ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


894 I  C&RL News ■ D ecember 1999

news
In  t h e

I remember thinking of my grandparents, 
w ho were born in the late 1800s, and w on­
dering what it was like to have been alive at 
the turn of the century. It seemed like such a 
novel concept. My history books often used 
the phrase “at the turn of the century” and I 
wondered if the people living at that time 
recognized that historic aspect of their lives.

Now that I am living at the “turn of the 
century,” I still wonder at that phrase but do 
not have the perspective of history to stand 
back and look at what future historians will 
mark as the significant aspects of the cen­
tury.

However, I can look at just how quickly 
technology has moved along in my own life­
time. My children do not know a world with­
out microwave ovens, color TVs, cell phones, 
the Internet, jet planes, space exploration, 
and the World Wide Web.

My 12-year old expects to log onto our 
computer and get the information she needs 
for her research papers from the Web. Here 
lies a challenge for teachers and librarians: 
we must help these young people see the 
richness of information that is available and 
teach them to critically evaluate it.

As we approach the end of this century, it 
is a good time to take stock of the multitude 
of changes in librarianship and continue to 
gear up for the changes to come. ACRL takes 
its stock for the year in its Annual Report 
(page 915).

I look forward to the advent of the next 
century and w onder what things they will 
marvel about in 2100 as they reflect back on 
the turn of the century in 1999-2000.

—Mary Ellen K. Davis 
Editor-in-chief 

medavis@ala.org

mailto:medavis@ala.org