Enjoyed this episode greatly. As a recent library school grad and an employee at an academic library, I think you hit on most of the major issues facing libraries today. I want to add a couple of points.

First, major props to Michial for using LC classification at home.

Second, I have one thing to add to the discussion related to the ways the Internet has changed libraries. The move to digital collections (of e-books or databases of journals) is much more than a simple format change (i.e. clay tablets to parchment or scrolls to the codex) Digital collections are a fundamental shift from collecting content to licensing content. At least for now, purchasing a book and purchasing an e-book are governed very differently. With a physical book, a library can loan it out to as many people as it likes and at the end of the book’s useful life, sell it the much-loved library book sale. Not so with e-books. Rights of re-sale and loan do not apply. Publishers maintain very strict control (ownership) over the text. Indeed, Harper-Collins recently caused an uproar by limiting e-book circulations to 20 loans per e-copy, thus necessitating the library to purchase a new e-copy after a short time. I think Nathan was getting around to this point with the discussion of the future of academic journals. The push (and at my library it is a big push) towards open access publishing reflects the unsustainable trend in academic publishing towards higher licensing fees (even as many journals discontinue the costly practice of publishing physical copies). Not that the move to digital collections is all bad – you all highlighted some of the strengths. But this move changes the fundamental model of library operation in a way that other technology advances haven’t.

On a related note, I am pretty sure that Crown’s policy of loaning out Kindles is a violation of Amazon’s user agreement. Of course, I fully support violating stupid user agreements (like Amazon’s) but I don’t know if such a model could fly under the radar of Amazon’s lawyers for very long if it gained widespread use. Indeed, I’ve heard of public libraries trying similar schemes only to receive cease and desist letters from Amazon. Here’s hoping Crown’s librarians can quietly continue!

One final comment – I’ve probably listened to ⅔ of the Christian Humanist podcasts while multitasking at my library’s microfilm machine. Like Will Farrell’s character in Austin Powers, microfilm/fiche simply will not die quietly. I am constantly amazed at the heavy use our machines still get and the amount of new material we receive on microfilm.

Cheers!

Uh…that was me, not Victoria.