For classroom instructors, electronic databases and texts present an opportunity to locate and present relevant knowledge in support of the teaching curriculum. For researchers, more in-depth knowledge and professional contacts are readily available in faster time. For learners of any age, electronic resources offer access to the spectrum of human knowledge in unprecedented ways. Technology affords us the means of using new tools in new ways, customizing educational resources to meet individual needs. From the hypetextual Internet, allowing users to jump from idea to idea, exploring a web of knowledge, causality and connection, to the simple circulation of a CD-ROM, allowing anyone to take home an encyclopedia or database of their choice in a small envelope, knowledge has become more customizable, more widespread and more easily communicated.
Public librarians have a unique role.
We have the orientation and the skills to give meaning to data, converting it to knowledge and information by fitting it to the needs of the user and the community. We have resources and abilities to guide people through a confusing electronic world of overwhelming opportunity. We have community memories, organized in new ways electronically. We have the Internet, the CD-ROMs, the ability to create and tap into databases and distance education. We can offer video conferences, e-mail or web based classes, and virtual environments.