Lister Hill Letter
Newsletter of the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences at UAB

November/December 1997

Libraries, Librarians and the New Technology

With the emergence of the World Wide Web as a major communications medium, the world of libraries and librarians has shifted enormously. We now have tremendous new tools available for the transmission and preservation of recorded knowledge, but we also face some professional risk of being left behind in the rush to embrace the new technologies. Library associations and professional societies are working in a variety of ways to insure that librarians continue to play a strong and positive role.

The Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL) has been a leading force for cooperation among the major research libraries in the state. While NAAL's initial focus was on enhancing traditional interlibrary loan, in recent years it has become increasingly concerned with how best to use the electronic technologies. Under the leadership of Dr. Jerry Stephens, director of the Mervyn Sterne Library, and others, NAAL has developed the concept of the Virtual Information Network, a set of core resources for education that would be available on the Internet to all Alabama students and citizens through academic, school and public libraries throughout the state. NAAL, with the support of other state library groups, will be seeking funding from the state legislature in the upcoming term to implement the first stages of the Virtual Information Network.

The Alabama Library Association established the Task Force on Technology to bring together librarians from different library sectors (academic, school, public) together around common technology issues. Over the last eighteen months, the Task Force has been principally concerned with identifying common issues and with educating librarians around the state concerning potential roles for librarians, and with giving them practical training in speaking with legislators, local leaders and other stakeholder groups about issues of importance. Scott Plutchak, director of the Lister Hill Library and chair of the Task Force on Technology presented four workshops, based on the American Library Association's "Advocacy Now" training, to librarians in Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile and Montgomery. In addition, the task force has been looking for ways to further communication among the state's librarians concerning the opportunities that the new technologies provide.

As the leading health sciences library in Alabama, the Lister Hill Library has a unique responsibility in providing leadership in the use of information technology for the improvement of health and health education. Working closely with the professional groups and the associations in the state is one way to help meet that responsibility.