Mrs. Polly GilbertDirector of Library and Information Services

Emily Cunningham ConsultantSt. Mark’s School of Texas

Spring 2008

Introduction

• An overview the newest library technologies

• The changing roles of librarians

• What’s new in libraries?

• What’s different?

• What’s the same?

21st Century Librarians

• Librarians do more than “Shh…” people and purchase books, although they still do some of both!

• How are librarians keeping up with technologies and their patrons?

Newest Library Technologies

• Libraries are rapidly adopting modern technologies.

Newest Library Technologies

• Libraries are branching out to provide patrons with more than just books.

- A place to

compute,

collaborate,

and create.

Newest Library Technologies

• Libraries are providing media devices for listening, viewing, and collaborating

Newest Library Technologies

• Examples include:– iPods (iPod Video, iPod Touch,

iPod Nano, iPhone)– Amazon Kindle/Sony eReader– Portable DVD players– Headphones, microphones,

webcams, digital scanners

Newest Library Technologies

• Libraries are providing computing stations with state-of-the-art systems

Newest Library Technologies

– Laptops for circulation– High-resolution, flat screen monitors– DVD-RW/CD-RW (Rewritable)– Chat/IM clients (G-Talk; AIM; Yahoo

Messenger)– FTP clients (create websites)– Multiple browsers (Firefox,IE (Internet

Explorer), Opera)– Open Source programs (Linux Systems,

OpenOffice)

Newest Library Technologies• Some libraries even provide

gaming consoles/equipment and host activities like clubs and tournaments!

Newest Library Technologies

• Libraries are providing access to Web 2.0 technologies and using them too!

• Librarians also give training and support for social computing.

Newest Library Technologies

• Examples of Web 2.0 tools include:– Wikis– Blogs– Podcasts– Video blogs (vlogs)– Social networking sites (Facebook,

LinkedIn, MySpace, Reunion)– IM/Chat (AIM, gtalk, meebo, Skype)

Newest Library Technologies

• More examples of uses of Web 2.0 technologies are:– Screencasting– Collaborative pathfinders– Personalized information spaces (iGoogle,

MyYahoo)– Web-based documents (GoogleDocs,

Slideshare, Zoho)– MUVE (Multi-User Virtual Environments,

e.g. SecondLife)– Mashups (GoogleMaps + another service)– Picture/Video Sharing (Flickr/YouTube)

Newest Library Technologies

• As a by-product of the “personalized web,” libraries increasingly meet users’ needs in mobile environments.

Newest Library Technologies

• Present and future mobile environments may include:

– Cell phone (SMS and browser-based)– PDA/Smartphones (SMS, HTML, Java)

• Blackberry• Treo• iPhone• WinMobile 6.0+• gPhone

– Tablet PCs (scaled-down PC)– Built-in car computers (e.g., OnStar systems)

Library Collections

• To complement these technologies, library collections are increasingly digital. Serials, newspapers, books and textbooks are available online.

• Databases and digital collections require substantial manpower to manage, but through consortia, libraries can provide more valuable resources to patrons than any one library could acquire independently.

Library Collections• In addition to databases of articles

and books, libraries are discovering new ways to provide multimedia resources in digital formats including:– streaming audio/video,– downloadable audio, – podcast and video blog subscriptions

for mobile a/v devices, and – other materials as they are created.

Conclusions

• Internet and IT resources have come a long way, and so have independent school libraries!

• St.Mark’s Librarians and libraries will continue to meet student and faculty needs by providing state of the art services and collections.