My first job as a librarian was at Chicago Public Library in the pre-Google days, when people called the library with all sorts of questions. At the telephone reference desk, librarians were the search engines. Surrounded by volumes of reference books and extensive card files, we dove in with only five minutes to answer.
There were questions we would not answer — some off-color, but more frequently those prompted by bar bets. I'm not sure who got to canvass the local watering holes for their ongoing contests, but we had updated lists. Librarians and bartenders collaborating.
Sounds like a quaint time, doesn't it? Intelligence was gathered, not manufactured. Well, AI is here to stay, and it can be another tool in our information searches. What worries me is that its emergence coincides with a government run by liars and megalomaniacs.
Reliable information is endangered. That's why we tune to public radio and turn to public libraries. And now both are under siege by funding cuts and book bans while expensive, heinous wars are waged.
The convenience of finding information with a few keystrokes is remarkable. However, it can also be misleading, wrong and malicious. There is still a need for curators when it comes to our news, health and other vital systems.
Access to well-researched sources, and the freedom to read, listen and ponder without ads and with anonymity, are fundamental to our democracy.
I'm Paula Garrett and that's my perspective.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
