Research Libraries’ Diverse Orientations to an Algorithmic Future

Abstract This article addresses the question of the future of research libraries by exploring the recent literature on libraries and artificial intelligence (AI) or – as we prefer to call these emerging technologies – algorithms. We apply the anthropological concepts of the future by Bryant and Knight as lenses of analysis and identify examples from the literature under six future orientations: anticipation, expectation, speculation, potentiality, hope, and destiny. Through the examples that describe research libraries’ approaches to algorithm-powered technologies, we aim to demonstrate that there are alternative time views for approaching the future. By questioning our narratives about the new technologies, we aim to join the collective deliberation on algorithmic futures.