Nagoya, April 15 - Special Libraries Association CEO Janice Lachance spoke to a gathering of librarians and research professionals about the impact of online reference tools like Google and Wikipedia on their work.

Ms. Lachance pointed out that many organizations, including governments and corporations, believe that online search technology now negates the need for human reference specialists.

Ms. Lachance contended that it takes true information professionals to sift through the oceans of useless information to find the real actionable knowledge that these organizations require.

She mentioned that the same online tools used to find local weather reports and movie times should not necessarily be used to build organizational knowledge required for multi-million dollar decisions.

It still takes a human reference expert to find truly accurate and useful information.

Please click here to read the Ms Lachance’s Remarks on April 13 in Tokyo.

The Aichi International Association and the Japan Special Library Association (Chubu Chapter) and cosponsored this event.