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Abstract

This paper discusses the ontology of the document and questions whether or not our understanding of the concept of a document has changed now that more and more information is transmitted through increasingly digital means. Moreover, the argument is advanced that the identity of librarians is bound up with the future of the document. Not merely should librarians be changing their roles as a reaction to new technologies but they need to be proactive in embracing change and not in any way resisting it. The paper focuses on the theory of the ontology of documents. A number of ideas will be discussed including the thoughts of Michael Buckland in his seminal paper 'What is a Document' (1997), and further discussion will draw on the work of Michel Foucault (1972), Ludwig Wittgenstein (1958, 1969) and more recently Ziming Liu (2004) among others. Is the concept of a document essentially the same or has the transformation of document to e-document brought about a fundamental change in its nature. The paper goes on to discuss the more practical nature of documents and the role of the librarian. There follows a brief review of a range of types of document, including: E-journals, E-books, and considers the prospect that Extensible Markup Language (XML) offers a technological vehicle for the advent of an E-collection - this being an aggregation of different document mediums. The notion of the delivery of this information to the user (consumer) is then considered and with it the role of librarian. Waaijers (2002) has argued that a consequence of digitisation has brought with it issues of ownership and responsibility, and refers to XML as offering the possibility of "anatomising the internal structure of the document." In the concluding part to this paper some speculative thoughts are advanced on what might be possible outcomes regarding the changing perceptions of what a document might be. Could the Modern Librarian's identity and function be inextricably linked to the concept of the document? Finally it is suggested that further research to gather empirical evidence could involve a comparative study of the providers of information and the users of information focussing on their respective concepts of a document.

Source

Librarianship in the information age: Proceedings of the 13th BOBCATSSS Symposium, 31 January - 2 February 2005 in Budapest, Hungary. Eds.: Marte Langeland u.a