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The daylong symposium will bring together scholars, information professionals and the general public in an exploration of changing perceptions regarding paper-based information resources. Leading experts will discuss why they use and preserve information in various formats, from files that are "born digital" to more traditional books and archival collections on paper.

The program will begin by addressing human anxieties about the fragility of information and how society has responded to those anxieties. The latter half of the morning session will focus on the information format needs of scholars: Are digital files sufficient replacements for book and paper materials? With so much emphasis on digital information, has society become sentimental about its books and paper documents? And should sentiment drive libraries to preserve every book within their walls in its original form? The afternoon program will focus on the challenges involved in preserving information from the decision-making process to issues unique among different formats.

The event was planned in response to several recent publications that have called attention to the tensions and contradictions modern society faces in preserving and using information. These include the Council of Library and Information Resources' report Evidence in Hand: the Report of the Task Force on the Artifact in Library Collections , Nicolas Basbanes' Patience and Fortitude: A Roving Chronicle of Book People,Book Places and Book Culture, and Nicholson Baker's Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper.

This symposium is open to the public.

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