An Examination of the Dynamics of Change in Information Technology as Viewed from Law Libraries and Information Centers
![handle is hein.journals/llj75 and id is 210 raw text is: AN EXAMINATION OF THE DYNAMICS OF
CHANGE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS
VIEWED FROM LAW LIBRARIES AND
INFORMATION CENTERS
David G. Badertscher*
INTRODUCTION
After a brief discussion of change as a force in our society and an examination
of its general characteristics, this article will examine change as it relates to informa-
tion technology in law in terms of five frames of reference. On basis of this examina-
tion, various trends which seem to be developing in law libraries and information
centers will be reviewed in terms of their present status and possible future impact.
Many persons have observed that everything seems to be changing faster than
ever before. Executives complain about the increasing difficulty in keeping up with
developments in their fields, and law librarians observe that changes affecting catalog-
ing and reference seem to be occurring at an ever increasing rate.
Observations such as these have been reflected in literature. In the introduction
to his book Future Shock, Alvin Toffler wrote:
The roaring current of change is so powerful today that it overturns institutions,
shifts our values and roots .... [Ilt is important that we look at it closely, not
merely from grand perspectives of history, but also from the vantage point of
living, breathing individuals who experience it .... The acceleration of change
in our time is, itself, an elemental force. The accelerative thrust has personal and
psychological as well as sociological consequences.... [U]nless man quickly learns
to control the rate of change in his personal affairs as well as in society at large,
we are doomed to a massive adaptional breakdown.'
Along the same vein Russel Ackoff wrote:
The time lag between stimulus and response brought about by reliance on ex-
perience permits crisis to develop to a point at which we are forced to respond
to them with little relevant knowledge.... [A]n increasing portion of society's
responses are made out of desperation, not out of deliberation.2
While addressing a panel at the 1966 annual meeting of the American Association
of Law Libraries, Richard Sloane referred to the Law of Acceleration mentioned
by Henry Adams in his book, Education. Sloane observed that [Acceleration] en-
forces change in all avenues of life at a constantly increasing rate of speed. We can
see it operate in the courts where judges are writing more opinions, in the legislatures
* Principal Law Librarian, Supreme Court of the State of New York, 1st Judicial District, New
York, New York. The author wishes to thank those who assisted him in obtaining research materials
for this article including members of the library staff of New York and Yeshiva Law Schools and the
Mathematics/Science Library at Columbia University, and also Ms. Jewell Clarke, his secretary, for typ-
ing the various drafts of this article.
1. A. TOFFLER, FuTURE SHOCK 1-2 (1970).
2. R. ACKOFF, REDESIGNING THE FUTURE 8 (1974).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/llj75&div=25&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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An Examination of the Dynamics of Change in Information Technology as Viewed from Law Libraries and Information Centers
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