts and Sciences), Vol. 125, No. 4, Fall 1996, pp. 77-102

Carpenter’s article is well written and gives a historical perspective of the

evolution of librarianship as a profession in the US. It helped me to
understand stereotypes, assumptions, and how, in light of the past, we
can change our own approach to the “production of knowledge.”

2. Transformations in Society. I think we need to have a good understanding

of what are the main changes in society that are shifting the roles of
libraries and librarians.

Peter Drucker’ “The Age of Social Transformation” in Atlantic Monthly,

vol. 274, no. 5 November 1994, pp.53-80.

I chose Drucker’s article not only for being very insightful, but also for
being a good summary of the author’s ideas. I think that this article

1 In the bibliography of the course says that the source is “Library Trends sometime 1996/97” which is incorrect.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society -4-
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
 should be included in the readings of this course in the future especially
if the professor decides to assign other texts to read instead of Drucker’s
Post Capitalism Society. Today concepts as a “knowledge society” and
“knowledge workers” are used profusely in the corporate and library
worlds. One ought to know the context for the concepts of a shifting
society and information.

3. Relevant author in the field of libraries and information. It is always

important to know the state of the art in our own field, and who are the
“classic” authors and main contributors.

F. Wilfred Lancaster. “Whither Libraries? Or, Wither Libraries” in College &

Research Libraries, 39 (5) September 1978, pp. 345-357.

There have been quite a number of articles that deal with the future of
libraries and librarians in the face of electronic information and the advent
of a paperless world. Lancaster’s article, written 26 years ago, appears as
one of the pioneers in questioning the future of libraries and urging
librarians to consider “immediately” and “seriously” the role of the library
in an electronic society and how libraries should adapt to it. Even though
the paperless society has not yet arrived, and the somewhat apocalyptic
premonition of libraries disappearing has not happen, this article points
out issues that worry librarians right now. The article is a classic, and as
that every student of Library Science should read it.

4. Management of future libraries/librarians. This topic is a key issue in

grasping and getting excited about the role of librarians and libraries now
and in the future. Looking at management from other perspectives outside
the library world helps shape and understand “our tomorrow.” It is also

________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society -5-
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
 important not to lose the main purpose of our service in our professional
interests and entrepreneurial approaches. We must include critical
thinking that strengthens the profession.

John Buschman. “Toward a Sustainable Case for Librarianship: The Public

Sphere and Democratic Possibility.” Chapter 9 of Dismantling the Public
Sphere, Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2003, pp. 170-185.
This chapter made me interested in reading the whole book. I might not
completely agree with Buschman in all of his points, but chapter 9 made
me think about the current state and future scenarios of librarianship.
Buschman points are valuable because it makes us to reflect on the
reason for libraries and librarianship beyond issues of efficiency,
professionalism, institutional organization, technological functionality, and
economic instrumentality.

5. Personal enhancement. We cannot accomplish too many things if we

cannot balance our own personal and professional life. I thought that we,
as librarians, need to read about ways of how to manage stress, how to
be creative and how to be learners for life.

Michael Gorman. “Information Overload and Stress: The Ailments of

Modern Living” Chapter 10 of The Enduring Library: Technology, Tradition,
and the Quest for Balance, ALA, 2003, pp. 122-133.

This chapter of Gorman’s book has been on my mind since the day I read
it. I am one of those people that get bulimic with information and
sometimes the limits get blurred for me; I do not know when it is too
much. Gorman’s recommendations seem to be pondered, realistic and
useful. The title of his book is very suggestive. It seems more resounding

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The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society -6-
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
 than ever that the librarian’s work is a constant search for balancing both
the printed and paperless world.

2. Discuss the impact on libraries of networks and networking. Focus on

three impacts.

The advent of electronic networks has been impacting the library in the
last thirty years, and it seems that the pace of the impacts is increasing
every year with the rapid changes in Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs). The three impacts I will focus on are the impact on
the library environment, the impact on the library collection, and the
impact on human resources.

1. Impact on the library environment.

New technologies have impacted the library’s physical environment. Card
catalogs have been replaced by online catalogs that need computer access
terminals. A couple of week ago, I witnessed the renovation of a small
community library in Arlington in which the furniture was completely
rearranged in the same space. The small library changed from been a
space where rows of shelves were full of books (back to back), to an open
inviting space. Now, the first thing you see when you enter the library, is
a row of 4 desks facing each other with computer terminals on them. They
are next to a big window, which I never noticed before. When you turn
your face to one side, there is a shelf for audio books, and in front of it
another shelf for DVDs and Videos. When I asked where the biography
books were at, they escorted me to the very back of the library where
books were on shelves displayed in a semicircle (designed to provide
space for small presentations and storytelling). Actually, I liked the
change. It makes the space more open, brighter and less cluttered. I
thought though, that they had to get rid of half of the book collection to

________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society -7-
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
 do the renovation. But it was only my perception. You can find the books
there. What is different now is that books are not playing the protagonist
role in the library stage anymore.

