the fall of the temple of books

One of the things to consider about the changing roles of librarians is how things have changed over the past decades in terms of interaction between individuals and authorities.

In the days of mainframe computing, you had to go to the door of the sealed mainframe chamber and petition the technicians, who were literally dressed in white lab coats: "Please Sir" (it was always a man) "may I have my printout?"  Or "would you be so kind as to run this card deck for me".

In the pre-ATM days, you went to the Bank, which was an imposing stone building downtown, and under the lofty ceiling, you went to a shiny glass, wood and brass wicket to petition "Please Sir, may I deposit some money?"

In the pre-ETrade days, if you were very rich, you went to your financial advisor's wood-panelled office and petitioned, "Please Sir, may I buy some stocks?"  And then you would pay a gigantic commision by today's standards.  (If you weren't very rich, you just didn't buy stocks at all.)

So you can see how we have gone from the temples of computing, banking, and finance to today's world of individual computing, banking and investing.

Is this better?  That's up to you to decide.  Are we ever going back to the old days?  No.

Now let's see, in the pre-Internet days, you went to the temple of books and you petitioned "Please Sir, can you help me find some information?"

You draw the conclusion.