Web professionals are surely ones that know what it is to deal with technology changes. We also know that not keeping up with technology means certain extiction. I am not rarely trying to find my profession under a different designation, because as web technologies change, so does the range of knowledge involved and the main function that used to name my job. Right now I am a Web Specialist, and although I could still be a Web Designer, at some point I had the clear impression that designers were not needed for the web anymore -- at least not graphic designers. But throughout the years I became aware that not every technology, for more upstream, sensational and innovative it looks, gets promoted to the next level. Expectations change, and the new technologies that boosts some sites may very well bury them later on.
The print media has been greatly affected (mostly, improved) by every wave of new technology, but for several reasons not yet replaced. Nevertheless books will soon have their electronic equivalent improved to the point that there will be no advantage in having paper books. I foresee a day when authors will have to deal with the same problems musicians have with the distribution of their songs. By that time (and now we can already see it coming), the greatest technological challenge will be to manage the information available in a useful way. Web 2.0 is the start of this process, along with the social networking trend.
Librarians are having the chance to learn and apply what's being already used by patrons. If the libraries of the future will become just IT staff updating websites and databases, that's a good question (currently we are frequently understaffed and undervalued), but in any case, not learning what's new carries the risk of loosing the chance to survive.
A sign of the times: while exploring Library Thing, I found the complete (free) electronic version of an old book I loved and once lended to a friend that never returned it. I will finally have a chance to read it again.
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