Librarians as GUARANTEER of continued free access to
information. The gates don't stay open by themselves. There is a
philosophy *behind* free access, one that has dominated the 'net
but it's not necessarily a guarantee. Example: China. Something
most of us never learn about Librarians: There is a creed. "The
creed of a librarian: No politics, no religion, no morals" A
very short book written years ago for librarians puts it
plainly. That's the title. You don't need to read the book (13
pages long) to understand its point. It is one of the guiding
principles behind the REASON *why* the Internet today is free;
why we have public forums where we can discuss things. No
politics. No religion. No Morals. That allows the gates to stay
open for freedom of information to continue, uninhibited; this
very philosophy of the librarian. Librarians don't need to
categorize or organize knowledge or control the flow; that's
just a byproduct of having to make it easier when all we had
were books and such. But the Internet does away with the Dewey
Decimal System and Library of Congress subject headings; The
internet is a better way. One day, perhaps libraries will
disappear. Computers will successfully categorize and organize
knowledge automatically, removing the need for human
classification systems (beyond those set by the programmers).
But somebody needs to have the right outlook to be sure it
continues, lest a politician, or someone with a particular
worldview decides that they have "a better way" for society. We
don't normally think of a Librarian's attitude towards knowledge
as Activism but they are Activists. A single politician trying
to control future education who becomes popular is all it would
take for access to free speech/thought/discussion/knowledge to
end. Librarians have fought to keep controversial books on the
shelves in children's libraries, only to have them removed by
political forces of democracy / popularity.
