The Future is Now: The Evolution of Technology and the Growth of Virtual Libraries

(Originally posted January 19, 2012)

Point young researchers in the direction of the card catalog, and they may well have a puzzled look on their faces. Though card catalogs served as the primary search tool in libraries for over a century, the wooden vessels of information now function primarily as dusty shrines from a forgotten age. With continued innovations in technology, libraries look for new ways to stay abreast in order to both appeal to the technologically literate while continuing to provide all patrons with accessible means of locating the materials they seek. In articles by Arnold Hirshon and Shu Liu, the scholars seek to identify emerging technological trends and address how academic libraries have attempted to respond accordingly. 

In "Environmental Scan: A Report on Trends and Technologies Affecting Libraries", Hirshon examines the dynamic role of developing technology and its impact on society. Acknowledging how Generation Y has been influenced by its immersion in the new digital age, Hirshon plays on the symbiotic relationship between consumers of information and developers of new technologies. 

Early on, Hirshon addresses the futurist's role in predicting the direction in which technological trends will lead, and though the article was published in 2008, it is already considerably outdated. For instance, Hirshon acknowledges the potential demonstrated by Amazon's Kindle and suggests that the iPhone may have a role in the increased usage of eBooks. While one can download and read an eBook on his or her iPhone, the biggest development in the last three years is the iPad. What curiosity the Kindle created, the iPad took to a whole new level. Tablets are now the "big thing." Hewlett-Packard acknowledged as much when their own tablet failed and the company temporarily made a tactical retreat in the computer industry. (The logic behind the decision was that laptops had a finite future, and while tablets showed considerable promise, Apple, Inc. essentially controlled the market.)

What is the significance of this? The exponential growth of the tablet market means more users with the potential to download eBooks. With a larger market of potential users, there is, in turn, more pressure on publishers to produce eBooks and on libraries to make eBooks available for checkout. Recently, schools and universities have made a push to introduce iPads into their classrooms, and in breaking news, Apple has announced that textbooks will be now be available for download on iPads--a move which streamlines the learning process (and reduces the weight of backpacks).

With regards to libraries, Shu Liu's"Engaging Users: The Future of Academic Library Web Sites"can be seen as an expansion on Hirshon's ideas. In conducting an investigation into Web sites for 111 academic research libraries, Liu studied each site for content and innovation and formulated a series of recommendations for a Web site template which would boast increased interaction, improved aesthetics, and a simplified interface.

Absorbed as complimentary pieces, the articles by Hirshon and Liu provide thoughtful analysis into the direction in which information technology (particularly that found in academic libraries) is heading. The pressure to both appeal to and meet the needs of its patrons /consumers is not necessarily exclusive to academic research libraries--nor libraries in general, for that matter. However, in order to remain viable and socially, academically, and commercially viable, an organization or enterprise must, at the very least, "keep up with the Joneses." In the words of Lee Iacocca, "lead, follow, or get out of the way."

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Hirshon, A. (2008). Environmental Scan: A report on trends and technologies affecting libraries. Retrieved January 12, 2012 from http://woodlands.lib.mi.us/handbook/nelinetscan.pdf

Liu, S. (2008). Engaging users: The future of academic library web sites. College & Research
Libraries, 69, 6-27.