The 2011 Midwinter edition of Top Tech Trends brought together five technologists from libraries and the library technology marketplace to discuss their views on the current and future trends in libraries. The one common thread weaving through the entire discussion, almost as if they’d planned it that way, was the high potential for making library services and content offerings highly personal as availability of data continues to proliferate.
Lorcan Dempsey kicked off the conversation, talking about personal archives, personal collections, and personally generated materials. Citing services like Flickr and Blipfoto, he explained that “we have a whole range of digital material that previously would have been private.” “But now it’s become a sort of public kaleidoscope,” he continued. Librarians will face opportunities to manage the kaleidoscope in a library setting.
Another important factor driving the rising trend of personal data is the consumerization of IT. Monique Sendze, associate director of information technology, Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries, explained that “the lines between enterprise IT and consumer IT are blurring.” In other words, it’s not uncommon for patrons and customer-facing librarians to have access to the kinds of robust computing technology that was previously only available to IT staff.
Dempsey voiced his agreement. “You downgrade when you go into the office,” he said.
Mitchell echoed this concept later in the conversation. “The public knows there’s something better out there,” he said.
This shift presents “opportunities and challenges,” Sendze explained. “In the next two years, the public access computer is going to be something totally different.” Patrons are going to come in with what they have and we’re going to have to accommodate. This will impact the way libraries use spaces and plan programming. They must be ready to accommodate devices, she argued. Gone are the days of crafting policies dictating a refusal to accommodate end-user devices.
Jeffrey Trzeciak, university librarian, McMaster University, echoed the importance of libraries supporting personal data exploration and curation in the form of self-publishing. Citing Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s establishing Hogarth Press in the early 20th century, he explained that small, agile publishing endeavors are equally important today.
Today, readily available access to publishing technology makes self-publishing important once again. “We’re going to see a revival of self-publishing,” he claimed, “because of the availability of the tools.” What does this mean for libraries? “We’re going to have to rethink our role,” he asserted, and help facilitate this kind of small-scale independent publishing.
See archived video and an archive of the live blog here.
