Speaking totally extemporaneously, without any visual aids, McLean not only summarized the conference, recalling speakers names and details of their presentations, but he presented an overview of today s information industry and the trends affecting it. McLean discussed uncertainty and sustainability in the current information climate. He feels that we are in a pause, trying to come to grips with several complex issues and then figure out where to go next. The Internet has been a roller coaster ride, McLean said. It has liberated librarians and customers, but we are still unsure of our roles.
Publishers have the same problems that users have pricing models and access.
Librarians need to become adept at dealing with business models such as cost-benefit issues, pricing, and knowledge of the cost and value of intellectual capital. Technology has become very complex. Authentication and authorization are the most difficult problems, and these problems are not limited to the information industry. We are moving into areas not traditionally ours, which may be an uncomfortable situation. The biggest challenges are relevance of search engine retrievals and the automation of metadata.