Libraries!

http://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/3623/Webster.pdf?sequence=2
Peter Webster
"Interconnected and Innovative Libraries: Factors Tying Libraries More Closely Together"
Library Trends (Volume 54, number 3, Winter 2006)


Peter Webster is a grad student at the University of Chicago studying library and information science. In his article "Interconnected and Innovative Libraries: Factors Tying Libraries More Closely Together" he discusses how new technology has changed the way libraries work on both small and large scales. Technology expands possibilities for libraries to be more effective but it is still a challenge to keep up with the fast paced technological flow. The technology we have already is being refined and reworked providing great opportunity for collaborative work between libraries and the more libraries that are collaborating the better the service will be (ILL, blogs and news feeds). New technology makes these already existing systems more cost and time effective. Webster is very supportive of the open software movement "for libraries to share software resources." He also discusses Centralized Services and how the ability and readiness of libraries to work together has developed these services all over the world. New services coming to light because of shifts in the publishing world along with a new openness to cooperate among libraries encourages people to start "building communities of interest for their products." This puts a lot more emphasis on user satisfaction and encourages user participation. Webster suggests that all of these things together are creating an "interconnected interdependent" new library.

Webster is on to something here and I think that this is the direction libraries are heading. In previous posts I have discussed the future of libraries and how library as place will be more important. Webster offers another dimension of the lasting library. There are really exciting things happening in the world of information science and I'm especially enthusiastic about the new relationships between publishing companies and libraries, I think this development could revolutionize the way people look at publishing companies.