The Humanistic Scholar and the Library

This article seeks to address some of the implications of humanistic modes of scholarship for recent library developments. An attempt is made to characterize some of the essential habits of mind and scholarly needs of humanists as these affect issues in acquisition, allocation of funds, book preservation, computerization, problems of access to and use of collections. Some attention is paid to the changed and changing nature of humanistic research. In part the paper tries to respond to the proposition advanced by Don Swanson that a model of knowledge suggested by Karl Popper can serve to acquaint librarians with the mental habits of library users. Toward the end some questions are posed about the implications for the library profession and library users deriving from the close interrelation between problems of the library and society.