The myth of the scientific Member and decision making based on unbounded rationality sustained the parliamentary library and supported the legitimacy of parliamentary decisions. The myth has been undermined because libraries have lost their near monopoly on quality information, because the image of rational decision making has lost power as a legitimating symbol for parliaments, and because it does not reflect the reality of how Members work. The myth now seems more of a liability — it fails to convince, and it consigns services to a role in which they must fail. Bounded rationality is more plausible as a model of Members’ work, and it suggests a different approach to parliamentary library service. To retain relevance, parliamentary libraries must understand and connect with their clients real use of information. They are not in a growth industry any longer. Parliamentary libraries risk irrelevance and decline if they rest on their myth and on their historical value as symbols of a modern informed parliament, just as much as if they rely only on their physical assets, collections, or academic research capacity.
Parliamentary libraries face a challenging prospect with few certainties. However, the usefulness of library competences also extends beyond library walls, and their potential value to the institution may never have been higher. There is a future to be made, beyond the myth.
"Members Use of Information and Changing Visions
of the Parliamentary Library" by Iain Watt
The assumption underlying parliamentary libraries is that Members have a fundamental need for high-quality information services to support their decision-making processes. This assumption can be questioned. The historical importance of the parliamentary library is assessed as a necessary myth projecting the modernity of the parliament and the legitimacy of its decisions. The standard narrative of parliamentary library history—that the evolving visions of parliamentary libraries are responses to the needs of Members—is not supported by the evidence. The origins of the service visions lie more in the copying of other services, responses to expert opinion, and wider professional developments. The library no longer signifies modernity and the myth has become a liability. An alternative paradigm of Members’ information work is proposed, based on the concept of bounded rationality and, in particular, the work of Gigerenzer on “fast and frugal” decision making. Recent research confirms the importance of heuristics in decision making by Members. In this model of decision making, the parliamentary library makes its impact through improved environmental understanding and the framing of matters for decision, rather than the delivery of information at the point of decision. Giving easier access to information, and focusing on information for specialist Members, may have more impact on the quality of information actually used than efforts to improve product quality. A focus on the deployment of library competences in new areas of parliamentary information work is part of a vision for the future.