We briefly examine the question, "If we have the Internet and digital
collections, why do we need libraries?." The challenge begs several fundamental
questions, such as "What is a digital collection?," "What is a library?,"
"What is a librarian?," and "Why do we need digital collections or libraries?"
Digital collections are sets of information resources collected and
organized on behalf of a community of users. Libraries are rapidly-evolving
institutions that select, collect, organize, preserve, conserve, and provide
access to information in many media, to many communities of users. Librarians
are information professionals that support these activities, and they may
work in units other than libraries and have job titles other than "librarian."
The roles of information professionals are expanding as information institutions
such as libraries, archives, museums, universities, and schools converge
and partner with each other. The challenge for the digital age is to tailor
information technologies to support the activities of individual communities
of users, while creating a globally-distributed information infrastructure
that enables systems and services to interoperate. Whether we need libraries
and librarians is an open question that depends on the definition and scope
of the institutions, functions, and professions involved.
We need a new generation of information professionals with a blend
of expertise in human behavior and technology to understand the relationship
between collections, communities, and content. The present and future communities
of educators and professionals must be articulate about these relationships
if we are to address the challenge that this seemingly-simple question
represents.