Panel Discussion: Technology: Driving Force or Modest Enhancement

I have been asked to serve on a panel which will discuss the impact of technology on library reference service. I will present some opening remarks where I will discuss a number of technologies being used by libraries such as micrographics, photocopying, facsimile transmission, online database searching, personal computers, and CD-ROMs. My remarks will focus on the impact of these technologies on the reference function. I will also give a summary of how these technologies are being used in the AT&T Library Network and make some projections about the future. The audience will consist primarily of librarians from public and academic libraries and my basic thesis will be that the AT&T Library Network of today can give some indication of the direction in which other libraries will be moving in the future.