Rubin: Information Technologies in the Twentieth Century

Disintermediation is the removal of, for lack of a better term, a "middleman" (or "middleperson", or even "middleinstitution"). People often use computers to disintermediate. Often it's a good thing, for example, when I can order a book from Amazon at 2am without having to visit a store, or when I can schedule an appointment with my doctor without calling anyone. Sometimes, though, it's a bad thing.

Although he didn't use the term, the theme of disintermediation runs through Rubin's brief history of technology in 20th century libraries. Whether we use computers to reduce the need for professional catalogers (p. 83), or to reduce the need for librarian assistance by providing an OPAC (p. 87), or to let users bypass librarians altogether in the most extreme forms of digital library (p. 94), I worry that we're sometimes removing not only the opportunity for an information expert to help people find things better, but also a human connection. I certainly wouldn't want to see the reintroduction of every intermediary, but I wonder how we can find ways for information professionals to become subtle, accessible, possibly even on-demand intermediaries.