The foundations of the card catalog, catalog use studies, and what we can conjecture about user needs suggest that the catalogs of the future, as they are made possible through manipulation of machine-based bibliographic records, ought not to take a single format. That essay suggested that scholars, in particular, would have difficulty dealing with the mass of information available in the catalogs of the future and offered several suggestions for lessening their burdens. While those suggestions have not been adopted, it appears as though the mass of information now available from all sources, including library catalogs, is far greater than anticipated. Further speculation about how libraries might best be involved in organizing access to information in the future is offered. As this transition occurs, it is important to understand not what libraries have done, but rather what they are for.
Libraries make information easily, publicly, and cheaply available.
They are the means through which organizations and communities subsidize the distribution of information to residents and members. Without such support, information is underused, and its potential benefit is lost. As the library fades as the channel for this subsidy, it is critical that the subsidy itself is not lost. If it is, our organizations will be less effective and our communities poorer. By understanding these issues, librarians can shape the information economy so that institutional and community subsidy is maintained, and new technologies enhance and extend information availability.