Transcript Technologies Affecting Libraries

Technologies Affecting
Libraries
Ancient, Modern and Post-modern Times
Subal Chandra Biswas
Overview
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Introduction
Library technologies
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Ancient period
Modern period
Post modern period
Top 10 technology trends
Library technology truths
Barriers to technology implementation
Conclusions
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Introduction
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Libraries have played an important part in the
world for centuries to store and retrieve
information for scholars and others.
The method of obtaining information from
libraries has changed from clay tablets, hand
written materials, to printed materials, to
microforms, to CD-ROMS, and to the online
storage, including databases of the present
times.
The changes were introduced by different
generations to meet the changing needs of
users.
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Introduction of Technologies in the
Libraries
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Technology was introduced in libraries during
the second half of the Twentieth Century.
In the present Twenty-first Century, western
nations have been successful in implementing
technology in their libraries, but many other
nations including third world countries of Asia,
Africa, and the Middle East are struggling.
India, one of these third world countries, is no
exception.
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Libraries and Technology
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Already mentioned:
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Contemporary information & communication
technology is doing the same thing
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technological imperative: libraries always depended,
among others, on technology
technology keeps transforming libraries
in a BIG way
And because of it many new players that were
not in the library business are entering into the
arena of digital libraries
Tails that wags the dog
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INPUT
Selection and
Acquisition
Population
of
documents
Conceptual
analysis
Translation of
conceptual
analyses into
index terms
Preservation
Description
and Indexing
Documents
Document
profiles
(Index terms)
Storage file
(Document
store)
Request doc.
from store
SEARCH FILE
(Matching of
document and
request profiles)
Feedback
System
vocabulary
An IR
System
Request
profiles
(Search
strategies)
Translation
of conceptual
analyses into
index terms
Searching
Population
of system
users
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Requests
Conceptual
analysis
OUTPUT
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Ranganathan’s Predictions
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Dr. S.R. Ranganathan, in the 1950s said,
technology will become an important part of
libraries.
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His prediction has certainly become a reality.
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The information is now available even from
outside the library, twenty-four hours a day from
homes, offices, dormitories, and other places for
all interested users seeking information.
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My Convictions
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The libraries have changed and are changing
from the manual systems of the Nineteenth and
Twentieth Centuries to the electronic systems in
the present century.
There is no doubt that a few countries in the
third world, including some in Asia, Africa, and
the Middle East, have been successful in
introducing technology in their libraries but they
have a long way to go before they will catch up
with the Western nations.
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Clay Tablet
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Library of Ashurbanipal, the
last great king of NeoAssyrian Empire
Established 7th century BC
Location Nineveh, capital of
Assyria (modern day Iraq)
Collection Size over 20,000
cuneiform clay tablets
Contents include royal
inscriptions, chronicles,
mythological and religious
texts, contracts, royal grants
and decrees, royal letters,
various administrative
documents, etc.
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Tablet containing part of the Epic of
Gilgamesh (Tablet 11 depicting the
Deluge), now part of the holdings of the
British Museum
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Parchment
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Parchment is a thin material
made from calfskin, sheepskin
or goatskin, often split.
Parchment was invented under
the patronage of Eumenes of
Pergamum (3rd & 2nd century
BC), as a substitute for
papyrus.
Common use as a material for
writing on, for documents,
notes, or the pages of a book,
codex or manuscript.
The finer qualities of
parchment are called vellum.
S. C. Biswas
An English deed written on fine
parchment or vellum with seal
tag dated 1638.
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Papyrus
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Papyrus is a thick paper-like
material produced from the
pith of the papyrus plant grown
in the Nile Delta of Egypt.
First manufactured in Egypt
as in the third millennium BCE.
In the first centuries BCE and
CE, papyrus scrolls gained a
rival as a writing surface in the
form of parchment.
Used in Ancient Egypt as a
writing material.
Sheets of parchment were
folded to form quires from
which book-form codices were
fashioned.
S. C. Biswas
A section of the Egyptian Book of
the Dead written on papyrus
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Palm Leaf
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Palm leaf manuscripts are
manuscripts made out of dried
palm leaves (of Palmyra palm
or talipot palm).
