Will books become facsimiles of digital communications? Will libraries digitize their book collections? Will publishers stop killing trees?
Will the technologists develop the infrastructure and tools to use the Internet as a system for the creation, organization and distribution of knowledge?
Alvin Toffler contended in 1980 that civilizations develop in waves: the first wave was hunters and gatherers, the second wave one of industrialization, the third wave one of an information-based society. I contend that the world has moved into the fourth wave - communication. The purpose of the communication industry is to communicate regardless of the value or relevancy of content. I advocate that it is imperative that we move beyond the Communication Age to the Knowledge Age.
Knowledge-based institutions such as libraries, universities, bookstores, and publishers all rely on an infrastructure for the creation, organization, distribution, and payment that developed over centuries. Can they adapt to the new mode of communication?
The technology industry including computing, television, and telecommunication providers is pushing a new way of communications, the new Internet/web world, a world that is populist, global, real-time, and unfettered by political constraints (although some governments try.) This new cultural phenomenon is projected by some to involve 700 million people by the year 2000. There is not only the pull by the industry and news media to hype the electronic consumer products for sale, but also the push by the consumer and political leaders who believe that the technology will not only entertain but also provide learning. Can the industry live up to the promise held forth by the media and politicians?
The paradox is how to move the knowledge based-institutions and businesses into the technology of electronic communication, and at the same time to move the communication industry to include knowledge in their systems.
The risk for the knowledge industry is that they will be struggling to retain the support and use of the next generation which will be technologically literate.
The risk for the communication industry is that the consumers will feel that their products are not relevant to their needs and serve no social purpose.
Ken Dowlin, a Library Director and early implementer of information and communication technology in libraries over the last 35 years will present his views on this paradox.
His quest is the eradication of ignorance, and his goal is the eradication of media arrogance.
As City Librarian for San Francisco, Dowlin led the largest capital improvement program for libraries in the history of San Francisco, leading to the opening of the world class main library in April, 1996.
At the national level, Dowlin has held many positions in the American Library Association, and he served on the Library of Congress Commission on the Future of the Book. He is currently one of two candidates for the office of President of the American Library Association.