After, answer the questions.
In describing the ERI infrastructure as a process, Rubin delineates five components. The rise of Web 3.0 has blurred the distinctions among the roles of these components. How can libraries leverage this blurring of roles? Describe the roles that you personally have undertaken at times in the creation, dissemination, and use of information in the online environment.
In the past there have been dire predictions regarding the fate of libraries as a result of the Pandemic. Having read sections of ALA's State of American libraries, and taking into account your own experiences, do you expect the importance of libraries and librarians to decrease in the future? Or will our roles be changing/increasing? If the latter, in what ways do you see our roles changing in the near future?
Rubin, in his sidebar entitled "Important questions to consider," asks his readers to think about the kinds of LIS professionals needed today and how they are different from the past. Based on your readings for this session as well as your own library experiences, what are your thoughts on this?
It has been said that American libraries must work harder to serve the diverse. Based on the section of the ALA's State of American libraries, what is currently being done? What do you think can be done in the future to extend services to the diverse?
Public libraries have been an equalizing force in our society, providing access to information resources for those who could not otherwise afford them. However, when librarians encounter decreasing budgets and increasing operating costs they sometimes resort to charging fees for certain materials or services. Is this an appropriate way to deal with a budget crisis? Why or why not?
How do the results in the readings compare to your own survey findings?