Virtual Continuity

Abstract

What will be expected of libraries in the next millennium? In recent centuries libraries have held significant roles in research and education: selecting and organizing materials for collections; developing systems of intellectual access; organizing items for physical access and retrieval; and preserving items for long-term use. These attributes of durability are challenged in today's fast-paced digital environment of networks, web interfaces, and proliferating search engines. Permanence, as we have known it, is illusory in the digital environment.As we look to the new century, we must shape an information environment that has sustainable systems of access to enduring information resources so that users, now and in the future, can rely upon them with confidence. Defining this future calls for new combinations of talent and expertise, for short and long-term collaborations, and for experimentation and risk-taking in order to develop the best strategies for managing rapidly expanding amounts of digital information.