Gender and technology relations in librarianship

As technology continues to change the landscape of information work, librar y workers are particularly affected. The results of a study of the impact o f technological change on library work are reported in this paper, The find ings, based on interviews with employees in major public and academic libra ry systems in the United States and Canada, reveal that library workers, pa rticularly women, feel they have little control over decision making involv ing the introduction, integration, and use of new technologies. Some respon dents also questioned whether, as a result of the intensity of technologica l change, administrators continue to perceive any value in the traditional specialized knowledge of librarians. Nevertheless, nearly half of those who took part in the study expressed optimism about the benefits of technologi cal change for their own careers, while others are hopeful that there will be an ongoing need for people, as well as machines, to deliver library serv ices. The results are discussed in the context of other studies of technolo gical change and occupational segregation by gender.