Emerging Technologies for Librarians: A Practical Approach to Innovation

libraries.

Chapter 1

Emerging Technologies Impacting Libraries in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

In the age of information explosion, the prosperity of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) has become an information super highway, speeding up information exchange and sharing for information users. Over the Internet platform, emerging technologies in the fields of computer technologies, network technologies, telecommunication technologies, web technologies, and so on have provided global libraries with innovative approaches toward the enhancement and integration of information resources and services. This chapter will explore the definition of emerging technologies and its relationship with libraries in the modern information society. It will discuss the evolving information technology architecture, which demonstrates general areas where emerging technology applications impact current library information resources and services. Finally, this chapter will examine how emerging technology could impact librarians as well as which emerging technologies might shape library services in the coming years of the twenty-first century.

Keywords

Emerging technologies

Librarians

Libraries

1.1 Introduction

In the digital age, the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) has become an information super highway for global libraries to deliver and disseminate information. Utilizing the Internet platform, emerging technologies in the fields of computer technologies, network technologies, telecommunication technologies, web technologies, and so on have provided global libraries with innovative approaches to enhance and integrate information resources and services. However, many academic libraries and public libraries in the United States are striking their best efforts to offer sustainable information resources and services at affordable prices to meet the dynamic needs of library users. Therefore, many library administrators, librarians, schoolteachers, and other professionals prefer to select emerging technology applications as solutions to solve the contradiction between increasingly stringent budgets and high expectations of library users. To assist more library administrators, instructors, LIS students, librarians, and schoolteachers in understanding emerging technologies applicable to library settings, this chapter explores the definitions of emerging technologies and their general impacts on library information resources and services. More importantly, the developing trend of American libraries is reviewed to illustrate where to apply appropriate emerging technology solutions to promote innovative library services in the future.

1.2 What Are Emerging Technologies?

It seems this term has different meanings for different people. The definition also varies depending on various subject fields. BusinessDictionary.com defines it as New technologies that are currently developing or will be developed over the next five to ten years, and which will substantially alter the business and social environment. These include information technology, wireless data communication, man-machine communication, on-demand printing, bio-technologies, and advanced robotics (WebFinance, Inc., 2013). Emerging technologies in education are defined as tools, concepts, innovations, and advancements utilized in diverse educational settings (including distance, face-to-face, and hybrid forms of education) to serve varied education-related purposes (e.g., instructional, social, and organizational goals) (Veletsianos, 2012, p. 12). For librarians, emerging technologies refers to any new technology that can help support user services, instruction, library management, and technical services (Tomlison, 2008, p. 2). Lili Li, who used to be a software engineer, made a distinction between emerging technologies and cutting-edge technologies: Emerging technologies are new evolving innovative technologies with great uncertainty and unpredictable futures (Li, 2009, p. 14). An excellent definition is given by Burkhardt in one of his blog articles: Emerging technologies in the context of libraries, can be any tool that is being used in a novel way to serve your users (Burkhardt, 2010). An emerging technology is not necessarily a new invention. As a matter of fact, many older technologies are being reinvented and used creatively for modern purposes. However, The term ‘emerging technologies’ is often used without a clear meaning or definition (Veletsianos, 2012, p. 3).

1.3 How Will Emerging Technologies Change Libraries?

Throughout history, a library has been described as a building or room containing collections of books, periodicals, and sometimes films and recorded music for people to read, borrow, or refer to (McKean, 2005). Historically, the main function of libraries is collecting, organizing, and storing all kinds of information and knowledge, which include the total collection of human civilization ranging from art, education, history, language, and literature to military, philosophy, science, technology, and so forth. However, the prosperity of the Internet and the WWW in the late of 1990s have completely changed ways of accessing, collecting, organizing, and searching multiformat information in library settings. In this modern information society, the academic library has been an indispensable academic department in the promotion of excellence in teaching and learning in the networked academic learning environment. In a business world full of uncertainty, the corporate library plays a key role in collecting business information to improve its enterprise's creation and innovation while it is competing with other existing or potential competitors. Funded by public and private sources, a public library functions as a cultural and social center for educating, informing, and enriching community users. With different shapes and sizes, school libraries are promoting information literacy while assisting students in learning how to read and search information from different information resources. Regardless of library scenario, the Internet has become the primary platform for setting up various library information resources and services. The advancement of emerging technologies provides libraries with innovative ways of initializing creative services in cyberspace.

