Millennial angst and searchers on, off, in, or out

The "real" next millennium begins in 2001, but it's never too late to start worrying about jobs, technology, and the "bump-'em-cars" world of online. Peering into the 2000s, libraries and librarians, searchers and searching seem to face a future both blessed and cursed.

The blessing is the

The curse comes from the same state of ubiquity online has now reached. When a third grade class in Omaha searches online and engages in video conferences with their peers in Osaka, where's the cachet in online for professional searchers? In 1981, a person had to be tough, smart, and darn tenacious to even get online. Relevant results required Herculean or maybe Athenian efforts. Remember thermal paper?

Enough of this reminiscing around the screensaver pumping real-time news to MBAs who think they invented online research. The time is propitious for people with certifiable expertise in information science, library systems, collection development, and library science to consider their future. Why in the age of information plenty should an "info pro" say, "What, me worry?" Keep reading and pay attention. There's an examination question before we rip the veil from the future.