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Best of Both WorldsMuseums, Libraries, and Archives in a Digital AgeBy G. Wayne Clough, SecretaryA new e–book exploring our digital journey."Today’s digital revolutionis providing a dizzying array of tools that offer opportunities for learning institutions all over the world to become more vibrant and accessible. This revolution provides the means to share vital information, enabling people to learn more, shape informed opinions, and make decisions in their daily lives. Suddenly, everybody can have access to information that previously was only available to the experts.Everybody can take part in the creative processes of institutions that once were not even in public view. However,this unprecedented and continuous shift has left many institutions struggling to adapt and is forcing them to rethink how to maintain their unique qualities while at the same time adding value. Today, no organization is immune to the disruptions caused by technological innovation.We at museums, libraries, and archives must ask: How can we prepare ourselves to reach the generation of digital natives who bring a huge appetite — and aptitude — for the digital world? Are we capitalizing on the limitless possibilities that digital technology creates by applying it in innovative ways across our institutions? We must also consider an even bigger challenge: Are we using our content and new technologies to bridge what New York Times columnist David Brooks calls the “opportunity gap,” an increasing disparity between the educational opportunities available to children in upper income groups and those from lower income groups? Actually, for the Smithsonian, and for our peers in other museums, archives, and libraries, technology has created a golden age of opportunity. Online access to digitized objects, images, and records is democratizing knowledge, enhancing the visits of the many who come to us in person, and extending our reach to the millions who cannot. Coupled with social media’s powers of connection, digital technology exponentially increasesthe capacity of individuals to engage with our collections and upload their own stories. It is also closing the gap between formal and informal education, allowing museums, libraries, and archives to step in and assist the K–12."