The library presently serves as the front line for information transfer to students and faculty. The ITT revolution will change the character of the library more than any other department at UMBC. Bringing these changes about will be difficult because the library must continue to provide a range of non--electronic services that cannot be easily provided electronically without negative effects on the users. Libraries are also constrained by the publishers, especially of journals, who can change their prices and conditions of sale with no warning and by sometimes vague copyright restrictions.
The library obviously has much to contribute to ITT at UMBC. Librarians are professional organizers and suppliers of information. The ITT revolution should just change their techniques, not their goals or ultimate end services. In the most general terms, the library should continue to be enable faculty and students to get access to information. This does not mean that computers must necessarily reside in the library (although they probably will). It means that the library should be ``on--line'' on the network as an advisor, just as they are physically present in the library building.
Good timing is essential here, and again UMBC needs to continually evaluate how library functions can best fit within the every changing technology infrastructure of the campus.