Hi(gh) Tech(xpectations)
| Date | 01 January 1983 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047487 |
| Published date | 01 January 1983 |
| Pages | 89-90 |
| Author | Norman D. Stevens |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Hi(gh) Tech(xpectations)
NORMAN
D.
STEVENS
Suddenly high technology,
or hi
tech (which
is
not
to be
confused with tech high),
is
upon
us in
both
our professional
and
personal lives. This wonderful
new complicated,
but at the
same time simple, tech-
nology holds
out to us the
promise
of
handling
all
of
our
routine tasks, providing instant access
to
many
new forms
of
information, solving most
of our
prob-
lems,
and
otherwise revolutionizing
our
existence.
In just
a
short period
of
time
"hi
tech"
has re-
placed "network"
as the
magic solution
for
libraries.
Certainly
in the
1980s
the
emerging technology that
is being constructed around computers, electronics,
and telecommunications
has a
greater flexibility
to
serve diverse markets, including libraries, than
did
earlier technology. Certainly that technology does
al-
ready offer libraries
of all
kinds
and
sizes
new
chal-
lenges
and new
opportunities.
Its
sudden impact
has
also raised certain expectations that
may be
unrealis-
tically high
and
those expectations need
to be
tem-
pered with some words
of
caution.
Many Options
in
Technology
The many
and
varied kinds
of
technology that
are
already available,
and the
many more that become
available almost daily
as
more
and
more manufac-
turers compete
for a
share
of the
market,
are
over-
whelming. There
is
something
for
everyone
and the
technology
is
such that
it
seems possible
to
adapt
almost every application
of it to
meet specialized
needs.
Traditionally libraries have
not
constituted
a
sizeable share
of the
equipment market
and
very little
equipment
has
been designed
or
modified
to
meet
library needs.
With
hi
tech that situation seems
to be
reversed.
Costs
can be
more modest thus opening
up
whole
new markets like libraries.
As
manufacturers seek
new
markets,
or to
expand their competitive advantage
by
modifying their offerings,
new
equipment
and new
features that
may be
more
in
line with library needs
is
likely
to
become available.
The gadgets
and
gimmicks that
are
increasingly
available with photocopy equipment
are an
excellent
example
of
this kind
of
response. Some
of
those gad-
gets
and
gimmicks
are
substantial improvements.
But,
to a
large degree,
it
still remains
a
question
of
how equipment
and
systems designed primarily
for
other markets
can be
adapted
for
library
use.
It
is
also discouraging
to see the
enormous
prolif-
eration
of
equipment
and
systems that
has not yet
shaken
out, and
which shows
few
signs
of
shaking
out.
So it is far
from certain which equipment
and
which systems will endure. Whether
it be in the
choice
of a
minicomputer
or a
photocopy machine,
libraries
are
faced with many options
but it is not at
all clear
on
what basis
one can
make
a
choice.
The
relatively
low
costs,
and our
contemporary mentality,
suggest that much
of
this technology
can be of a
throw-away nature.
You
simply discard
the
equip-
ment
if it
doesn't meet
all of
your expectations
or
once
it has
outlived
its
usefulness.
In
any
case even many librarians
are now
advising
us
to
purchase this kind
of
equipment
on a
kind
of
experimental basis
to
gain familiarity with
it
rather
than
to
meet long-term needs. Libraries, which need
to look
at a
larger picture over
a
longer period
of
time,
especially
in
respect
to
technology around
which basic routines,
a
database, and/or
the
storage
of information with more than limited usefulness
are
constructed,
are
faced with many options
and
hard
choices.
Low Budgets
The availability
of all of
this
hi
tech comes
at a
time when many libraries continue
to
suffer from
relatively serious budgetary problems. There
is not
enough money
to do all of the
things
we are ex-
pected
to do
including maintaining strong book
collections
and
adequate
staff.
Perhaps they
can be
maintained
but are
audiovisual services
and
other
more recent applications
of
technology
now to be
sacrificed
as we
move
on to
newer technologies? This
new technology does seem
to be a
sound alternative
to handling some routine procedures with
a
more
efficient
use of staff; but it
does also seem
to be a
sound alternative
to
responding
to the
momentary
enthusiasms
of our
society.
Stevens
is
University Librarian
at the
University
of Connecticut,
an
early leader
in the
networking
field, and
a
member
of
LHT's Editorial Board.
SUMMER
1983 89
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