The Public Library -- Idea, Cyber Place, Physical Presence

By Ang, Conny

Description
Professional Publication

Excerpt
Prologue: The Third Mourner?s Eulogy. Once, the Buddha sat under a bo tree. Disciples gathered in the shade and listened to his voice. To learn, they had to come within earshot. And in that place they formed their community of believers. There was no other way. Then his words were written down. First, the laboriously hand-written holy books were kept in monastery libraries, where the faithful could come to read. Long after he was dead, they could travel to these book-centered communities, as their predecessors had once come to the bo tree. Later, the books were printed, and the word could be delivered worldwide, to anyone who sought it. It was the same with other faiths. Though journeying to the holy sites survived as a spiritual exercise, and places like Santiago de Compostela and Mecca retained their magnetism, pilgrimage lost its more directly practical function.

Table of Contents
Table of contents Prologue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chapter I ? The library as an idea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter II ? The library as virtual place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Chapter III ? The library as physical place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Chapter IV ? The public library director in the dot(.) world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The challenges of the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Questions to the reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45