As a library employee, it's hard not to wonder these days where we'll all fit into things in the future. The times are changing, and libraries have no choice but to change with it. More and more people everyday rely upon computers and electronic mediums to get their information now. Search engines provide people with the ability to do for themselves what used to require a trained librarian. Some say that libraries are fading; obsolete artifacts of an age soon to be forgotten.
It comes as no surprise that many older, established librarians feel threatened by this change in technology and society as a whole. And, speaking frankly, who wouldn't? In the face of a significant technological and social paradigm change, it's hard not to feel intimidated and frustrated. The big question on the minds of librarians the world over is "what's going to happen next?" Will print die out? Will libraries be closed down and replaced by Google and others like it?
Yes and no. Will print die out? No. Will it change and perhaps be less prominent than it used to be? Yes. Will libraries finally be regarded as obsolete and shut down? No. Will internet technologies and entities like Google play a roll in the future of librarianship? Yes.
It is important to consider that the fundamental function of librarianship is not the storing and cataloging of books and print materials. We are not in the storage business. At the same time we are not simply there to horde away information on servers for future posterity. We are not in the information business either. The ultimate function of a librarian is to provide access and improve accessibility of information to the patrons. Consider that point for a second. We librarians are in the people business; not the information business. If the people are unable to get the information they need, in the way that is intelligible to them and in an effective and efficient manner, then we aren't doing our job.
Now, theory is all well and good, but how does one apply that to the real world? It starts by recognizing opportunities where we normally see threats and challenges. The biggest asset librarians have at their disposal is one that many of the older generation sees as their worst enemy: the internet. However, the strength of the internet has nothing to do with the information found on it; one never knows about the quality of the material or if the material will even be there when a librarian tries to find it. Instead consider using the internet to do what it was originally designed to do back in 1958 (yes, it really has been around that long): COMMUNICATION.
The internet can be used to change the way we communicate with our patrons. We've already seen that people already have changed the way they communicate with their friends, and colleagues, and the library services should be no different. One of the biggest things is that we can change the pace of how we help our customers. Let's face it, by and large, the search questions our customers have for use are largely fairly simple and at worst semi-complex. They don't take a lot of time to find. But what does take time is the actual customer interaction. When people have to ask questions to a person face to face, they feel uncomfortable; awkward; vulnerable even. Getting the customer to confirm or clarify what they want takes the most time.
Now let's say we can change the pace of that interaction instead. Let's say that the library we work interacts with its customers through facebook. Scary thought for some of you, but it's a lot better than you think. A person can take their time to write down their search request and post it on a librarian's wall, and then the librarian can pace themselves in regards to actually answering the question. Maybe the request is really simple; then do it now. Maybe the request is a bit complex; take care of the other smaller requests first and then get back to that one later in the day. The customer may need that information, but they don't always need it immediately. The advantage of a facebook or a twitter or any other social networking site is that people who use it understand and don't expect anyone to answer them right away.
So, we've covered social interaction for library use with customers; let's see how we can actually work on the information aspect. To be sure, print books and physical libraries will always be around; people like books and physical product. But, people like that sort of thing when it's NEW. Customers enjoy browsing new and recent material; books that have been sitting around for about ten years; not so much. This is where we can consider the idea of having two halves for libraries; the physical front and the digital front. Much like in any war, you can't just dominate on one front and neglect the other. Just ask Adolf Hitler back in WWII.
The physical front; the actual library building should be stocked with newer materials for the most part. That, and any materials that people like to browse or look for all the time (newspapers, magazines and those required reading books that schools assign all the time come to mind). Largely the physical front doesn't need to have a lot of material; about half to one-third of what we already have in a local library branch should be more than enough. That cuts down on manpower costs and also provides space for library activities and community events.
The digital front is where the heavy lifting is going; the Stalingrad of libraries, so to speak. Why do I call it such a thing; because everyone is afraid to go there. I contend, that this front can be won; we can thrive here. All we need to do is be smart about it. A new breed of librarian will be needed to win the day here. They will need to be able to use all of the skills of traditional librarians while at the same time learning valuable skills like database programming and best web design practices to make this material accessible. I believe that it won't be long before you find a lot of these librarians cranking out mySQL and php code as often as they are helping a customer find a Curious George book.
Regarding the actual material online, I think that books that are older than 10 years, or materials that are highly specialized can be stored in servers in digital form. Set it up so that the materials can be read from a browser based reader as well. In that case, you avoid making the customer download the material and then go through the mess of having DRM issues and complaints.
If the customer needs to read the material; hop online, read it through Firefox, Safari, or whatever browser they've got. This also makes it possible to read the material on devices like smartphones and the iPad. Each item in the online archives should have its own unique internet link, accessible to any patron with a compatible library card. That way when a patron asks for say, Lord of the Flies through twitter, a librarian can simply send them a link to the material online, and have them log in to read it.
Having that online option could even potentially save libraries money as well. Rather than even paying for in-house servers and regular maintenance, libraries can potentially enter into access and license deals with google or any other company with a online book archive. Libraries pay for online access, just like paying for any other database, and customers are able to access it via a customized library front end page. Relatively cheap, effective, and less hassle whenever a system goes down.
Ultimately, all of these thoughts are simply hypothesis and suppositions from me; a guy who isn't even a librarian yet. Most of this writing has been stream of consciousness from someone who reads more science fiction, than say science journals. That doesn't change the facts that like it or not, a lot of these things will happen in librarianship before long, and that we have to be ready for it. Much of the technology I've been talking about has existed for decades - only no one really knew what to do with it yet. In the coming years we all have a big chance to not only change librarianship for a new generation, but also close the knowledge gap for our public. The people have a right to know and to learn, and we must be willing to take bold steps to uphold and strengthen that right; lest we miss that chance and truly become obsolete.
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