Used as the paper of the
ancient world in parts of Asia
as far back as the fifteenth
century BCE and possibly
much earlier.
Contents to record actual and
mythical narratives in South
Asia and in South East Asia.
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15th- or 16-century Christian
prayers in Tamil, on palm leaf
manuscripts
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Birch Bark
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A birch bark document is a
document written on pieces of
birch bark.
Such documents existed in
several cultures. For instance,
some Gandhara Buddhist texts
have been found written on birch
bark and preserved in clay jars.
On July 26, 1951, during
excavations in Novgorod, a
Soviet expedition found the first
Russian birch bark writing in a
layer dated to ca. 1400. Since
then, more than 1,000 similar
documents were discovered in
various other places in Russia.
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Birch-bark letter no. 292, Oldest
known Karelian language text.
(First half of 13th century)
Birch-bark letter no. 202 contains
spelling lessons and drawings made
by a boy named Onfim (aged 6-7
years).
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Paper
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Paper is a thin material mainly
used for writing upon, printing
upon, drawing or for
packaging.
Paper is a versatile material
with many uses. The most
common is for writing and
printing upon.
Developed in China during the
early 2nd century AD by the
Han court eunuch Cai Lun,
although the earliest
archaeological fragments of
paper derive from the 2nd
century BC in China.
Hemp wrapping paper, China,
circa 100 BCE.
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Oldest surviving “book”
18th dynasty, ancient Egypt, circa 1550 B.C.
Title: Word of Khakheperraseneb.
Technology: wooden board,
Content: a literary discourse concerning
layer of gypsum; hole for a
personal and social chaos
cord to hang on a peg
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Most famous library
Alexandria
library
~330- 1 B.C.
(depiction)
Technology:
papyrus
scrolls
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A Catalogue Card
600 B.C.
Niniveh,
Babylonia
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Technology:
Clay –
glazed, baked
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Creating & Preserving books
Scriptorium
- middle ages
(beginning late
400s A.D.)
Technology:
pen, paper, ink;
copying
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Printing Books
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Gutenberg
1397-1468
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Printing is a process for reproducing text and
image, typically with ink on paper using a printing
press.
Modern printing characterized by the movable
type, first developed by Bi Sheng in China, and
the printing press, a more efficient printing
process developed by Johannes Gutenberg in
the 15th century.
Technology: combined four skeins: ink, paper,
movable type & printing press. Created a
revolution – role in Renaissance & libraries.
Basic idea still operational
Print gave a broader range of readers access to
knowledge and enabled later generations to build
on the intellectual achievements of earlier ones.
Replica of the Gutenberg press at the International
Printing Museum, Carson, CA
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Printed Books and Journals
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A book is a set or collection of
written, printed, illustrated, or
blank sheets, made of ink,
paper, parchment, or other
materials, usually fastened
together to hinge at one side.
In library and information
science, a book is called a
monograph, to distinguish it
from serial periodicals such as
magazines, journals or
newspapers.
Even to this day, majority of
library collections comprise of
stack rooms filled with books
and bound volumes of
journals..
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Punched Card
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A punched card, punch card,
IBM card, or Hollerith card is
a piece of stiff paper that
contains digital information
represented by the presence or
absence of holes in predefined
positions.
Use:
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19th century – for controlling
textile looms
Late 19th and early 20th
century – for operating
fairground organs and related
instruments
Through the 20th century – for
input, processing, and data
storage.
Now an obsolete recording
medium
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Library use of edge-punched
(edge-notched) cards
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Aperture Card
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An aperture card is a type of
punched card with a cut-out
window into which a chip of
microfilm is mounted.
Such a card is used for
archiving or for making
multiple inexpensive copies of
a document for ease of
distribution.
The card is typically punched
with machine-readable
metadata associated with the
microfilm image, and printed
across the top of the card for
visual identification.
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The microfilm chip is most
commonly 35mm in height,
and contains an optically
reduced image, usually of
some type of reference
document, such as an
engineering drawing, that is
the focus of the archiving
process.
