Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians

摘要

In a field full of books on library technology, is there a need for a basic text surveying the scene? In this case, the answer is positive because the authors have targeted the book's contents carefully, focussing on what they call "emerging" technologies and then applying a consistent template in each chapter as they evaluate the benefits that might accrue to libraries. Each chapter has a brief and non-technical overview of the technology, followed by a list of advantages and challenges of using these technologies in libraries. In a slightly unusual twist, they add the most common and useful platforms and tools associated with each technology [e.g. in Chapter 4 on Crowdfunding, they include a description (with URLs) of Kickstarter, Indiegogo and GoFundMe]. They then give examples of the technologies in use in libraries around the world. Almost all the examples come from the USA, which is a pity because some good examples have been missed, for example, the National Library of Australia's crowdsourcing to enable text correction for its digitised newspaper collection (even though it is not fundraising). The intention is to give the reader a model to use when evaluating any new technology, consider its relevance to a particular sector of libraries and think about how it might be used now and in the future.