Emerging Trends - Evolving Global Information Infrastructure and Information Transfer - page 167

interactions with clientele now require more engagement. To address a client's
information needs, a diagnostic interview is necessary, along with questions to
identify the person's actual need and to identify appropriate information sources
that will fulfill those information needs. As a result, information professionals are
engaging more with clients in the library and leaving the library to engage with the
community.
Information Literacy and Metalearning
“Bibliographic instruction” has evolved into information literacy—teaching stu-
dents to identify, organize, evaluate, and present information. Many libraries are
moving toward teaching “metaliteracy” so that students learn about the plethora of
avenues for production of information, learning to effectively create information us-
ing traditional media as well as social media.
Information users of all types, especially students, deserve to learn how to do
research efficiently, and browsing is not the only strategy for finding information.
It is the role of library and information professionals to take a leadership role in
teaching clientele to locate and evaluate information. Information consumers must
be wary of content when consulting information sources in any format.
Electronic Publishing
A major trend is the move to electronic publishing and what that means for lib-
rary collections. This trend suggests that libraries will rent more and more content
instead of owning it. By giving up ownership, libraries will have little control over
what happens to that content. Traditionally, the library's role has been perceived
as keeper of content for the public, to ensure that the public would have access
indefinitely. In the digital age, what is the librarian's role in ensuring what content is
preserved and not censored?
Some university presses are partnering with the library, adding publishing as a
collaborative activity. Thus they are connecting the publishing process to the uni-
versity repository.
From Objective to Perspective
A hallmark of the 21st century is the collapse of certainty in society. The intel-
lectual revolutions that took place in the fields of physics, chemistry, and biology
began the destruction of the Newtonian image of the machine world. In a world
of multiple perspectives, the role of the information professional becomes ever
more challenging. The notions of objectivity and truth depend on one's perspect-