I was asked recently what I thought would be the key technology trends within the next five years. I think it will be more of the same, but with better integration, better access in developing countries (perhaps reducing the digital divide and introducing innovations we can share) and some wonderful surprises. I think that library catalogues will change dramatically - think about
what the Powerhouse Museum is already doing in this area. That is what I said (except for the catalogue bit), but I thought I would write briefly about this idea as I kept thinking about it. I think about this idea quite often, but have not been writing about it for a while other than for very specific applications and it is time to think about these ideas much more broadly - taking some risks.
I think the really exciting trends will be ones we are not seeing (good) indicators for yet - like wearable technology that is washable. I don't want a computer embedded in clothing unless I can throw it all in the washing machine with no side effects - like the machine washable usb drives which already exist (and they may exist by accident rather than design).
Also imagine having your green bags for the supermarket or library with enough IT embedded (and secure) so that you do not have to carry your wallet separately but that all the information you need is in the green bag, or in your handbag or back pack (actually in it - not just carried in it) - with surfaces easily converted for computer-like use (or with a scroll like or
foldable screen).
I don't want to be carrying separate devices - I would like it all in something I am already going to carry or wear. Or it might involve having something small which is easily attachable and detachable - like a usb drive but one which is much smarter and so every surface potentially becomes a computer screen (your car windscreen for gps, any part of the library for a roving reference application, grass in a park and so on). Or it might be like sunglasses or prescription glasses. The glasses can also work as screens rather than having separate devices (this idea has been around for a while for mobile phones, but there are much wider applications). Instead of a separate library card - embed the information in a shared context (sunglasses, green bag, favourite shoes, small detachable usb-like device...) so that one tool has information from a variety of sources - but you control who or how it can be accessed.
Privacy is still important. The right not to be globally tracked is also important - gps in devices is great but it should be optional.
As you can see this idea is mainly about the tools being more flexible - kind of open source operability. I can hear you thinking what about batteries? There are options, solar, cycling, walking - we need to be more creative in seeking sustainable solutions.
I want to be able to collaborate with librarians in India or South Africa or Peru as easily as I can with librarians in Grafton, Manly or Sutherland. This is already technologically possible - but there seem to be some conceptional issues with this.
It would be great for more people to imagine a much bigger story of collaboration - there are great things happening (collaboratively and internationally) but I would like more people in more libraries coming together online so we can learn from each other more easily and together develop and implement incredible ideas. The local collaborations could spiral out and up into national, regional and international collaboration. This is as much as conceptual issue as a technological one.
There are some people collaborating internationally, this is great, but they are the exceptions and often other people wrongly see them as exceptional rather than early adopters. Some are exceptional but they are the minority, most are hard workers who invest heavily in developing relationships which is key to collaboration - this is great as it means we can all do this, if we choose to.
I want to be able to easily learn from librarians who are using satellite enabled elephants or who are working in remote communities without us all having to meet in person first. Not that meeting librarians from other places is not important - but it is hard/expensive for all of us to travel and there are the global warming implications to think of in this area (2% of greenhouse gases coming from air travel and 2% from IT). We all need to be better at initiating broad discussions online and writing this post is starting ideas for me to take action on. Many existing collaborations between libraries happen because someone met someone else at a conference/meeting/library. This is great but it limits the possibilities to all people who have had these encounters, but this is a relatively small number because not everyone will get to meetings/conferences or even other libraries. I would like the collaborations to start more from online meetings, from e-mail and so on as this increases accessibility and does not rely on travel budgets but on online connections like e-mail which can work even with very slow internet connections. This would help move the collaborations to a much broader base thus throwing open the possibilities for inspiration and innovation.
I would like to see libraries become even more proactive in technologies which will help the Millennium Development Goals be accomplished (for some early ideas
see this paper from 2005). Much has been happening in this area, but there is still more which we could all do, and something simple like a multilingual/multi-writer blog for sharing ideas about reference and information services, collections (format neutral) and inspirations may be a simple start. Leave a comment on this post if you are interested in this idea.
In five years I would hope that green technologies will be the default rather than interesting exceptions - part of this will be a reduced need to upgrade devices or whatever is attached or embedded.
As you can see it is a mixture of hope, frustration and optimism, This is probably a realistic mix. It will be exciting to see what surprises emerge in the next five years.
Labels: collaboration, emerging technologies, ideas, IFLA, Millennium Development Goals
