Leveraging the Wave

Abstract

Futurists envision a virtual world in which networked information supplants traditional library structures and collections. In today's reality, however, technology does not supplant, but supplements traditional means of scholarship and communication. Academic libraries currently house both the old and the new, and librarians are expected to provide links among changing formats while teaching users to utilize the tools available to them. When such a teaching mission is coupled with an increasingly technological orientation and the need for absolute fiscal responsibility, hard choices must be made. Reference librarians move from thc desk to the bibliographic instruction room, and the classDeborah S. Grealy is Science Reference Librarian, Penrose Library, University of Denvcr, 2150 East Evans, Denver, CO 80208.