Too Important to Be Left to Chance—Serendipity and the Digital Library

SUMMARY This article discusses the meaning of “serendipity” in the digital library, with an emphasis on the role of librarians in facilitating conditions of serendipity for a scientific audience. It argues that the digital revolution has created a greater need among scientists for libraries and librarians. Provided a wealth of new resources instantly available online, scientists who miss crucial information by focusing on a small number of resources with which they are familiar need to interact with their librarians on an ever-increasing basis. The importance of providing not only access to digital resources, but also more and more guidance beyond “Google” and its analogs, is required so that scientists can make the connections needed in their information searches.