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Microform (1/2)
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Microforms are any forms, either
films or paper, containing
microreproductions of documents
Used for transmission, storage,
reading, and printing.
Three formats are common: microfilm
(reels), aperture cards and
microfiche (flat sheets).
Libraries
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as a preservation strategy for
deteriorating newspaper collections
(mid-20th century ).
decaying books and newspapers could
be preserved and thus access and use
could be increased.
as a space-saving measure.
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Microform (2/2)
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Microfilm Reader is a device used
for reading of documents stored as
microform.
A microfilm reader is used in
projecting and viewing to magnify
microfilm images to readable
proportions.
With the advent of Microfilm,
naturally would follow the
development of Microfilm readers,
e.g. Microfiche Reader.
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CD and DVD
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The Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is
an optical disc used to store digital data. It
was originally developed to store and
playback sound recordings exclusively, but
later expanded to encompass data storage
(CD-ROM), write-once audio and data
storage (CD-R), rewritable media (CD-RW),
Video Compact Discs (VCD), Super Video
Compact Discs (SVCD), PhotoCD,
A DVD is an optical disc storage media
format, invented and developed by Philips,
Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs
offer higher storage capacity than Compact
Discs while having the same dimensions.
These are extensively used in libraries of
even today.
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Card Catalogue
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A library catalogue is a register of all
bibliographic items found in a library or
group of libraries, such as a network of
libraries at several locations.
The card catalogue was a familiar
sight to library users for generations,
but it has been effectively replaced by
the online public access catalogue
(OPAC).
The first card catalogues appeared in
the 19th century, enabling much more
flexibility, and towards the end of the
20th century the OPAC was developed.
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First OPACs
 An Online Public Access
Catalogue is an online
database of materials held by
a library or group of libraries.
 The first large-scale online
catalogues were developed at
Ohio State University in 1975
and the Dallas Public Library
in 1978 in the United States.
 Technology: digital MARC
records, computers online
access
Rutgers University Library OPAC
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Telephone
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The telephone (colloq. phone) is a
telecommunications device that
transmits and receives sounds such
as the voice of humans over a large
distance.
Developed around the 1870s by
Alexander Graham Bell and others.
Use: It has long been considered
indispensable to businesses,
households and governments, is now
one of the most common appliances
in the world.
Libraries have been using it for a long
time for providing various services to
the clientele.
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Photocopier
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A photocopier is a machine that makes
paper copies of documents and other
visual images quickly and cheaply.
Most current photocopiers use a
technology called xerography, a dry
process using heat, introduced by Xerox in
1959.
Used widely in business, education, and
government.
For libraries, it promoted making of
copies of books those were not lent out to
the users, of course within the limits of the
copyright laws.
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Two Innovative Applications
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Discarded telephone-booths
transformed into library in
England
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Wet umbrella holder for library
clientele manufactured in
China
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Digital Preservation
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Digital preservation is the set
of processes, activities and
management of digital
information over time to ensure
its long term accessibility.
The goal of digital preservation
is to preserve materials
resulting from digital
reformatting, and particularly
information that is born-digital
with no analog counterpart.
Because of the relatively short
lifecycle of digital information,
preservation is an ongoing
process.
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E-Book and E-Journal
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An electronic book (also e-book,
ebook, digital book) is a book-length
publication in digital form, consisting
of text, images, or both.
Sometimes the equivalent of a
conventional printed book, e-books
can also be born digital.
In 1971, Michael S. Hart (University of
Illinois) created the first ebook by
typing the United States Declaration
of Independence into a computer. He
later launched Project Gutenberg to
create electronic copies of more
books.
E-journals, like e-books, have made
it possible to access and disseminate
the fruits of research among the
academic community far more easy.
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E-document reading devices
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E-books are usually read
on dedicated hardware
devices known as eReaders or e-book
devices. Personal
computers and some
mobile phones can also
be used to read e-books.
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Personal Digital Assistant
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A personal digital assistant
(PDA), also known as a
palmtop computer, or
personal data assistant, is a
mobile device that functions as
a personal information
manager.
