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The
Future of Libraries: Databases
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So, the future of
the library depends in large part on automation.
- Much of library automation
involves the use of databases.
- Databases
are collections of information stored on electronic media (such
as hard disks) and organized and "indexed" in a manner that
faciltates searching for a specific piece or subset of that
information.
- An
Analogy:
- A dictionary, an
encyclopedia, almost any book with an index is essentially a
printed database.
- You can use the index as a
means of finding information that is organized in the book
(the database). The iindex organizes words for subjects or
names that are in the book (database). You look up and use
words on the subject that you are interested in and find the
page(s) on that subject. This is similar to
"front-end
query" or
"search
and retrieval" software
that is used to search a database.
- And
database
searching can put the whole
world (at least that which is online) in your hands.
- But there is a lot to learn, and
it is impossible to learn it all, even for a professional
librarian with 30 years of experience.
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