Two (and a half) sides of an important discussion

Back in October 2005, Blake Carver on LISNews posted a depressing meditation on our impending obsolescence, Libraries and Librarians In A Digital Future: Where Do We Fit?. While there are many good answers to his questions, those questions have not gone away in the intervening months.

More recently, Will Sherman on degreetutor asks the question "Are Librarians Totally Obsolete?" and answers with 33 Reasons Why Libraries and Librarians are Still Extremely Important.

Needless to say, I'm on the side of the 33 reasons, but we dast not ignore the questions, because our users and taxpayers don't.

On the third hand, David Lee King argues that the "33 reasons" article is not needed, but says we should just be doing a better job of anticipating and adapting to change. He has a point, but I think articles like this help bolster our arguments. Some of us need more help than others with our elevator speeches.