Some interesting quotes...

Just come back from a session entitled "Influencing Change", about how computers and electronic resources are changing the roles of librarians. One of the papers was given by a Gillian Mayman from the University of Michigan, about "Re-inventing Reference in the Digital Age" - how they were moving from traditional enquiry work behind the desk in a library, to other ways of working. She had some pertinent quotes in her presentation, which I thought I'd share:

This one she translated to libraries: "My home is not a place, it is people", (Lois McMaster Bujold, 1991)

"In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia." (Unknown)

She used this to illustrate how she thinks of libraries: "Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is staggering." (R Buckminster Fuller, 1895 - 1983)

"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones." (John Cage, 1912 - 1992)

And to finish with, one of the other participants in the session chimed in with "Library is a service, not a place." Which I think summed up the whole session.

Fran