Current PDAs often have the
ability to connect to the
Internet. A PDA has an
electronic visual display,
enabling it to include a web
browser, but some newer
models also have audio
capabilities, enabling them to
be used as mobile phones or
portable media players.
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Many PDAs can access the
Internet, intranets or extranets via
Wi-Fi or Wireless Wide Area
Networks. Many PDAs employ
touchscreen technology.
The first PDA was released in
1986 by Psion, the Organizer II.
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Borne digital “book”
Electronic new jersey
Source: Scholarly
Communication
Center,
Rutgers Libraries
Technology:
digital
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Digitized and Borne Digital Collections
in Libraries
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OPAC or Library Portal
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The newest generation of
library catalogue systems use
more sophisticated search
technologies, including
relevancy ranking and faceted
search, as well as features
aimed at greater user interaction
and participation with the
system, including tagging and
reviews.
Library portals are single
window systems through which
all library services are made
available to users.
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Barcode
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A barcode is an optical
machine-readable
representation of data, which
shows data about the object to
which it attaches.
Accuracy, economy, speed and
convenience are some of the
benefits of barcode technology.
Libraries have used it for stock
verification, member and
document ID generation, fast
check-in & check-out, etc.
Barcode printer and Scanner
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RFID Systems (1/2)
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Radio-frequency
identification (RFID) is a
technology that uses radio
waves to transfer data from an
electronic tag, called RFID tag
or label, attached to an object,
through a reader for the
purpose of identifying and
tracking the object.
Among the many uses of RFID
technology is its deployment in
libraries. This technology has
slowly begun to replace the
traditional barcodes on library
items (books, CDs, DVDs,
etc.).
S. C. Biswas
RFID tags used
in libraries:
square book tag,
round CD/DVD
tag and
rectangular VHS
tag.
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RFID Systems (2/2)
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It was first proposed in the
late 1990s as a technology
that would enhance workflow
in the library setting.
Singapore was certainly one
of the first to introduce RFID
in libraries
Advantages:
1. Rapid locating
2. Rapid Check-In/Check-Out
3. High reliability
4. High-speed inventory
5. Automated materials handling
6. Long tag life
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Modern Libraries
Cerritos Library, Cerritos, CA
S. C. Biswas
Seattle’s New Library
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Top 10 technology trends librarians should
be conversant with
1.
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10.
Social software
Open source software
Mobile information devices
Collaboration tools
Second Life
Cloud Architecture
Wireless
Mashups
Multimedia & Streaming Media
Catalogue Overlays
(http://medlibtechtrends.wordpress.com/)
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1. Social software
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As overall user traffic
continues to decrease in our
physical libraries, the need to
explore new methods of user
engagement virtually
increases.
Social software has the
potential to provide a muchneeded link between the
library and virtual users of our
libraries.
Blogs, wikis, and Facebook
are three examples of social
software with the potential to
engage users where they are.
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2. Open source software
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Open source software is freely
available software which
allows you the ability to alter
the source code and customize
the software or add
functionality.
There are working examples of
open source Integrated Library
Systems (ILSs) such as Koha
and Evergreen and
learning/content management
systems such as Moodle and
Sakai.
When libraries use open
source software, they have the
potential to use a larger
development community
dealing with similar users and
issues.
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3. Mobile information devices
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The role of mobile device use
in libraries will continue to
grow as device functionality
increases.
We live in a mobile world and
people want to access
resources and their work while
they are on the go.
Devices such as the iPhone
and the Sony’s new micro
computer (Vaio UX) will offer
new possibilities and venues
for information access on the
go.
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4. Collaboration tools
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In addition to engaging users
as mentioned in the “Social
Software” section, we will need
to find new ways to collaborate
with our users.
Depending on your installation,
Microsoft SharePoint has the
potential to integrate many
different collaboration and
communication tools.
There are also services such
as Connotea and Zotero which
allow users to save, organize,
and share references.
This type of software can offer
another venue for librarians to
be involved with a research
team.
