How Paradigms Influence Society in the Information Age - Evolving Global Information Infrastructure and Information Transfer - page 51

part of the information infrastructure and laid the foundation for the emergence of
the library profession.
With a new focus on library patrons, resources were devoted to clientele of all
ages in public libraries. For the first time, topics were published in large numbers
for children. Citizens participated in the administration of libraries by serving on
governing boards. Engagement of the public in the administration of public libraries
served to embolden the leadership of libraries to continue the trend toward client-
centered service that is the hallmark of the emergent paradigm.
The introduction of service also introduced a paradigm shift from the biblio-
graphic paradigm, which valued the size and organization of the library collec-
tion. With this shift in values from the collection to the library user, the vocabulary
of librarians was changed, as reflected in the names assigned within the organ-
ization—for example, children's services, technical services, and reference ser-
vice—during the 20th century and which remain in the professional nomenclature
today.
This change in language was indicative of a change in the paradigm of profes-
sional service, but the old paradigm of maintaining a collection remained strong.
The size of a collection was recognized as a symbol of quality, instead of meas-
uring quality of service. Needs of clientele were determined intuitively (or not at
all) instead of assessing needs in a systematic manner, applying systematic or sci-
entific methods of gathering data.
Although public libraries during the 20th century advanced in their implement-
ation of emergent paradigm thinking, they were hindered because the profession
had not adopted social science theory and applied it to the organization and ad-
ministration of public libraries. Throughout the history of the library profession, until
recently, librarians developed “principles” to guide their tasks: principles of cata-
loging, assigning subject headings, reference service, etc. These principles were
based on experience through practice; they were not developed through the ap-
plication of psychological theory, sociological theory, management theory, or other
theories from the social sciences. As social science theory was applied in research
during the last decades of the 20th century, the library profession began to make
greater strides in its implementation of the emergent paradigm.
An example of an emergent paradigm library system is Anythink Libraries in
Adams County, Colorado. Among the client-centered services is Explore Outdoors,
an outdoor classroom that enables children to explore the natural world. The lib-
rary system's emergent paradigm approach is expressed in its mission statement:
“We open doors for curious minds.” Furthermore, the values that guide the organiz-
ation are “Compassion for our customers and each other; passion for our product;