By Jonathan D. Spiliotopoulos

For thousands of years, libraries have been the guardians of humanity. They've protected literature from tyrants, science from zealots, and many forms of art from those who would eradicate culture. But just as important, libraries have done more than protect: they've made their feast of information available for all to partake.

In the past 20 years – as we're all aware – the library paradigm shifted. Information became digitalized, at first on gopher sites, and later on web sites. The inherent nature of such sites is one of decentralization and disorganization. Bringing order to that chaos has proven challenging. The line of would-be disseminators of data is long, ranging from old university "Archies'" and "Veronicas," to modern search engines like Yahoo (the search component of which is being replaced by Microsoft's new Bing engine).

I have little doubt that the reign of the current search regimes will be short. Why? Because they go against nature. The nature of the Internet is one of decentralization and disorganization. Search engines attempt to stack what should be spread out, and the end result is that 99.99% of all web content remains obscure. Already we see various information sources – from businesses to blogs – rallying against this new status quo. Millions of dollars are spent annually on "Search Engine Optimization," a series of techniques and methods designed to manipulate a website's placement in search results. This, too, will be temporary.

Big search engines will find their places alongside other fads that have come and gone. In their places will be a return to decentralized, categorized, localized search sites, which – in form and in function – could very well be the libraries of tomorrow.

Already we see signs of this future emerging. Portals with categories are making a return, as are search engines specializing in specific industries or topics. And some day, probably not during the web years, we'll find ourselves traveling (perhaps virtually, if VR is at the other side of the next paradigm shift) once again, to universities for detailed topical research.

These new libraries may not be exactly like those of today. But they'll continue to serve the same purpose – protecting our information and keeping it accessible for everybody. They'll solve the problems that search engines and SEO firms have wrought. In so doing, these libraries will free users and content providers alike – allowing each to focus on the other.

Hasn’t preserving and sharing been the point from the beginning?