Rayward Article

When I think of the phrase “libraries and technology” I don’t immediately think of pre-computer technology cataloging guidelines or the distribution system of catalog cards but is obviously integral to practices of standardization and professionalization in librarianship. If these technologies weren’t in place and librarians weren’t familiar with the science that makes them possible it seems that the later introduction of computers into libraries may have been slower and more difficult than Rayward tells us it was.

I was glad that Rayward discussed subject headings. I mentioned them in previous entries in relation to Bergman and Gittings’ articles on issues surrounding social change. Only after reading this article do I realize how important subject headings are to classification systems because they have to account for the subject and the connections between the given subject and others plus they are standardized so they have to be relevant to many different libraries.

It’s interesting to consider the point in time when automation in libraries began and how it unfolded because it gives insight into both the purposes of libraries and technology. The post war era was conducive to automation because libraries were faced with an overwhelming amount of information that resulted from scientific research. This same scientific research gave libraries a tool to deal with the overload. The profession had to change in ways many didn’t anticipate such as in regards to education and restructuring library systems to accommodate available technology. Librarians had to become familiar with a new and imperfect field before it could work for them.