How Paradigms Influence Society in the Information Age - Evolving Global Information Infrastructure and Information Transfer - page 56

organizations, and services can and do function concurrently. For example, digital
technologies have transformed all of the information transfer processes, yet much
of the old-paradigm technologies and services may still exist. Although the com-
puter has transformed the dissemination of information so that individuals can dis-
seminate information instantly through the Internet, former technologies like topics
and periodicals still exist in their analog forms (paper topics and periodicals) con-
currently with eBooks and online periodicals.
As airlines transformed long-distance transportation and in some cases super-
seded railroads and ships, the earlier transportation modes still exist, but their func-
tion has been altered. Railroads' provision of passenger service has diminished,
but their relevance to shipping goods long distances remains, although railroads
serve as conveyers of truck bodies, combining truck transportation with the tradi-
tional function of rail transportation. Merging technologies are part of the emergent
paradigm transformation.
Libraries have been a significant part of the information infrastructure, and all
types of libraries have evolved as the digital age has emerged. This evolution is
discussed further in Chapter 9. Chapter 4 will investigate in more depth the trans-
formation that is occurring in the creation, dissemination, organization, diffusion,
and preservation of information.
References
American Association of School Librarians. 2007. Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. Chicago:
American Association of School Librarians.
American Association of School Librarians. 2009. Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School
Library Programs. Chicago: American Association of School Librarians.
Anythink: A Revolution of Rangeview Libraries. 2014. http://www.anythinklibraries.org
Battles, Matthew. 2003. Library: An Unquiet History . New York: W. W. Norton.
Bivens-Tatum, Wayne. 2012. Libraries and the Enlightenment . Los Angeles: Library Juice Press.
Bobinski, George S. 2007. Libraries and Librarianship: Sixty Years of Challenge and Change,
1945-2005. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Casson, Lionel. 2001. Libraries in the Ancient World . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Constitution of the United States. 1787. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html/
Declaration of Independence: A Transcription.1776. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/de-
claration_transcript.html/
Dent, A. A. 1972. “Before the Machine.” In Transportation Through the Ages , ed. G. N. Georgano,
318. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Dewey, Melvil. 1876. “The Profession.” American Library Journal 1:5-6.