Another impact of electronic networking in the library space is the

alteration of the wiring, electrical outlets and lightning of libraries. Some
libraries have already reached their full capacity (voltage wise) and cannot
plug in a single computer more unless they go through an expensive
redesign of their building electrical system. There is also an increase
dependency on electricity and electronic devices. If the electricity is down,
the whole library shuts down, and its information access is limited, if not
null.

Finally, another impact of electronic networking in the library environment

that I would like to mention, is the fact that many patrons do not require
a physical building in order to use the library services (something that will
increase in the future). That will mean a new rearrangement of the
physical space and development of new ways to attract another type of
audience to the building and available space.

2. Impact on the library collection, especially electronic records

management
Libraries have been the natural repositories of diverse records of
information records of corporate and cultural memory, for example.
Records serve several purposes in a society including: proof of actions and
decisions; a knowledge-base for action, accountability, reflection and
learning; and a perspective on today's society that will be passed on to
future generations. Until recently, these records have been in the form of
very concrete physical objects printed-paper. New information

________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society -8-
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
 technologies such as the Internet and networked computers challenge
organizations' capacities to define, capture, identify, control, manage, and
preserve electronic records. Different organizational, technological,
regulatory, financial, and cultural factors affect the strategies, practices,
and tools that organizations can employ to manage electronic records.
More over, libraries face problems of long-term preservation and
continuing access to electronic records.

3. Impact on human resources

The introduction of electronic networks in the library has impacted the
profile of the professionals needed in a library, its organizational structure,
and also the attitude of library personnel towards these technologies. With
more emphasis in technology and creation of content, libraries
increasingly need more qualified personnel from different walks of
professional lives; different from what “traditional” staff might be
accustomed to. New technologies have forced libraries to hire IT experts.
In order to recruit and keep talented people with computer expertise,
libraries might need to offer higher salaries and challenge the traditional
paying scale.

Electronic networking has not only shifted the duties performed among
libraries’ employees, but also shifted duties traditionally performed by
librarians to the users. For example, renewal, on hold, and recalls of
material, and self-check out can be easily performed by patrons without
having the librarian involved.

New technologies can bring a lot of stress to personnel that might feel
threaten by devices they are not familiar with, or might not see the real
use of it. Libraries need to have very open channels of communication

________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society -9-
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
 with their staff in the process of acquiring new equipment, to assure a
good reception and genuine involvement.

3. What is the most challenging “access” issue facing libraries? Why?

Libraries are facing several challenging access issues and in my opinion, all of
them are intertwined. The challenges include: physical access points to the
library; universal access to information; access to the building (hours of
operation, and accessible for disable people); access and charges of services;
access to limited resources; and arrangement of the collection, “Open
access” to content that is available on the Internet that can be accessed,
read, printed, copied, searched, downloaded, or forwarded free of charge is a
big issue. It implies copyright and financial issues. As Richard Rubin E. Rubin
said “the growth of electronic technologies and the emphasis on the National
Information Infrastructure as an economic stimulus have created competitors
more interested in gain than in universal access (136).”

As the use of electronic networking increases, the gap gets wider and wider
between the people that can have access to information and communication
technologies, and those who do not. For me this issue of bridging the digital
divide is one of the most challenging access issues facing the library because
in the long term it will impact the whole society. As Peter Drucker pointed
out, if we do not want class division and class conflicts between groups, (i.e.
Drucker’s “knowledge workers” and “service workers”), one of the most
important social and economic challenges of the post-capitalist society will be
that service workers attain a decent level of income and dignity. This requires
not only productivity, but also opportunities for advancement and
recognition. In today’s society, people with less “knowledge” would not have
chances of advancement if they do not have educational opportunities in
their own organizations. The digital divide has socioeconomic and

________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society - 10 -
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
 technological components. What it is crucial is having not only access to
electronic devices, but also to the opportunity of access to the creation of
knowledge. In this sense I think that libraries can play a big role, as long as
they do not lose perspective of their traditional mission, and balance their
services between democracy, literacy and productivity.

4. Are current copyright laws able to meet the challenges of the

digital age?2

Copyrights arose from the unlicensed reproduction (printers in England

republishing others' works) bringing economic harm instead of benefits to their
creators. The purpose of copyright was to protect the creators and encourage
availability and more creation. After 300 years of copyright doctrine in England
and the United States, we are facing a new challenge with the advent of digital
technologies. The World Wide Web (or just Web) allows users to easily make
personal copies of text, images, music and other digital media posted to the
Internet. Unlike photocopy and cassette tape violations of the past decades,
digital technologies produce identical and impossible to differentiate copies from
the original, and can be sent “anywhere” by one or two clicks of the mouse.
Therefore, digital technologies are easing the ability to disregard the copyright
holder's exclusive rights to their intellectual property.

This global decentralized network creates new questions for copyright laws such
as violation liability, right of first sale, fair use, and enforcement of copyright.
The Supreme Court has held that the fair use doctrine accommodates for
personal copies while it has made a clear distinction between personal and
commercial use of copyrighted materials. But the Web is also capable of blurring
the distinction between personal and commercial use.

