- Select the best books, list them elaborately, save them forever - was the sum of the librarians' creed of yesterday. Tomorrow it must be, select a few of the best books and keep them, as before, but also, select from the vast flood of print the things your constituency will find helpful, make them available with a minimum expense, and discard them as soon as their usefulness is past. (Dana, 1914, p. 73) As quoted by Cromer Donna E., 'Special Libraries Association - The Importance of Leadership' in Journal of Library Administration, on-line publication 02 December 2009.
I just love this quote - it is so fascinating that the issues have not really changed over the past century. That as long ago as 1914 (or as recently) the view of information being a "vast flood" and that the management of the information changes the role of the librarian. Curating the collection is going to become as much an issue as selection and acquisition.
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