Libraries in the Digital Age

数字时代的图书馆

The Forum

社会与文化

2025-03-15

49 分钟
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单集简介 ...

What is the purpose of libraries in the era of the internet and AI? Whether at a school or in a community, libraries used to be key providers of information and enjoyment for many. But now, in a digital age, more books and periodicals are available online than even the biggest library can hold. If terabytes of text can now be stored on a single laptop, do we need to think differently about the way we access and navigate books? Could well-designed AI tools be trusted to make sense of this information abundance in a similar way that a good librarian can? Rajan Datar discusses the past, present and future of libraries with Randa Chidiac, Director of Library Services at the American University in Dubai; Dr. Andrew Hui, Head of Literature Studies at Yale-NUS College in Singapore; and Brewster Kahle, computer engineer and digital librarian, founder of the Internet Archive and Wayback Machine. We also hear from World Service listeners. (Photo: An artist's impression of a digital book. Credit: Alengo/Getty Images)
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  • This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

  • Welcome to the Forum from the BBC World Service.

  • I'm Rajan Dattar.

  • Now, can you guess what it is that forum listener Sarah is describing?

  • It's a welcoming place where the door is open to all for free.

  • It's a useful public place in many towns to find toilet or do some printing or charge your phone.

  • Tourists can get help here with directions, what to visit or where to get a coffee nearby.

  • It's a place where computers are available to use, with quiet corners where students study.

  • It's a community hub for the young or old to join a reading group,

  • a craft class or a language course.

  • New parents can meet and relax at story time for toddlers.

  • And perhaps when popping by to read a newspaper,

  • a lonely pensioner will get to talk to someone today.

  • Oh, and you can borrow a book here too.

  • Yes, we're talking about public libraries,

  • a subject that has generated an enormous response from the World Service audience when we asked you on Facebook and the Forum website.

  • The physical spaces of libraries,

  • the buildings and everything that's in them are clearly important to many of our listeners.

  • But in this digital age, quite a few people now also have what you,

  • Andrew, call an infinite micro library in their pockets.