CBC Cross Country Checkup Radio Show on Future of Libraries

Yesterday afternoon, CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup devoted its weekly national phone-in program to the topic of What's the future of the library in the age of Google? People who missed it can listen to the archived podcast on the CBC website:

"We are coming to you from the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus. This is a new university campus that has no library but students are plugged-in to a wider information network. "

"Digital technology is rapidly changing the way we gather, store, and disseminate information ...and that includes the historical record of our culture and civilization. It is also changing the way we learn from it. Libraries have always had a central place in storing and sharing this precious legacy ...but libraries are changing. "

"It might mean your local library will no longer be local ...but still accessible far away with the click of a mouse. It might mean your local library becomes even more important as meeting place and a portal, offering access to much larger digital resources. "

The show was moderated by special guest host Peter Mansbridge, the chief correspondent of CBC News.

Expert guests on stage in front of a live audience were:

• Ken Roberts, member of Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on The Status and Future of Canada's Libraries and Archives
• Christine McWebb , Director of the international digital humanities project MARGOT and director of academic programs at the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus

The Cross Country Checkup website has links to studies, reports and news articles about the future of libraries, as well as e-mail and Twitter contributions from listeners of the program.