New technology increases the value of the judgments made by librarians and online searchers as they pick and choose what their customers might want to read. Eventually, publication may come to mean no more than somebody grabbing a document from the author’s networked computer. Even before that, the editorial judgment of the librarian attains value and importance equal to that of the editor.
Predictor: Browning, John
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article for Wired magazine, John Browning takes a look at the future of libraries in a networked age. He writes:”The logic of technology makes librarians and editors increasingly interchangeable. By lowering the costs of reproduction, and thus increasing the amount of information published, new technology increases the value of the judgments made by librarians and online searchers as they pick and choose what their customers might want to read. Eventually, publication may come to mean no more than somebody grabbing a document from the author’s networked computer. Even before that, the editorial judgment of the librarian attains value and importance equal to that of the editor.”
Biography:John Browning served as executive editor of Wired UK, the English-language European edition of Wired, the magazine established to chronicle the digital revolution. Prior to Wired, Browning spent 12 years at The Economist, writing about business, technology and economics. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Libraries/Databases
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Libraries Without Walls for Books Without Pages: Electronic Libraries and the Information Economy
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.01/libraries_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney