KD Rouse: My Angle(s) & Approach to Internet Publishing

I am approaching my study of internet from three major points of interest:

1) I am a Library School student, very interested in the impact digital publishing has on the library, the publishing industry, the librarian and the book.
I am curious about the future.
Is the future library going to be a museum like some predict? (1)
What is the library facing with the onslaught of digitized information?
What are library leaders doing to ensure the library remains vibrant in the future?
Do we need to make ourselves technological leaders in order to maintain a central part of society or do we keep a place "right behind the curve?"
I am concerned about the future of the library.
We are fine now but we are on shaky ground with the current teens and subsequent generations.
Interest in the library is consistency ranked the lowest among today's teens as compared to other age groups. (2)

For the library of the future to maintain its value to the tech-savvy, multi-media generations of the future, it
will need to speed up the tempo, add more noise, food and drink except in the archives( a branch that is a museum) and provide experiences in information that can't be had as effectively as at home.

Our current teens were born to technology and have accepted rapid changes of format. They don't miss vinyl records, Beta tapes, or black and white TV,  and I don't think they will miss the traditional bound book.
I think they will accept the latest, greatest, and think the bound book cumbersome and antiquated.
What is the library of the future?

2) I am an author of stories and songs, wondering where and how to publish. What are the options? Is it better to try to get an agent? Should I bypass trying to get published traditionally? Are there free options on the web that I can use to achieve the same results promised by expensive publishing packages?

3) I am a future promoter wanting my author to achieve her goals. What are effective methods of promotion on the web? Is it possible to bring an unknown author to the attention of the reading public without support from paid alliances with internet giants? My author has had a hap-hazard history with spotty promotion attempts before losing interest. To be an effective marketer, I need a systematic, well planned approach, taking stock of what works and what doesn't.

For a more complete listing, see Bibliography page in sidebar

1) Weiss, Laura.  "Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age." APLIS 10, no. 3: 163, 1997. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).

2) Borawski, C.  "Beyond the Book: Literacy in the Digital Age." Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children 7, no. 3: 53-54, 2009. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).