Thursday
Dec182008
Future Libraries
Thursday 18 December, 2008 Chris Meade has some interesting ideas about libraries:
Let's face it, the Web IS the library of the future. And public libraries are unlikely ever to be at the forefront of developing new web resources. But libraries ARE trusted places in real communities. So... let's create a different kind of Information and Imagination Service where you BRING YOUR OWN LIBRARY in the form of a laptop. ... Library staff could help users create a front page for their laptops, with RSS feeds, applications and links which accurately and helpfully reflected their interests and purpose.Eventually all information currently stored in the world's libraries will be stored on the internet. It's inevitable. I'd bet your house on it. So in order to survive, libraries will have to become portals to the internet. In order to be useful, the internet needs filtering and cataloguing. This is why blogs and websites can exist with the purpose of linking to other sites, like this blog for instance. You pick the filters you like and they direct you to the good stuff. With the internet getting so darn large, it might be time to start introducing people whose jobs it is to find those filters for you. Whatever happens, libraries are going to have to change in some shape or form in the very near future or risk becoming outmoded and eventually obsolete, except maybe for a few in the major cities which will exist as relics of knowledge where the familiar and comforting scent of old paper can still be inhaled by those who depend on that smell.
