Die Bibliothek im Zeitalter ihrer Automatisierbarkeit

This article deals with two questions: which tasks should the university libraries have in the future, and how is it possible to demonstrate and evaluate the quality of the library services? It is shown that the automation or non-automation of library services is the crucial point when answering these questions. Sustainable library tasks are mainly those that cannot be automated, in contrast to the automatization of searching for information in search engines. This especially applies to the active client-centered information retrieval in terms of the consulting and training of library users. The library services just cannot be automated, if the university teaching is not only aiming at training (Ausbildung), but also at education (Bildung). Automated information retrieval is not compatible with self-determined critical reflection of knowledge as the goal of education, because it would renounce informational self-determination. This also has consequences regarding how the quality of library services can be explained, implemented and argued. Library work seen as not automatable is a value added of intellectual capital and therefore eludes an exclusive quantification of performance indicators. Finally, the possibility of a qualitative research paradigm based on a description of the service quality of the library is discussed.