2Besides the readings and texts assigned for this class, and notes from class discussions, to answer this question I use an insightful article called “Digital
Horizons of the Copyright Frontier: Copyright and the Internet” by Gates Matthew Stoner. University of Arizona,1998.
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~gstoner/digital_copyright.html (12/13/2004)
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The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society - 11 -
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
Digital technology threatens traditional copyright's balancing of public access
with private ownership. Discussion of information policy highlights a
fundamental tension between entrepreneurship and democracy. Therefore,
information can be seen as both, a commodity and a right (Rubin, 93-94). We
can distinguish three broad groups in this balance/tension equation:

(1) Content creators and investors (copyright owners);

(2) Content communicators (e.g. carriers and Internet Service Providers); and
(3) Users of content which includes the general public and the big institutional
users such as galleries, museums, educational institutions and libraries.

The Web has created the need for a new technology-neutral, right of
communication to the public, to ensure that the copyright owners are able to
effectively exploit their works in the digital environment and the public gets a
fair access to them. The Web is also opening new challenges in defining liability
of carriers for content and generated new means of circumscribing copyright
protection measures. New technological and legislative solutions are needed to
address the copyright issues raised by digital technology.

5. How are YOU going to shape the future of librarians, librarianship,

and libraries?

First of all, I need to finish my degree as soon as possible . I know I can

bring valuable skills to the profession. With my background in history and
education, I would like to contribute through school librarianship. I want to
start working as a librarian in an elementary school with the similar
characteristics to the one I work in today as an interpreter where 70% of the
children are Hispanic immigrants whose parents have few or no years of
formal education. I would like to do so, in order to gain the practical
experience and become more independent. While working in a school, I want
to help minority families in bridging not only the digital gap, but the “creation
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society - 12 -
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
 of knowledge” gap. I want to create partnerships with the business world, in
order to make better use of the library facilities, and to bring the library to
the community.

Today, it seems to me that school libraries and media centers are underused.
Hours of access are only during school hours, and its access is not widely
open to other members of families. Some people argue that this is because
they would like to encourage parents to use the public library (besides lack of
resources and personnel to maintain the library and computer lab open for
more periods of time). But for me, it seems outrageous to force people to go
to a library that is not a walkable distance away if they can find one closer to
home. Inner city public schools are usually very conveniently located to
people’s homes. There are parts of the community. Open the library to them
would encourage parents to get more involved in their children education.
Parents feel more comfortable if they know their children are in the school
and not on the street unsupervised. I want to create after-school programs
that rely on the use of the library, and train volunteers that can provide
tutoring to school age children and help them with homework and projects.
During school hours I want to have story telling time, and incorporate drama,
music and art in it. I would invite parents to the library, to volunteer to read
to children or just to watch and enjoy the environment. I want to empower
parents with little or no formal education and train them in the use and
access to book and technology literacy. I want to work with higher grades-
students and help with their research projects. I want to train students to
assist in the library and in some cases I would co-teach classes. Technology
should be not just a part of the library but integrated into the whole
curriculum and the school.

I would work closely with teachers, and create concrete channels of

communication. The reality is that in many cases teachers find themselves
________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society - 13 -
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004
 duplicating information, double working and only because they do not know
what is available or do not have time to find out what is available. I would
create a documentation center based on the state and county standards of
learning that teachers can easily access through the Internet (Blackboard or
internal network) or by visiting the library. I would like to create a bimonthly
newsletter that outlines succinctly, new books and article arrivals and trends
important for teachers that they can check easily. I would facilitate
workshops for school staff about the availability of informational databases
purchased that remain obscure, underused and unknown.

I think that after 10 or 15 years in the field, I would like to move to a more
independent position, as a consultant, and offer my library services to other
school systems and the like. I would love to contribute to the professional
and personal development of people, and communities, and to the
elaboration of bilingual scholarly and/or educational materials.

6. It just depends. So what?

Since everything depends on the lens we look through, as librarians we need

to always take into account the context and circumstances of the information
we are managing, and the context and circumstances in which we are
working. We need to clarify what we would like to accomplish as persons and
as part of a group, and we need to study closely and understand the type of
community we are serving as librarians. We need to satisfy the needs and
desires of the people we are serving. If we do not enjoy the work of a
community, then we must change it for the better. Every situation is different
and it will depend on each of us to make it fun and worthy.

I, Maria Piedad Alliende, state that I have not discussed these questions or exam with anybody
from class CLSC 557 (Catholic University of America, professor E.C. Clay, fall 2004) or anybody
elsewhere (for that matter). Annandale, Virginia the sixteen of December of year two thousand and four.

________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Catholic University of America Final Examination
School, of Library and Information Sciences M. Piedad Alliende
CLSC 557: Libraries and Information in Society - 14 -
Professor: Edwin S. Clay III
Fall 2004