oss4lib About - Contact    History 
Listserv         Projects
Readings         Submit  


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Hmm - LITA Announces Top Technology Trends for 2000!



LITA has just announce it's "Top Technology Trends for Libraries: Y2K". I
thought I'd forward these to the lists, to see if people have any thoughts
on them. I'm a bit confused as to what constitutes tech. trends here - for
instance, it seems that trend #1 assumes that libraries are either unaware
of the internet or against it. Is this really a trend for the year 2000? Of
the trends listed, only trends 3 and 5 seem relevant and forward-thinking
(with trend 6 really being a subset of 3). Nowhere does it talk about
libraries building technical skills within their organizations, nor does it
talk about concepts such as Open Source as relates to traditional library
functions and values.

I seriously wonder how some of these trends get picked.....

-- Jeremy


-----------
Top Technology Trends for Libraries: Y2K

What technological issues have a good chance of affecting libraries in the
next few years? A dozen leading members of the Library and Information
Technology Association are keeping up with that and discussing issues online
and in person, so that you can stay informed. 

On January 16, 2000, at the American Library Association Midwinter
Conference, Karen Coyle, Walt Crawford, Pat Earnest, Dean K. Jue, Erik Jul,
Dan Marmion, Joan Frye Williams, and Tom Wilson participated in the second
annual discussion of top technologically-related trends for library futures.
In addition, Elizabeth Lane Lawley, Clifford Lynch, Roy Tennant, and Milton
Wolf have been involved in online discussions. Their insights, collectively
and individually, will help you to prepare for the always-uncertain future. 

Trend #1: 
     Libraries need to work with the Internet, not against it! (Dan Marmion
is the one who put this so succinctly.) We can't keep waiting for the Web to
go away, or we'll become the stable owners of the early 21st century,
waiting for those newfangled horseless carriages to disappear. Learning
about the Web - what we can do with it, what our patrons can do with it -
should be our top priority. 

Trend #2: 
     Librarians need to decide their roles in the world of ubiquitous
electronic information. Are we here to decide what is "right," or to listen
to users and offer them alternatives? Start considering how we can add value
to electronic information in unique ways, without trying to exert a level of
control that we can't (and don't need to) achieve. 

Trend #3: 
     Convergence - whether it's patrons wanting to use library computers for
an ever-widening number of functions; the "marriage" of library collections
with those of museums and archives; or patrons asking how to configure their
browsers to access those online library resources from home, boundaries are
blurring. There is no longer a clear line between what "we" do with
technology and what "they" do with technology. We must decide what we can
and will support based on real needs of users, not librarian comfort levels.


Trend #4: 
     Partnerships - libraries can't afford to be isolated, and technology
provides us with more tools and opportunities for collaboration. Be
proactive about looking for partnership opportunities in your community,
especially with organizations with deep pockets. Be prepared to look past
the traditional library world and let go of rigid structures - there is life
beyond MARC! 

Trend #5: 
     Privacy - The comparative ease of collecting individual data about Web
usage is both a threat and an opportunity. Librarians have historically
worked to protect individual privacy in relation to intellectual freedom,
but many of us are not aware that we may be leading patrons to online
resources that don't offer this protection. On the other hand, sometimes we
ignore the usefulness of our own data, even when it can't be traced to
individuals. Libraries could be real "players" politically where it counts
if we looked at more of our data in marketing terms. And aggregating data to
do collaborative filtering ("people who bought this book also bought...")
seems to be working for Amazon! 

Trend #6: 
     We can't fend off e-books with a glib "I like to read a book at the
beach, under a tree, or in bed" any more, because now you can do all of
those things. With some public libraries starting to lend Rocket e-books and
NetLibrary signing up universities right and left, the world of e-books is
taking shape, although it might not affect your library for a year or two.
What librarians need to do now is stay informed and get involved in
discussions with e-book publishers about standards - don't assume that
privacy concerns, fair use in copyright, and methods of charging for use are
going to conform to what we've gotten used to in libraries with print
materials. 

These trends build on, but don't negate, issues identified in January and
June 1999, so don't forget to take a look back from the Top Technology
Trends Web site, www.lita.org/committe/toptech/mainpage.htm . 


SourceForge Logo © Copyright 1999-2005, The oss4lib Community, except for readings and comments, which are owned by their posters.
oss4lib is graciously hosted by the good folks at sourceforge.net.
Site URL: http://oss4lib.org/ Questions or comments to maintainers.


library