The National Library in an Electronic Age: Dinosaur or Catalyst?

Abstract

A key factor relating to the future of some national libraries is the future of the nation state itself. As some nations break up, we must expect some existing national libraries to face the prospect of fragmentation. All national libraries will have to be increasingly aware of the need to reflect the full range of cultures within their countries if they are to survive as nationally acceptable institutions. A second key factor is economic growth, which leads to more literate people, more publications to be collected, more libraries of other kinds, and the production of an increasing amount of public information. Continued economic growth depends on access to knowledge, but priorities need to be assessed. Recent technological developments are changing the basic nature of libraries, including national libraries. Three crucial current developments are the economic storage in electronic form of large amounts of text and images; national and global communication networks; and desktop publishing. Faced with these trends, national libraries, if they are to be successful over the longer term, must develop as agents of national identity and culture, as well as of national economic advance.