Conclusion
 
In recent centuries, research libraries have held significant roles in research and education: selecting and organizing materials for collections; developing systems of intellectual access; organizing items for physical access and retrieval; and preserving items for long-term use. These attributes of durability are challenged in today's fast-paced digital environment of networks, Web interfaces, and proliferating search engines. We cannot ignore the rapid acceleration of digital dependence in all aspects of education and research. Our ideas of permanence and continuity are illusory in this digital environment.

Thus as we look to the new century, we must shape an information environment that has sustainable systems of access to enduring information resources so that users, now and in the future, can rely on them with confidence. Defining this future calls for new combinations of talent and expertise, for short- and long-term collaborations, and for experimentation and risk-taking in order to develop the best strategies for managing the rapidly expanding amounts of digital information. Our challenge is to ensure the viability, the continuity, of this information for the scholars of 2020, 2050, and beyond.

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