Notes for Week 2 Required Readings

A Few Thoughts on the Google Books Library Project

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/few-thoughts-google-books-library-project

The author’s opinion is that accessible digital formats is the only way to guarantee knowledge’s survival. To support his point, he shows evidence of the increasing use of digital sources, and gives us some examples about how Google succeed in digitizing information and knowledge to make it widely available.

As a future librarian, this article makes me reconsidered the importance of using effective technology to make information easily accessible to a library. Though there are always exists many problems for the libraries to conquer when introducing new technology into libraries. At the same time, it also makes me thought about libraries’ attitude towards private companies such as Google. I always see these companies as a competitor to libraries, especially in the information age. However, after reading this article, I started to think that maybe we should try to seek opportunities to cooperate with them, and make benefits for both of us from the cooperation. Actually, the next article gives me a very specific example about the problems when introducing new technologies, and the third article provides some successful cases about libraries’ cooperate with private companies.

Vaughan, J. (2005). Lied Library @ four years: technology never stands still. Library Hi Tech, 23(1), 34-49.

This article gives us a very specific case about how Lied Library brought new technology into their system, what problems and challenges they have met, and how they conquered those problems and even turned those challenges into opportunities.

There is one thing for sure for libraries in this fast-changing world: that is we must embrace all the changes and actively introducing new technologies into our libraries. However, there is never a easy way for us to make such adjustments. When bringing a new technology into the library, there are usually three major processes, early period of preparation, interim period of implementation, and after period of maintenance and upgrade. There are some common problems and challenges for all the three processes: money problems, human resources problems, legal issues, etc. When facing these problems, except the approaches this article has mentioned, I believe that the key to success is all different for each of the libraries. A better understanding of the libraries’ own situation is always what we should do before killing ourselves to think about the best solutions. Another tip would be, never limit your thoughts. Cooperate with private companies would be a really good example for breaking the “rules”, and European libraries have some great experiences for us to learn.

Doreen Carvajal. European libraries face problems in digitalizing. New York Times. October 28, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/technology/28iht-LIBRARY29.1.8079170.html

This article provides us some great examples about libraries seeking different funding models, especially cooperate with private alliances.

These successful examples inspires me that maybe it's time for libraries to break patterns, and make a move. For instance, when talk about our relationship with privacy companies, such as Google, Amazon, and some publishers, I think just like the Bibliothèque Nationale de France's new president, Bruno Racine said, "We are not at war, so to speak." May those privacy companies are still our competitors, it doesn't mean that we can not work as alliances. But still, we need a healthy market mechanism and necessary legal and technology measures to guarantee that.