Emerging technologies: A primer for librarians
| Published date | 07 November 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-03-2016-0067 |
| Pages | 1052-1053 |
| Date | 07 November 2016 |
| Author | Philip Calvert |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians
By Jennifer Koerber and Michael P. Sauers
Rowman & Littleeld
Lanham, MD
2015
125 pp.
US$24.95 soft cover
ISBN: 978-1-4422-3888-6
Review DOI 10.1108/EL-03-2016-0067
In a eld 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 benets 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.
As the authors are very well aware, the technologies they describe and evaluate
are not necessarily new; sometimes they are existing technologies that have
morphed or merged with others or simply found new life in a fresh context. So, the
chapter titles may not be what you expect in a book with this title: audio and video,
self-publishing and the library as publisher, mobile technologies, crowdfunding,
wearables, the Internet of Things, privacy and security and keeping up with
emerging technologies. OK, you predicted mobile technologies, and perhaps
wearables, but the others may take you by surprise. The rst four chapters are all
well-established technologies that been reinvented or reimagined. The chapter on
the Internet of Things is a puzzle because the authors acknowledge “there aren’t any
examples of its use in libraries yet” (p. 90). I appreciate seeing a chapter on privacy
and security, for this is a very important, yet often overlooked, topic. Finally, the last
chapter offers some suggestions for what amounts to environmental scanning of
library technology developments.
This book reminds me very much of two fairly recent publications: The Top
Technologies Every Librarian Needs to Know edited by Kenneth Varnum (American
Library Association, 2015) and Emerging Technologies for Librarians: A Practical
Approach to Innovation by Sharon Q Yang and LiLi Li (Chandos, 2015). All three books
EL
34,6
1052
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