부산대학교 도서관

A graduate of the Columbia University School of Library Services in 1968 and the current Executive Director of the National Commission on Library and Information Science (NCLIS) argues that information professionals today are confronted with increasingly complex and conflicting missions: they must interpret the impact of change on the institutions that record and preserve the record of human achievement in ways that maintain links with their traditional mission, and, at the same time, integrate new tools, technologies, and concepts that appear to threaten the values that are inherent in the historic mission of professional librarianship. If librarians and information professionals are to develop strategies for improving the library/information science discipline and professional base, they need to recognize the necessity of building relationships, interdisciplinary links, and networks, as well as understand the public's role in helping them to balance new opportunities with their traditional values. He comments that the NCLIS and the White House Conference on Library and Information Services present opportunities for this public policy formulation process and provides information on the purpose and activities of both entities. He concludes that academic and research libraries require a resurgence of creative excitement directed at recasting their institutions and their professional mission, and that this creative thrust is especially needed in the area of professional education and training of librarians if they are to meet the needs of the future. (BBM)