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5. Second Life
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Second Life is an open-ended
virtual world created to offer
social interactions between
your avatar (virtual self) and
other avatars.
There is already a group of
librarians that have developed
Info Island and a virtual
reference desk.
This is another example of
technology that has the
potential to meet people where
they are.
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6. Cloud Architecture
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The concepts of folksonomies
and tagging will continue to
affect the future growth of the
Internet and Web services.
The basic premise behind
tagging is that users assign
descriptors for a particular
object (image, video, book,
etc).
This concept relies on the
‘wisdom of crowds’ which
states that the combined
knowledge of the ‘crowd’ is
more accurate than any one
particular expert.
Both librarians and users have
a lot to learn from each other.
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7. Wireless
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Wireless technology continues
to get faster and is increasingly
ubiquitous.
Working in synergy with mobile
information devices, wireless
technology has the potential to
take decision making to the
point of service.
Wireless ubiquity will allow
users to interact with resources
they need when they need
them.
In an age where restaurants
(Panera Bread Co.) and
automotive places (Lube Stop)
offer free WiFi, users will expect
the same from libraries.
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8. Mashups
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Mashups lie at the heart of the
Web 2.0 movement.
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Basically a mashup is when one
data source is combined with a
second data source so that a
tertiary product is created.
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There are many examples of this,
but the some of the more common
involve the use of Google maps
and a different data source such as
the mashup between Google Maps
and CraigsList.
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Libraries can investigate how some
of these services could be remixed
to offer new services for our users.
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9. Streaming Media
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Streaming media continues to
gain popularity as services
such as You Tube and
Podcasting continue to
develop.
There is no doubt about the
effects of streaming media on
libraries, but there is potential
to use this technology for
virtual instruction.
We could also facilitate the
development and organization
of streaming media
repositories for other areas of
our institution.
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10. Catalogue Overlays
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Products such as Endeca
and AquaBrowser are
springing up to put a new
face on library catalogues
and resources.
Librarians of many
libraries are questioning
whether the traditional
library catalogue can
continue to link to
everything in the library’s
collection.
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What libraries of future will look like ...
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Web 2.0 concepts will carry on, but the
technologies will change
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More mashups
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More open source
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More customization and personalization
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More social interaction
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More interaction with virtual worlds
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Library technology truths
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Truth #1:
Not all technology works as expected
Truth #2:
It’s hard to know what patrons will want or need
Truth #3:
Libraries face many concerns and choices
Truth #4:
Not every library needs the same technologies
Truth #5:
All visions are imperfect, but we need them
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It’s all about the user
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Barriers to Technology Implementation (1/2)
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There are many hurdles, barriers, and problems
blocking the progress in libraries of these
regions.
They include
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a shortage of money for technology, books, journals,
lack of professional staff,
lack of professional library schools, and library
educators, and
lack of proper facilities including library buildings.
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Barriers to Technology Implementation (2/2)
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Technology is still very expensive for a majority of
libraries in Asian, African, and Middle Eastern countries.
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How can they think of introducing technology before
improving the basic needs of users, including books,
journals, training and services?
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Another barrier faced by libraries in Asia, Africa, and the
Middle East, is the alarming rate of illiteracy.
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How can they even think of introducing technology in
their libraries when they have to fight hunger, poverty
and illiteracy.
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Conclusions
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Technology has revolutionized libraries, collection
strategies, services and user expectations.
For better serving our users, libraries ought to be ready
and prepared.
In the Internet era, IT has allowed library professionals to
collect e-books and subscribe to e-databases.
It is essential that librarians develop collective
knowledge about the availability of electronic information
and assist our distance learners by providing time and
space free services.
More internal and external collaboration is needed.
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A time line (borrowed from Michael Lesk)
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Finally ... A remarkable thing

Basically, libraries deal with collecting,
organizing, preserving & providing access to
human knowledge records

This role is constant across civilizations,
history, time, geography

And it is constant regardless of enormous
technological changes
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Subal Chandra Biswas, Ph.D.
Professor
Dept. of Library & Information Sc.
University of Burdwan
Burdwan – 713104, West Bengal
[email protected]
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