Obviously, the impact of emerging technology on libraries can be identified from the following web-based library information technology architecture, which consists of three major layers: (1) Web clients; (2) Web server; and (3) Data repository. At the web client layer (also called the front end), desktops, HDTVs, notebooks, smartphones, and tablets have been widely used as the primary information media through which users access and locate information in the digital age. As the latest technology breakthrough, wearable computers represented by Google Glass and Apple's iWatch have also emerged as new pioneering web clients in the post-PC age. At the second layer, a web server is used to respond to web client requests and send back need web pages via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). In any web-based information architecture, a web server is a computer that serves as a storage place for web pages, including the web link for primary social networking services. With a unique domain name and IP address, library users can easily send requests such as "http://www.rider.edu/library/" to the web server. The web server will then fetch the needed web page and send it back to the web browser installed on a web client's computing device, such as a notebook or a smartphone. At the third layer, called data repository, e-databases, digital library, knowledge base, other repository tools, and web-based online public access catalogs (OPACs) can be set up at the back end to support this library's resources and services (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Web-based library information technology architecture in the digital age.

There is no doubt that the advancement of cutting-edge and emerging technologies will provide library users with more innovative information media to access and locate information. At the same time, emerging technologies applicable to library settings will impact ways of delivering and disseminating information, including ways of collecting, organizing, presenting, and storing information across heterogeneous applications, databases, networks, platforms, and systems. Now that the first decade of the twenty-first century is over, libraries are at a crossroads again with drastic changes in many ways. For the first time in 2012, electronic resources in academic libraries surpassed the 50% benchmark (Burke, 2013) of all library collections. The rapid development of information technologies will continue enhancing and integrating library information resources and services. To provide library administrators and librarians with a better understanding of the impact of emerging technologies, the web-based library information technology architecture is provided as a guidance to demonstrate how and where emerging technologies will impact library infrastructure in the near future.

1.4 Top Trends Developing in American Libraries

One common approach of tracking emerging technologies is noting top trends developing in different fields of libraries. According to the statistics reported by American Library Association (ALA), There are an estimated 120,096 libraries of all kinds in the United States today (American Library Association, 2014). Because academic libraries and public libraries in the United States are pioneers and hire the most talented emerging technologies librarians, top trends developing in academic libraries and public libraries provide library administrators and librarians with guidance for emerging technologies that may be utilized to promote library creation and innovation in the coming years of the twenty-first century (Table 1.1).

Table 1.1

Numbers of libraries in the United States

Source: http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet01.

Every other year, the ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee in the United States publishes a report to track the top ten trends developing in diverse fields of American research libraries in higher education. In its 2012 report, the following trends were identified to provide library administrators and librarians with a snapshot of changes across the library landscape:

1. Communication Value, which emphasizes that "Academic libraries must prove the value they provide to the academic enterprise" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

2. Data Curation, which confirms that "Data curation challenges are increasing as standards for all types of data continue to evolve; more repositories, many of them cloud-based, will emerge; librarians and other information workers will collaborate with their research communities to facilitate this process" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

3. Digital Preservation, which explains that "As digital collections mature, concerns grow about the general lack of long-term planning for their preservation. No strategic leadership for establishing architecture, policy, or standards for creating, accessing, and preserving digital content is likely to emerge in the near term" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

4. Higher Education, which outlines that "Higher education institutions are entering a period of flux, and potentially even turmoil. Trends to watch for are the rise of online instruction and degree programs, globalization, and an increased skepticism of the ‘return on investment’ in a college degree" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

5. Information Technology, which illustrates that "Technology continues to drive much of the futuristic thinking within academic libraries. The key trends driving educational technology identified in the 2012 Horizon Report are equally applicable to academic libraries: people's desire for information and access to social media and networks anytime/anywhere; acceptance and adoption of cloud-based technologies; more value placed on collaboration; challenges to the role of higher education in a world where information is ubiquitous and alternate forms of credentialing are available; new education paradigms that include online and hybrid learning; and a new emphasis on challenge-based and active learning" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

6. Mobile Environment, which indicates that "Mobile devices are changing the way information is delivered and accessed. An increasing number of libraries provide services and content delivery to mobile devices" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

7. Patron-Driven E-Book Acquisition, which discusses that "Patron-Driven Acquisition (PDA) of e-books is poised to become the norm. For this to occur, licensing options and models for library lending of e-books must become more sustainable" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

8. Scholarly Communication, which focuses that "New scholarly communication and publishing models are developing at an ever-faster pace, requiring libraries to be actively involved or be left behind. New publishing models are being explored for journals, scholarly monographs, textbooks, and digital materials, as stakeholders try to establish sustainable models" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

9. Staffing, which points out that "Academic libraries must develop the staff needed to meet new challenges through creative approaches to hiring new personnel and deploying/retraining existing staff" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

10. User Behaviors and Expectations, which suggests that "Convenience affects all aspects of information seeking—the selection, accessibility, and use of sources" (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2012).

