Future Libraries
As the digital revolution sweeps us toward the twenty-first century, what issues, passions, and anxieties are evoked when we consider the place of the library in the future? Humanists and social scientists are only beginning to recognize that the current revolution in the dissemination of knowledge is comparable to the one that followed the advent of printing, when huge numbers of books first became available. On the eve of the opening of the Bibliothque de France, which has become a lightning rod for the issues raised by the electronic revolution, this collection brings together distinguished lawyers, historians, librarians, computer scientists, linguists, and architects to assess the future of libraries, books, and the printed word. The contributors represent a wide range of institutions: the Bibliothque de France, the Library of Congress, law schools, architectural firms, universities.