Matt Mallard, Reference & Instruction Librarian, reflects on technology's impact on libraries and those who use them.
Technology is a funny word that brings, to my mind, images of robots, lasers, and people talking in robot voices. Yet, every day "technological advances" are mentioned and only occasionally are robots or lasers the topic of discussion. Instead, advances often refer to breakthroughs and changes in modes of communication and means of storing and accessing information, two very fundamental aspects of the services that libraries provide to their communities. So, at the library, we are compelled to keep aware of, adapt to, and adopt technological advances that directly affect the way that we do business.
Classically, libraries' main concerns revolve around collecting, organizing, and maintaining physical collections of materials while providing the best possible access and services to our users. But with the turbulent changes in how information is being stored, accessed, and distributed, libraries have had to start changing the means by which they perform these functions and rethinking their roles in the community. Because we are starting to see a greater number of users who are "digital natives," a library's online services are no longer a nice addition to their existing model. They are required to be and they need to be intuitive; otherwise, users will find some other way to get what they need.
At Pollak Library, we are always looking for ways to make the access of information easier for our patrons. Of course, we still rely heavily on collecting, organizing, and lending books and other physical materials, but if you have been around long enough to notice, our periodicals have mostly migrated to the online environment. As many of our students can attest, it is actually becoming difficult to find current journal articles in print. We now have hundreds of databases that contain citations and full-text to millions of articles, reference materials, multimedia, and books. In the past couple of years, we have also made it possible to search across multiple databases at once and locate desired information with the click of a couple of buttons. Ask anyone who had to do substantial periodical research five or more years ago and they will tell you about the fun that they had with print indexes, interlibrary loan by mail, and microfilm. If you are brave enough, it is now possible to perform your research, read the information and write a term paper with multiple references, and hand it in to your professor without even leaving your house.
Also, research assistance from librarians is now available online. We have had success with implementing chat reference using a company called QuestionPoint and are expanding these services this semester with the free web-based IM client, Meebo. Don't want to get out of your PJ's to get research help? Don't feel like talking because your voice is all groggy? No worries. Just IM a Librarian. You can even do this from the library's MySpace page.
Beyond the library, what is available freely online is astounding. Thanks to the continued presence and proliferation of online technologies, online content creation is no longer solely the venue of the technologically savvy. The web has opened up to the general community through blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, and social networks (check out this list). Anyone can be an expert, an author, an artist, a pirate, an online entrepreneur, or a personality with a built-in audience of billions. Also, major proprietary companies like Google are becoming ubiquitous information giants. Google Books, Google Scholar, Google News, Google Maps, and of course Google Search all provide every user with an Internet connection access to an avalanche of previously published and newly created information.
Of course, until either copyright law changes, the business model for publishing turns a corner, or capitalism collapses, access to some of this information will still require a library card or a bank account. But, daily, that is changing. I just bought and downloaded two full-length albums on Amazon and Insound for about 12 bucks (because I am legal like that) based on recommendations via last.fm and reading a couple of record reviews from free online publications that seem to make all of their money from American Apparel advertisements. Next I'll hop over to the All Music Guide to find out about the related bands and influences, and then I can go talk to friends like I'd known about it for years. No trip to a record store, delving into a scene, getting advice from a local DJ, or reading up on magazines. We know what happened to the music industry when they refused to adapt to changing trends, so what makes anyone else immune?
Fortunately, libraries don't rely on sales to stay in business, but that doesn't mean we could have flourished had we kept the card catalog system. As librarians, our goal is to make sure that our patrons get the best materials possible to solve their information needs and that they are able to do this for themselves when a librarian may not be handy. The means by which that information is distributed is not really all that important, nor is the way we provide our services. That is why we will always try adapting to and adopting anything that will help further our purpose without compromising our primary missions of serving the public and giving them free and unbiased access to resources (preservation is another story). If robots or lasers ever become necessary for information transactions, count me in. I just hope that I don't have to help someone in a robot voice.