In its 2014 annual report, the ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee in the United States addressed its focus on the following large categories within higher education: data, device neutral digital services, evolving openness in higher education, student success initiatives, competency-based learning, altmetrics, and digital humanities (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2014).

1. Data, which demonstrates that Increased emphasis on open data, data-plan management, and ‘big data’ research are creating the impetus for academic institutions from colleges to research universities to develop and deploy new initiatives, service units, and resources to meet scholarly needs at various stages of the research process (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2014).

2. Device Neutral Digital Services, which exposes that The mobile device market expanded and diversified over the last two years with an increasing number of providers and screen dimensions (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2014).

3. Evolving Openness in Higher Education, which addresses the continuous significant efforts to support and incentivize open access to research and to the benefits of higher education more generally (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2014).

4. Student Success Initiatives, which suggests that An emphasis on student success outcomes and educational accountability by states, accrediting bodies, and individual institutions, as well as a shift in some states from public higher education funding based on enrollment to funding based on outcomes, such as retention and completion, have implications for academic libraries (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2014).

5. Competency-Based Learning, which identifies that While the concept of awarding college credit for learning accomplished outside of the college classroom is not new, national incentives and state pressures on higher education institutions to perform, innovate, and reduce costs for students have ignited renewed interest in developing alternative models for assessing current and prior learning. The result is an increased emphasis on competency-based learning that can provide new opportunities for libraries to embed information literacy and research skills and strategies into the fabric of institutional curricula (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2014).

6. Altmetrics, which is a quickly developing methodology for measuring the impact of scholarly works and research published on the web (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2014).

7. Digital Humanities, which can be understood as the place where traditional humanities research methodologies and media/digital technologies intersect. Academic libraries can play a key role in supporting humanities faculty in their research by creating partnerships and collaborations and helping to connect with other campus units needed to implement and carry out digital humanities research. With the rise in opportunities to involve undergraduate students in an authentic research experience, academic libraries can identify and organize resources and partner with humanities faculty to teach the skills necessary for effective humanities research (ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, 2014).

In his study tracking the developing trend in public libraries, Dr. John Carlo Bertot, Co-Director of Information Policy and Access Center, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland at College Park, United States, analyzes that developing trends in public libraries are the centralized reflection of the following six categories:

1. Information and Data, which emphasize that the quantity and speed of information as well as interactive ways of accessing and delivering information are changing.

2. Technologies, which stresses that ownership of smartphones, tablets, and e-readers are rapidly growing among information users in different age groups.

3. Social Interaction, which exchanges and shares information so that crowdsourcing enables more uses, sharing, problem solving through concentrated burst of information sharing (Bertot, 2012).

4. Service Context, which shows that declining budget support and growing needs for public library services are impacting the growth and the life in local communities.

5. Library Services and Resources, which shows that printed collections are decreasing while nonprinted collections are increasing in public libraries.

6. Implications for Public Libraries and MLS, which outlines the meaning of the evolving public libraries as libraries and librarians changing communities through innovative services (Bertot, 2012).

At the same time, Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, published his report about the current developing trend in public libraries in the United States:

1. "E-book reading is growing, but printed books still dominate the reading world. 28% of American adults ages 18 and older read an e-book in the past year, up from 17% in 2011. Still, 69% read a printed book, about the same as last year. Only 4% of readers are ‘e-book only’ readers. The vast majority of e-book readers also read a printed book" (Rainie, 2014).

2. "The rise of e-book reading is tied to the steady increase in ownership of tablet computers and e-readers. 50% of adults now own either a tablet computer or an e-reader. Ownership of both devices jumped this year during the holiday gift-giving season" (Rainie, 2014).

3. "Americans appreciate libraries, especially for the role they play in communities. 90% of Americans say the closing of their local public library would impact their community and 67% said it would affect them and their families" (Rainie, 2014).

4. "Mothers love libraries. Mothers are more likely than fathers to read to their children every day (55% vs. 45%). Mothers are also more likely than fathers to have a library card and to have visited a library in the past year" (Rainie,