From the Editor's desk: looking back and looking forward

Citation

Kesselman, M. (2014), "From the Editor's desk: looking back and looking forward", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 31 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-01-2014-0001

From the Editor's desk: looking back and looking forward

Article Type:

Editorial

From:

Library Hi Tech News, Volume 31, Issue 1

As we begin a new volume for 2014, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back and then focus on some of the exciting technologies to look forward to in the coming year. This is also an opportunity to let you know how

Library Hi Tech News

is changing to make the journal more relevant and up to date. For me, this is an ideal opportunity to provide ways on how you can participate in our journey to make

Library Hi Tech News

one of the top current awareness tools for everything technology. There will also be a greater focus on technologies outside of libraries that have potential for library services and community engagement and why libraries should be aware of these technologies and the ways they affect our users.

Twenty-six years ago when I began to work at Rutgers University, there were long lines at the reference desk, heavy use of our print reference collections, and any online searching was behind expensive pay walls and required librarians as mediators. Today, the physical reference desk is pretty quiet, the use of any print resources is next to nil, many purchases are ebooks and ejournals, and our user communities are self-sufficient (not necessarily good researchers) with a myriad of resources to choose from on the internet, some from the libraries (if they are even aware of them) and many that are not. They do not even need to walk into the building to use our resources. Some, when they need us and get stuck, find us virtually.

At Rutgers University libraries, even for resources we only own in print, we scan the articles our users need for free and e-mail them the pdfs. Our building are still heavily used but for other purposes – as a meeting place, as a place for study, and for group work. Some librarians who have been in the profession for as long as I have often wonder who moved the library they once knew. No longer is the paradigm “they need to come to us” instead it is “how do we go to them and how do we get onto their research teams and embedded into their courses?” technology offers these solutions. If you have been a librarian for a while in a well-developed country, I am sure your experiences are not much different.

The past couple of years I have had the opportunity to go back in time, doing work on a grant project in Liberia in Africa. In Liberia, the last time a professional librarian was trained was in 1983. Two of the three librarians in the country do not know how to use computers or have ever been on the internet. There is one public library in the entire county that was started by a private foundation, the We Care Library. Otherwise there are no strategic plans for user-centered libraries in the country. In academic libraries, even where computers exist, there are signs stating that students cannot attach their personal devices (laptops, tablets, usb drives) for fear of viruses. There are even signs stating no talking in the libraries, books cannot be removed from the libraries (and most of the books are old). Even if the books have been donated and are newer, there is no regard as to the relationship of the books to the curriculum. If ten copies of an irrelevant book are obtained, they are all cataloged and put on the shelf. Some shelves are so overloaded with these books that they are in danger of falling over. There is no user engagement; instead the library is a storehouse, a place for quiet study, and otherwise a very unwelcoming environment. But, in other developing/transitional countries we are seeing big changes. As they have not had a traditional past, they are able to leap frog to the digital environment, some with exciting programs in e-learning and mobile applications. With a truly international readership, Library Hi Tech News will be highlighting some of these success stories as well.

I thought it might be interesting to look at what was trending in the early volumes of Library Hi Tech News. I did not go back to 1984 as those issues are only in print, but I did go back to 15 years ago, 1999. Here are some of the topics that were trending and some of the terms of the day: the information superhighway, content management, talking books, library assistive technologies, document delivery, metadata, internet info-glut, library transformations and change management, knowledge leadership, evaluating networked resources, copyright, and collaboration. I was shocked! Even before Web2.0, the proliferation of mobile devices and even texting, social networking, Facebook, and Twitter, all of these topics are still important and relevant today. Of course, the technologies have changed but the topics and importance of libraries has not diminished. So, for me, this was a major epiphany; the core values and the needs to find ways to engage with our users are still very relevant and important for Library Hi Tech News. I was amazed too at the number of conference reports and columns and how LHTN has been an important vehicle for librarians to keep up to date, even when they are unable to travel and become active participants at the myriad of conferences that take place on a local, national, and international level.

In this first issue, there are three conference reports: one on data management (Data Cite), ASIS&T (information science) and a first-timer's perspective on IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations. We are also this year introducing two new columns and have changed the name of one column to better reflect the author's focus. Hot off the Press by Jean Philippe Accart, a library leader in Switzerland, is now “Through the looking glass: envisioning new library technologies” beginning with an exciting two part series on augmented reality. The first new column is “What is trending in libraries from the internet cyber sphere”. This column, written by Adetoun Oyelude of Ibadan University in Nigeria will provide vignettes of library-related technology and hot topics from discussions on the web from blogs, tweets, wikis, webinars, and other internet forums. The columns by Accart and Oyelude also reflect the international focus of Library Hi Tech News.

The second new column is “On the horizon”, that will be written by non-library industry leaders on topics that may have future applicability for libraries with a preface by me as to why librarians should be aware of these technologies. As one example, I recently in NYC, I attended the Customer Engagement Technology World Conference and next week at the beginning of the year, will attend the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. I am getting lots of ideas and learning about implications for libraries such as on how the retail industry is using technology for customer engagement is equally applicable for libraries in terms of community engagement of resources and services. Look for reports on these two conferences in the next two issues of LHTN and for articles by these non-library industry leaders that I am actively engaging with to write about their use of technology for their products and services.

So, how can you get involved with Library Hi Tech News?

• Are you going to an interesting conference? Consider doing a conference report for LHTN. Beforehand, I can even try to get you press passes.

• Doing a poster session or conference presentation? Think about turning it into a paper for LHTN. This should be easy – you already have done the hard work. Writing a case study for Library Hi Tech News based on a poster session or unpublished conference presentation does not preclude you from writing a more research-oriented paper later on for a refereed journal. One of the major advantages of LHTN is that we publish ten issues per year and get your article published quickly. This is a great way to get double mileage for the work you have already done.

• Write an article on an emerging technology or a new twist on an existing technology. Here are some hot topics that come to mind and I am sure you can think of others: digital humanities, library branding, libraries and our mobile future, technologies to make the library an integral part of our users workflows, 3-D printing, big data, new social media trends and ideas for community engagement, digital signage, kiosks, Near Field Communication, Instagram and other technologies that provide library visibility, Web Scale Discovery Systems, GIS, geo-tagging and geo-location services.

• Finally, LHTN is a great vehicle for new authors and I am very willing to work with you in making your first experience one that is easy and stress-free. Even if you are working in a library that does not require one to publish, such as public librarians, this is a great vehicle to getting the word out on the wonderful and exciting things your library is involved with and promoting your library's leadership in technology.

Happy New Year to all and to an exciting year for Library Hi Tech News!!

Martin Kesselman