Although they are often viewed as uninviting, cold vaults filled with row after row of shelves burgeoning with weighty tomes, libraries are really dynamic, growing information centers that provide access to current materials as well as archiving materials for posterity. Beehives of activity, libraries of today often sport row after row of computer workstations in addition to their book and multimedia storage. Trained professionals make themselves available to assist library users in finding materials in many formats, from print materials, to audio, to video, to Web pages. The image of the fussy librarian was never an accurate one, but it is even farther from the truth now, as librarians have become information specialists who move nearly as quickly as the technology that they've come to embrace. As technology has driven the growth of the Internet and fueled the information explosion, it has also driven libraries' growth.

Technology has also made it possible for libraries to begin providing users with "virtual" services. Although still in the developmental stages, virtual libraries may one day offer researchers the ability to access any information they desire, anywhere in the world, at any time they need it. This will include articles from e-journals and e-newspapers as well as entire e-books, movies, recordings, and other mixed media resources.

Much of this is already happening. Academic libraries and large public libraries are already partnering with publishers to provide virtual resources to their users. It's merely a matter of time before technology is so reliable, access times so good, and stored information so exhaustive that researchers will be able to sit in their homes or offices and read, see, and hear what they want with or without the assistance of virtual librarians.